Duck hunting weather and dogs

[anthropisces]

My labrador's coat does not seem very thick. I've seen her shivering in the blind on more than one occasion and I don't push it. I have one of the neoprene vests but unless your dog happens to be built exactly like the vest, the thing is not going to keep her very warm.

I was out on a tour of the Island Unit with the Washington Waterfowl Association and I was on a man's boat and his lab's coat was so think that it seemed to be standing straight out from its body with no room for any more hair at all. Its fur reminded me of a cattail. I was disappointed to learn that he'd recently had gotten the dog neutered.

I'm wondering how to judge which conditions are ok to bring my dog out into, how long I can stay out, etc. I had a trainer tell me that one of his friends lost a dog to hypothermia.

I'm now bringing a dry bag with towels in it (as if I wasn't already carrying enough gear) to dry her off when she's sitting in the blind.  I've got one of those Momarsh dog blinds and I bought a thick felt wool  pad for her to lay down on in there.

Tomorrow morning it is supposed to be freezing. She wants to go with but I'm hesistant to bring her out when its super cold like that. I'm betting  that  the lab I mentioned above doesn't bat an eye to conditions like that.

[Stein]

We have a house lab and she doesn't get much of a coat either.  I took a neoprene vest and did heavy alterations to it on a sewing machine so it fits very well.  I'm no Betsy Ross, but you are just basically cutting V's where it is loose and sewing it back together.

I also made a cape like thing out of an old lined flannel I can put over her.

[vandeman17]

When it gets pretty cold, I will randomly put my hand under my dog's vest to see how warm she feels underneath. I also just watch her general behavior and how she acts and I can tell if she is getting cold. If she does, I will get out of the blind and take her for a walk for a little while to get her warmed up.

Good on you for being aware of your dog's health. I have known of guy's who look at their dogs as more of workers and push them hard. My dogs are family and I treat them accordingly. 

Add to this, I have ran an old school neoprene vest for years and just trimmed it down to fit. I ended up getting one of these vests this year and they are adjustable to fit and body shape. The one downside is they are stiff to start so they take some time to break in. If you go this route, don't be worried if your dog just stands there and doesn't want to move at first. It takes a decent amount of little adjustments but once its done, its pretty slick. You can also change the exterior pieces to different colors if you want to add orange for upland.

https://www.higdondecoys.com/MOmarsh-Versa-Vest-p/34128.htm

[anthropisces]

I own 4 wetsuits. 3 are open-cell suits (3mm, 5mm and 7mm Yamamoto rubber) that require the use of a lubricant to put on. All are from the Italian company Polosub and were all custom made for me. Wearing those is like going back into the womb. I've also worn non-custom suits that work great but I'm 6'5 so I tend to go custom

But closed cell suits work great and those have a liner and don't require lubricant to put on. My point is that unless a suit is form-fitting, with no gaps, they aren't very useful. Maybe that Momarsh suit would provide some of that. I'd like to see if a suit could be designed that comes down part of the way down the legs of the dog though.

I like the idea of modifying an existing suit also.

It would be a pretty big R&D effort but I think a form fitting suit for a dog is possible.

Heres a photo of a dog wearing a spandex suit but as usual Pinterest is practically useless in terms of learning much about the photo
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/105905028723556079/

[mburrows]

Im with all that has been stated, protect them as much as you can, if they are too cold help warm them up with a combination of vests, drying off with a towel, walks to get the blood flowing and extra food. If you're hunting out of a boat or have an easy walk in consider a buddy heater.

My labs have heavy dense coats but we still use vests when its below freezing even though the cold really doesn't seem to bother them. Their coats have partially frozen before and they are still ripping to go.

[Stein]

The difference with a wetsuit and a vest is that when diving, you are in the water all the time and when you are hunting, the dog is on the shore most of the time.  Under water, the water can easily circulate under a loose suit and literally pump cold water through the suit, that doesn't happen on land.  Additionally, even with a short coat, there is a ton more insulation than with people and they can shake themselves fairly dry.

It wasn't too difficult to get a pretty good fit for our dog and she's very small so most vests didn't fit well at all out of the box.  Just think of wearing a coat that doesn't fit you, air will get in, maybe it's too short and you bend over and it gets a bit breezy back there, it's cold there, but still much warmer overall compared with not wearing a coat. 

When it's cold and I take the coat off, steam pours out of her coat from under the neoprene.  It probably keeps her OK for another 20 degrees before that isn't enough and I either leave her home or take the overcoat cape thing.

[Chesterdog]

Not all labs are created equal.  I have two chocolate labs, "Winnie" and "Chester".  (I hunt with a Winchester shotgun)  Chester is a 90 lb American lab.  Winnie is a 60 lb English lab.  In my experience the American labs are taller, leaner, and more headstrong, while the English are shorter and smaller and have the more boxy head, but have a much thicker coat.  (I know what you were describing when you said the dog's coat looked like a cattail, similar to a Chesapeake bay retriever's coat) Before I got Winnie, I tried everything to keep Chester warm in the blind, but eventually it all becomes a soaked muddy mess.  You just can't beat genetics. We hunted during a rough storm last year at Mardon with Shleby Ross and his tog "Tank".  Tank had more experience with stormy weather and choppy water than either of my dogs and it was obvious.

