Sweating like a whore in church

[espringers]

65? I won't question anyone cause everyone knows what's best for their dog. But, if I couldn't hunt at 65, I would miss out on half my season.

 

[shorthairsrus]

Sub and the rest of the 60 degree club. Some of us who jump at a chance of hunting somewhere else. Can't pick the weather if u have a well excercised shorthair she will hunt in the heat. I think of some quail hunting my old shorthair did. Damn near burnt her feet on the rocks they were so hot. Run her every night during the summer and a very warm winter kennel.

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One other thing we use is the fowl smelling Gatorade from cabelas. We have more issues with cramps during the heat that stuff is a c u re all

 

[Fisherman25]

The biggest thing most are guilty of is not exercising their dogs till the week before opener, and then expecting to run them all day. My old man does the same thing and it pisses me off.

For or those that don't think a dog can hunt above 65, nobody would hunt in Kansas, OK, NC etc if that were the case. They just need to be ran consistently all year, and if you like to hunt all day, you might need more than one dog, because they do need breaks. This isn't a shot at any one person, just see a lot of it in general.

 

[Traxion]

We had a lab get heated up once. She was wobbly and couldn't stand. It wasn't terribly warm, around 65 degrees. She was forever changed. Didn't take too much heat and work to get her wobbly again. We had to be really careful with her. She was perfect in cooler weather.

One thing we carry is rubbing alcohol. Turn the dog over and pour some on their stomach skin. It evaporates quickly and cools dogs better than water. It's been nice to have a couple times.

I don't push it when it is warm. The opener here in SD got real warm on Sunday. We just hunted a bit here and there and called it quits. I'll wait for late season cooler weather.

 

[Ristorapper]

Antelope Creek. My first experience in fishing was The Antelope Creek in approx 1961 thanks to my mother!! Seined it many times for minnows too for fishing walleye later in my teenage life. ya brought back memories.

 

[Hookin8easy]

The biggest thing most are guilty of is not exercising their dogs till the week before opener, and then expecting to run them all day. My old man does the same thing and it pisses me off.

For or those that don't think a dog can hunt above 65, nobody would hunt in Kansas, OK, NC etc if that were the case. They just need to be ran consistently all year, and if you like to hunt all day, you might need more than one dog, because they do need breaks. This isn't a shot at any one person, just see a lot of it in general.

different breeds and different needs, my labs run 2-3 miles nightly with the quad at 15+ mph, that's not the longevity of pushing cattails and crp for 4-6 hours either though, just watch your dogs. Vet also warned of dunking in a pot hole to cool them down, puts them in shock. They're was a company I did pick up a couple gel cooling collars a few years back from and they do work

 

[Kickemup]

I'm part of that 65 degree club. Most of it is I don't like to push crp when it's that hot out. But I have the joy of being able to go out for an hour or 2 anytime I want in the mornings. I have no problem only doing one walk and going home.

 

[johnr]

Unlike myself, my dog gets a good 45 minute workout every single day.Without it he would be nuts. He is the Rocky of dogs, sorta ugly, not super smart, likes the dumb bitches, but can absolutely win a championship bout.
The daily run and sniff is essential. Turns a good dog great. Not a day he snt about jumping over the house to go on his journey.

 

[Redmist]

I have had a close call with my lab wirehair cross also. He now has his own cooler with plenty of cold water and a large towel soaked in water that I can wet him down with on breaks. Shorter walks with more breaks. The water bottle is a must on any hunt cool weather or not mine chokes on feathers all the time. So he needs it to help clear his mouth.

 

[Jake G]

Alot of dogs are hypoglycemic. A couple good buddies of mine were out grouse hunting before the pheasant opener and it was in the 60's that day. He runs his dog (pointer) in trials all summer long in colorado. The dog went down and started have seizures and about didn't make it. They got him to the vet and the vet gave him sugars and he came right out of it. The vet said a guy should carry a honey bottle or packets of honey along with him and give the dog a little through out the hunt. Something to research and learn about.

 

[3Roosters]

Good thread discussion here folks! and very timely! It is our dogs who have to endure our missed shots, ever wanting to retrieve the birds they have just pointed or flushed only to have their dad gum owner miss yet another shot. Dang namit owner..get your crap together or I will demand a new owner! Working their butts off, always wanting to please and ready for more. Always willing to get back in the hunt.
All that being said, we do need to make sure to pay attention to our dogs. Each of us dog owners know our dogs better than anyone else(or damn well better!) and thus we need to pay attention as they are depending on us to do the right thing. We are their leader. Same goes when the time has come to put the pooch down. It is our duty to retire them when the time comes..Sucks bad but its OUR JOB.

