So I got a GSP but would really like...

[Tyler_and_Henry]

My dog is great. He retrieves well, he points well, but the late season cold water makes me nervous.
I don't want to make a cold weather hunt to late for fear of hypothermia. I got a jacket, but its really designed for a lab. Pointers are some much narrower that it doesn't fit that well.

So first, what signs should I watch for, for hypothermia in my dog, because when we hunt he shakes constantly with excitement, if its hot or cold.
Second, does anybody know where to get a neoprene vest for GSP's
Thanks for the help.

[Tyler_and_Henry]

Sorry forgot, do the wirehairs do "that" much better in the cold?

[high country]

I have a draht, which is for comparison sake a wirehair. I have had labs and gsp's too. the gsp's do not do cold well compared to the others. the labs and chessies are the top dogs and the wirehairs are not too far behind them. my gsp was not worth squat when it came to cold water retrieves, where my wirehair will work for a week straight in the nastiest weather imaginable......high line montana in december and never even think of giving up.

labs are better pets then both,
gsp trumps the wirehair for a pet. the wirehair really just wants to go point and kill stuff with the occasional game of fetch. there is not nearly the constant need of attention I had with the others, but I do not feel as close to the wirehair either, we are more like hunting pards.

[gwpsage]

I have a 2 1/2 year old wirehair.  I wanted a true versatile dog.  I hunt waterfowl and upland.  I've hunted her in the coldest weather western washington has to offer.  She'll retrieve with the best of them.  I bought her a vest and had to customize it.  I've never found one with a small enough neck and deep enough chest. The vest definately helps hold in the heat. 
My buddy says my dog is an obsessive sompulsive retriever.  She isn't the best pet in the house.  But she's one hell of a hunter.  She gets herself into trouble if I get lazy and don't run her enough.

[RC3]

I have a wirehair who will do everything you need and is a great house dog.........curled up next to me right now on the couch!

[Tyler_and_Henry]

Thanks for the info so far. I agree that the GSP make great pets. So far Henry retrieves like a pro, and points well. He doesn't whoa like he should, but that's entirely my fault in keeping up the training.
He is willing to hunt in any weather, in fact I've never seen him give up because of cold. My main concern is making sure he doesn't get to cold, and me not be aware.
I guess the proper question would be are all dogs smart enough to quit when they should. The real cold weather duck hunt I did, I don't remember the temp, his back was iced over in the blind. I go worried and put him in the truck and finished the day with a friends "American lab".

[high country]

I am 100% sure my draht would hunt till she froze into a solid blob.....she will not quit till I call her out of the field.

[Sportfury]

I am 100% sure my draht would hunt till she froze into a solid blob.....she will not quit till I call her out of the field.

Same with my wirehair and her brother. They will both run to the pond and jump in just for the heck of it (Nnot good when you are trying to keep them dry) and they will do it until the pond freezes over in the winter time.

[lokidog]

Shaking with excitement is way different than shivering.  My Golden gets really cold (very little undercoat) and her teeth chatter like one of those Halloween wind up sets of teeth.  I mostly duck hunted out of a boat so I would try to retrieve birds from the water when possible to help keep her drier.

I think they will hunt until they fall over dead when they have the drive.

[Rowdy]

Sorry, didn't have time to read all the replies... In the past when I've used my shorthair for cold weather water retrieves but it was in jump shooting scenarios where he could run afterwards.  As long as he was able to keep moving he was fine.  Once, I had him do a cold weather cold water retrieve and then sit and wait for some ducks that were circling, he was very cold and reluctant to enter the water. 

Basically, I would only use my pup for jump shooting ducks late season.  Their short coats and lack of body fat just doesn't suit sitting in a blind late season.  Good luck with the pup.  Mine is a great bird dog but I hunt Chukar 99% of the time. 

Where did you get the pup.  Post a pic, everyone loves puppy pics!!!

Jake

[andersonjk4]

My GSP does great jump shooting as well.  I have Avery neoprene vests that I got at Sportsmans Warehouse (see pic). They let me take him into the store and try on the different sizes. The one I got (I believe a medium) is pretty tight in the chest and I had to cut down the area between the legs to keep it from rubbing and chaffing his armpits. He does pretty good in the cold water with it on. But I agree with Rowdy that sitting in a blind all day would be hard on him. Three years ago we were jump shooting ducks and geese on the Palouse River and some sections of the water were iced up. We were hunting in the rapids where their wasn't and ice nearby. ON the way out I crossed the river to get a goose and was going to walk out the other side so I didn't have to cross the river twice. My Dad and Brother in law were going to take the dogs back to the pickup and drive down across a bridge and pick me up. Well long story short, halfway back to the pickup my GSP decided he needed to be with me and was hell bent on getting to me. He started across a frozen portion of the river and halfway across fell through. He wasn't able to get himself out of the ice. He got is front paws up on the ice but couldn't pull himself out. He spent about 30 minutes in the water before I could get to him.  I could get to within about 10 feet of him before I started breaking through the ice.  I ended up building a kind of raft out of tree branches and used them to kind of float me to him and hook his collar with a stick. By the time I got him out he was extremely hypothermic to the point where he was pretty much unconscious. He was shaking uncontrollably and not responsive, but still breathing (whining the entire time). Luckily we were only about 5 minutes from my parents house and only 10 minutes from the vet. The vet wrapped him in electric blankets and gave him an IV of saline that he had warmed up in the microwave. After a couple hours and two IV bags later he was responsive. He walked out the the vet office a few hours later and slept for about the next 20 hours, but after that he was back to his old self and was ready to go hunting.  I kept him out of the field for a couple weeks to make sure he was back to 100%. So after this long winded story, the moral is that his neoprene vest saved his life. The vet also told me that if this ever happend again and I wasn't able to get to a vet to cover the dog in water in a bath tub and keep slowly increasing the temperature of the water until they are back up to normal temperature.  Oh yeah forgot to mention that a dogs body temp is supposed to be 105 degrees. His temperature didn't even register on the rectal thermometer which read down to 75 degrees I believe. Man dogs are tough critters.    

[Forrestrover]

Those are great looking dogs, Anderson. Scary story. Glad your dog came out of it OK.