[gasman]

My Buddy often would have ice hanging off his fur, shiver, but would not stop hunting. I would dry him off a bit and take him for a walk, or play fetch with him for a bit to get the blood flowing.  Always seemed to work well, i knew he was done with fetch when he would run back to the blind....lol

[anthropisces]

Stein I appreciate your comment in that it would be very dangerous to overheat a dog. At the very least the dog might be miserable.

Its a popular misconception though that wetsuits work by having a layer of trapped water between the suit and the skin. I think a 2mm "full" suit would not overheat my lab in fairly cold weather but there would have to be a zipper on the back to quickly open it so she didn't overheat.

Lots of great comments in this thread

[Stein]

Yeah, you can tell when they are cold but not when they are hot, at least I can't.  Sometimes I peel it off for a while to see if she starts shaking or not.  I think if they are active, especially if on land, it would be pretty easy to overheat them.

[Bucks2Ducks]

Does your pup sleep in the house? I bet your lab would get a better winter coat if it slept in a non heated environment, if it's an option.

[Caseyd]

Does your pup sleep in the house? I bet your lab would get a better winter coat if it slept in a non heated environment, if it's an option.

 

Outside and keep and eye on dirt.

[Stein]

I read it was the amount of light, not heat.  Like deer, they know when it's winter by the number of hours of daylight and in the house it's obviously light much longer.  The article talked about dogs in south Florida still getting a winter coat if they are outside.

[anthropisces]

Hey Stein, Check out this vest mod I did last night, inspired by your "I'm no Betsy Ross" post.

I reduced the neck circumference by 5 inches for a perfect fit.

The wetsuit adhesive alone may have been enough but I added the stitches to make it stronger

[Stein]

Nice, that's exactly what I did, get the vest that fits around their body and then wherever there is a bulge, v cut and sew.  It also helps keep weeds, mud and junk out too.

[ghosthunter]

This is the very reason my dog sleeps out side. I bed her in straw and she seem to very comfortable in the cold and cold water. Every couple hours I release when hunting and let her snoop and run around the general area. Than back in the blind. Little different in a boat.

She has a vest but seems like she prefers not to wear it. When she shakes she can dry off faster without the vest on.

[Stein]

Sleeping outside is for sure the best for a waterfowl dog.  I would have an absolute pitchfork revolt as certain family members like dogs on their bed, so we do the best we can while hunting.

Our dog isn't a fan of the vest, when I pull it out, she tucks tail and pouts around the garage for 10 minutes while I am getting stuff ready.  By the time we load up, she's over it and back to happy.  It is pretty funny to see a lab actively pouting though.  Same story with the e collar, not a big fan but they reluctantly pay the price of admission.

Another advantage of a vest is flotation.  I had an incident in the bay where I forgot the e collar and she took off after a cripple and went a LONG way out and would not break off.  She finally got tired and couldn't get back requiring an emergency dog retrieve.  If she didn't have the vest on, I think she might not have made it long enough for me to get out there.

[anthropisces]

Here's Luna today, 20201227 proudly wearing her much better fitting vest and showing her stuff

[Special T]

My old chessie sleps outside unless the the weather is horrible. I cant imagine a dog overheating around here in the winter no matter the vest. Ive given my chessie hypo thermia whennhunting was 40mph and 20 degrees with no wetsuit... because i couldnt find it. He is way told for that crap now but a young healty lab in the mild weather we have had the last year and so far this year.. not a big deal.

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[SuperX]

in addition to the wet suit, bring a square of foam they can sit on, especially hunting from a boat where they can never really escape the cold.

[anthropisces]

That's a good suggestion SuperX. I bring a one inch thick wool felt pad, from the horse riding community. Its not something I throw on the bare ground though. It goes in her Momarsh dog blind or on the floor of the boat.

https://www.statelinetack.com/item/mustang-square-wool-pad-liner/SLT901243%2030%20TAN/?srccode=GPSLT&gclid=Cj0KCQiAoab_BRCxARIsANMx4S4QhLlpVc79mSO2umFQFXzF9wUQcVTHTusPdhAsoQFSLQhC5LtGl6YaAtKZEALw_wcB

I'm moving away from her being in a separate blind though-she likes to be in my Tanglefree blind with me. So I may try a foam pad with the horse pad on top.

If I told you guys how much I pamper this dog you would laugh.

[Special T]

in addition to the wet suit, bring a square of foam they can sit on, especially hunting from a boat where they can never really escape the cold.

I cut big squares from old neoprene waders both for kneeling in the boat and for the dog to sit on.