How cold is to cold to run your pup?

W

woodsman

New member
I have a 6 month old GSP and live in northern michigan.It's been a very cold winter and I have been snowshoeing with her a great deal,however,lately our temps have been single digits or below zero.What rule of thumb do you guys use,temps,length of run,wind chills etc.?
 
What is the length of time for your runs? Does the dog have a neoprene vest? Have you observed the dog shivering? Still apuppy - not sure I would push the dog too hard...
 
Yeah for sure be very careful. A frostbite on a pad will be a limp forever.

This is extreme up here. But, I just got home from a exercise for me and the pups. Real temp is -12 with a windchill -30 or so.

I notice the dogs trying hard to have fun but start favoring a paw/foot.
I get em back in the truck, right now!

My dogs are 2 and 4, be more careful with a younger dog.
I don't use vests for my pups, that would help. Feet on the dogs will lose body temp the fastest. IMO.
 
You could try and boot em. But probably best to wait this stuff out. Looks like middle of next week a significant warm up to seasonal temps.

Yeah... right where have I heard that before...:rolleyes:
 
I duck hunt my lab in 70 feet of water when the temps near zero. Also pheasant hunt him when it drops below zero. I wonder how wolves and coyotes survive.
 
I would be hesitant to run a six month gsp in those conditions for a long time. Dogs that age and size don't regulate temps in extreme conditions yet. GSP's are not built to be exposed to sub zero temps for long periods anyway. I have hunted my Labs in 10 to 15 below with no problem. But they are more at home under those conditions.
 
carptom1 said:
I would be hesitant to run a six month gsp in those conditions for a long time. Dogs that age and size don't regulate temps in extreme conditions yet. GSP's are not built to be exposed to sub zero temps for long periods anyway. I have hunted my Labs in 10 to 15 below with no problem. But they are more at home under those conditions.
Click to expand...

X2 my lab doesn't seem to mind any temp, hot or extremely cold. The only thing I noticed at the end of phez season was a lot of small cuts on his legs and feet from the icy crust, don't know if boots would have helped, never tried them before.
A friend has 2 GSP's runs them all winter to blow off steam, vest's and boots on both ever time out. He walks a few miles of trails every other day no matter if its 20 or -15 and windy. One is 4 and the other 8 or 9 yrs old
 
I train or hunt every chance I get. If I can handle the cold my dog can to. My biggest concern is torn nails from crusty snow. If I had to choose a too cold temp I'd say -15 air temp. But I have Labradors, and we all know they cannot handle nothiing but laying on the couch
 
My dog has zero problem running in the cold. BUT, his balls are another story. No joke. Seems he has a very low count during the winter. I ran him in -25 below wind chills. When we hunt it isnt for an hour. We normal have him and the others on the ground for 5-8 hours, with rotations.
Evidently there is something called thermal shock or cold insult. Probably wouldnt make much difference on live covers. But if you try to do side/side AI's low is bad.
So maybe a heads up to those that do breed and hunt in the extreme cold.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top