Hypothermia with Dogs/Duck Hunting?

[fastfreddy]

Never experienced this before but this morning my black lab all of a sudden started going crazy...by crazy i mean like trying to nuzzle underneath every leaf, twig around the blind and was wimpering and not responding to any of what i was telling her...her back legs almost seemed nonfunctional....she could stand but not walk worth a hoot...this really started to freak me out! We were hunting over water and this probably took place 3 hours after she got wet....she was starting to look white with all the water freezing on her coat but this isn't the 1st time I've ever seen her this way..usually the best duck days are when this occurs. I ended up carrying her back to the truck and warming her up in the pickup and let her ride in the pet porter in the back seat....By the time we got home (1.5 hours) she jumped out of the truck and seemed "back to normal" as she would come to me when called.... I put her in the basement of my house and gave her food and water for now. Has anybody experienced this before? She just turned 11 this month also...Any thoughts?

P.S.--Shot 8 Mallards...3 Gaddy's and a Teal! (3 of us hunting)

 

[nannyslayer]

When we use a dog in extreme cold, we would always let them run a bit if there were a long time between flocks. Seems to keep them warm, plus a little more calm when the ducks are cupped and workin a hole.

 

[River1]

I'm no vet, but hypothermia definitely sounds possible given your description. Things start shutting down when core temps get to low. Given her age, I would imagine her circulation isn't what it once was. Certainly wouldn't hurt to get a vets opinion.

 

[Tomo]

A few years ago it was 10 degrees with a -25 wind chill when we got out to the blind on the river. Three of us squeezed in a two man blind...no room for the dog.

Tommy was 8 yrs old at the time.

We shot 15 mallards in 2 hours an Tommy fetched everyone except the last one which he just stayed by the blind whining. He was shivering and had icicles hanging all over him.

He was definitely suffering from hypothermia and it took him a week to recover. Sounds exactly like what happened to your dog.

I now have a three yr old lab that I trained and tomorrow morning you can bet that he will be in the blind with us.

 

[dedgeez]

My vet told me " if they are shivering they are fine, it's when they stop shivering that you are in trouble". Don't know if there is any truth to that or not, but I've always used a neoprene vest on my lab and it she has hunted some brutal days with no problem. I would guess it has to do with being 11 years old and lack of circulation like someone else stated. Sure is fun to have them along though, just to bad they dont live longer