 

[fnznfwl]

Cant believe some of you hunt your dogs in that warm of weather. Not even a consideration once it gets much above 60 degrees for me and my lab. And she's in about as peak physical condition as a dog can get. Just not worth it for me or the dog.

 

[espringers]

its about being conscious of your dog, the situation and the conditions. after her once/year spat with working too hard from being excited (happens in 55 degree weather too), i can hunt her in pretty much in any conditions as long as i hunt under the right situations and pay attention to her. for the most part it involves the ability to keep her around water. opening weekend i hunted her all day saturday in 85-90 degree weather and sunday until the weather turned and it was about 85 then. the only issue she had was early morning saturday when it was relatively cool. once she settled down, it was game on the rest of the weekend and she was a machine. BUT... i carried 2 bottles of water and made a point to make sure we were hunting next to water of some sort if the walk was gonna last longer than 5 minutes. at no point during the rest of the hunt, did she show any signs of exhaustion or over heating and i like to think i know my dog pretty well. like i said, i've literally stopped hunting for 20-30 minutes in the middle of a walk when i thought she might be overdoing things. my previous 2 springers never ever had a problem with over heating or exhaustion. they did a good job of pacing themselves. so, this isn't necessarily a one shoe fits all situation. its all about paying attention to your dog, the conditions and the situation. like i said earlier... if i had to quit hunting when it gets to 60-65 degrees, i might as well stay home. we don't live in pheasant country. i am not about to drive 2-4 hours and spend 2-3 nights in a hotel and $300 in gas so that i can hunt til 11 AM and then go back to hang out at the hotel the rest of the day.

 

[shorthairsrus]

Cant believe some of you hunt your dogs in that warm of weather. Not even a consideration once it gets much above 60 degrees for me and my lab. And she's in about as peak physical condition as a dog can get. Just not worth it for me or the dog.

Just like I wouldn't run a truck down the highway at 95mph. If you own a corvette you push the throttle (GSP) --- they will idle at that speed. Same with the heat / or any kind of weather - its purely a chip shot for em. With that chip shot comes with a lot of what can be bad behavior that a lab doesn't have. In other words you may need to maintain that vehicle.

Here is for the over 65 club or over 60 club --- try this http://www.gundogsupply.com/rehydrate.html

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its . if i had to quit hunting when it gets to 60-65 degrees, i might as well stay home. we don't live in pheasant country. i am not about to drive 2-4 hours and spend 2-3 nights in a hotel and $300 in gas so that i can hunt til 11 AM and then go back to hang out at the hotel the rest of the day.

amen brother

 

[Enslow]

Put a fur coat on and go running in the heat. It would be brutal.

 

[johnr]

apparently you have yet to see me, I do have a fur coat, like a yeti.
chicks dig me cause I rarely wear underwear, and when I do its usually something funky.

 

[riverview]

I own labs and hunt them above 65 degrees. I always carry water (bladder in my mothers vest). If I waited for it to be 65 or cooler I would miss out on a lot of hunting. If it is really hot I always hunt close to water. I always have figured a good lab doesn't have to run around like a shorthair to find birds. they just use the noise on the ground not up in the air.

 

[Allen]

Not while hunting, but I did have the very unfortunate experience of watching a big, muscular black lab go down from heat while some friends and I were shooting clays. He never took a break even though there was a kiddy pool and water available, he and our GSPs would run helter skelter after the falling clays.

It was too late by the time we noticed the lab was in trouble, he ended up passing that night as his kidneys shut down. Very fricking bad deal. That was about 14 or 15 years ago. I watch my dogs like a hawk when in warm weather now. My current GSP had enough after a mere half mile on pheasant opener, granted...I didn't get out until it was 90 degrees. So when he laid in the shade I used all the water I had to cool him down and heeled him up to get us back to the truck.

 

[svnmag]

apparently you have yet to see me, I do have a fur coat, like a yeti.
chicks dig me cause I rarely wear underwear, and when I do its usually something funky.

I'm all about funky. I like to bust a move also. I will not spit game at another man's trick. I'm down.