How cold is too cold?

[BuckeyeMan]

At what point do you bag it for the safety of the dog?  I know mine's a trooper, but put her in birds and she'll work past the point of common sense.

[high country]

depends on the dog. a lab that lives outside will not flinch where a pointer that is a pet will freeze stiff.

[SnowDog]

I've had my pup out in some pretty cold conditions, and at the first sign of discomfort, we pack it up. I've also made it a habit to pack a thermometer so I can check his core temp to make sure things are all right in both the heat and cold. There is nothing worth risking the life of your "best friend" hunting partner.

There is a great post on another forum on this topic that is worth a read.
"10 Minutes from Retrieving to 'Should be Dead'"
http://www.retrievertraining.net/forums/showthread.php?t=20888

Cheers!
SD

[Stilly bay]

I've had my pup out in some pretty cold conditions, and at the first sign of discomfort, we pack it up. I've also made it a habit to pack a thermometer so I can check his core temp to make sure things are all right in both the heat and cold. There is nothing worth risking the life of your "best friend" hunting partner.

agreed.
on days like yesterday I try to keep water retrieves out of the equation. my pup made one retrieve and you could hear her gasp as she hit the water. when she got back out we made a long hike so she could warm up and was fine for the rest of the evening, and my pup isn't afraid to let me know when she is too cold.

also remember that a vest isn't going to make your dog impervious to the cold, it will help a little though.

[follow maggie]

Depends on the breed.  My lab stands up to the cold real well- she's 93 pounds of bruteness.  One thing to watch, though, is their paws.  They can get crusted up with snow and ice and get frostbitten if you're not careful about it.

[GoldTip]

I've hunted my Lab for upland in as low as negative 17F with no problems.  Had him retrieving ducks/geese one year in neg 5F temps where we were breaking ice with a steel fence post to get the Deke's in the water.  He looked damn cold that day, but seemed to do just fine.  He does live outside but now that he's 8 1/2 years old he comes in at night during these recent kind of temps.  I think as long as they are staying active they do just fine.

[Stilly bay]

Depends on the breed.  My lab stands up to the cold real well- she's 93 pounds of bruteness. 

it also depends alot on body fat, and it sounds like a 93lb female can hang with walrus's in the artic if she needed to. lots of fat, a heavy winter coat, and being conditioned to out of doors are three things that can really help a dog in winter hunting.

my pup is a lean 55lbs, she is an indoor dog, and feels the cold really quick even with a vest.

[yakimarcher]

I've got a brittany/irish setter mix, he's 11 months old and i had him on his chain in my back yard for an hour and a half this morning and he didn't want to come in when i had to leave for work. i thought for sure he'd be froze to death since it was about -9 F. I was really surprised, he just wanted to keep playing in the snow.

[Heredoggydoggy]

Depends on the dog.  Years ago, my buddy and I were bird hunting with our dogs in Swakane Canyon in +18 degree weather.  A pickup came down the road and broke the ice on a big puddle, and after the truck went by,my English Setter ran over to the puddle and flopped down into  the icewater to cool off.  That was one hot-blooded dog!  The only thing I had to watch for was ice balls between her footpads.

[Happy Gilmore]

conditioning. If your dog has been aclimated slowly and in the water from fall regularly and stays outside, probably fine.

If your dog sleeps on the couch and you take it hunting opening duck day and have done nothing else, you might have problems.

Its not the breed or what you do, it's how you prepare your dog for it.

[sisu]

Snowdog, thanks for the link. I keep those synthetic towels in my boat for Gus. When he is wet & we're under power he huddles next to me where I keep an extra XL wind proof coat to drape around him. If we are jump shooting I can't use his neoprene vest because he gets to dart hot.

[BuckeyeMan]

Thanks for all the input.  The link to that story is great, and reinforces the fact that if you are wondering, you probably shouldn't.  No bird is worth my dog.

[top pin1]

My first lab a 60lb black lab wouldnt stop no matter what the weather. I had to watch her, especially the snow built up between her paws.

One day jump shooting a slew at -5 degrees I dropped one about 50 feet out on open water. Before I could stop her she dove in and made the retrieve. Within 20 feet of coming out I watched her turn white. All the water froze. I had to spend a few minutes rubbing her down to get rid of all the ice. Didnt shoot any over the water after that. She was trooper.


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[halflife65]

I made the mistake of taking my dog when it was about -15 with a foot of snow on the ground a couple of years.  Jump shot ducks and she got wet getting them out of this creek (only running water around.)  I was only out a couple of hours and limited on ducks and got a couple of pheasants but the water froze to the dog, kind of making a crust all around her.  She was ok when we were moving but I got back to the truck and started cleaning birds and she damn near froze to death.

It was the only time that dog's ever been in the cab of my pickup.  She was so cold that she could hardly move and I ended up having to pick her up, carry her to the front of the truck and put her in.  I gave up on cleaning birds because it was too damned cold, started the truck, turned the heater on and went home to clean the birds in the garage. 

It was probably a good hour before the dog got out of the little ball she put herself in and started looking around.  Scared the crap out of me.  I won't do that to my dog again.

My dad had this GSP that was a good hunting dog but small (35 or 40 pounds.)  We were hunting in about 35 degree weather and the dog disappeared.  We looked for 15 minutes and I finally heard the dog whimpering.  In the tall grass (couldn't see it) there was the foundation of an old homestead and an open well with water in it about 3 feet down.  The dog had fallen in and was paddling around but couldn't get out.  My dad had to hold my legs and I reached down and could barely get my fingers under her collar and pull her out.  The dog was so cold that she couldn't stand up - she just kept falling down - just toppling over sideways, so my dad took his coat off and wrapped her up in it and ran back to the truck.  I carried his shotgun for him.  She didn't want to get out of the cab for the rest of the day - just stayed curled up in a little ball.  She was fine the next day, though, and just went back to hunting.