When is it too cold for a duck dog

[drake322]

I will say this. I had a British male that in his hey day weighed 100#. Block head, short thick tail and a hell of a dog. I bought him a vest and only used it when temp were in 30s and below. Beau would have all exposed hairs with ice on the ends and not even shiver. Keeping the dogs somewhere to sit that is relatively dry is key IMO. Now, we never have the extreme conditions like other have, but -17 wind chill one hunt and he was happy as a dog could be. Damn, I miss him.

[H2O_Fowl]

They all have the undercoat. I've been around labs for 51 years. My dad was an avid field trialer and trained professionally for years. I'm an avid hunt tester with mine. I'm not new to retrievers.

Some do have thicker coats I will give you that but they all have an undercoat. My youngest lab is an indoor dog and her coat is as thick and nice as my outdoor lab. Matter of fact she seems to take the cold better than I remember the outside one ever taking it. I had a yellow with what appeared to be a thin coat but cold weather and water never bothered him, matter of fact he'd take any water my Chesapeake would and that chessie was a bad mamba jamba in the water.

Because a dog is shivering doesn't mean it's freezing to death. It's the automatic response to keeping warm. Also ice on a dogs coat is a good thing. It's an added layer of insulation. Just like you see horses with snow on their backs and everyone thinks, oh those poor horses. When actually they are warmer with that snow than without it.

Coat thickness is a matter of genetics and breeding rather than if it's a British lab or american lab. I have friends with British labs, true British lines from Ireland. Their youngest lab and my young lab you can't tell them apart. Same type coats.

i can guarantee that my indoor lab will take every bit as much cold as your outdoor lab. Conditioning and diet plays a bigger part in than where they live. Heat is a different animal though.

Ears are a big problem in cold weather because they can get frostbite as can the scrotum as mentioned.

[mrlawler1]

Shivering isn't all that bad but if it's what you consider a violent shiver and you'd know it then the dog needs to be warmed up....the other areas of concern for frostbite are their tails and feet... Any caked on mud or ice needs to come off their tails or their feet or legs because they simply do not have any fat insulation there to protect those areas... The closer to the body on the legs then you get more into the fat reserves...

[TrackerPro16]

Good high energy fatty breakfast (and lunch) for the dog, water vest, Little Buddy portable heater, wool blanket to sit on. Another blanket to wrap them in or YOUR coat if they start to look cold. Always ride inside the vehicle to and from. Don't need them to start off or end the day cold soaked from wind chill. Done a lot of single digit days with our four legged kids...

[Bandwagon]

Make sure he has a small meal prior to going out as he will need the energy.

[larryhyco]

Labs can’t get too cold when they are young. They will have ice on their fur and be happy as can be.

Mine were like this when they were young