My lab's coat

[trailratedtj]

My lab is kept inside and has a decent coat but probably not as good as a outdoor dog. How safe is it to hunt with him late season. He does wear a 5mm vest. How do you guys treat this siutation?

[slimngrizzly]

Is this going to be in water or the field? If your hunting upland and the dog is active, I dont think it will be a big deal at all. But if your gonna be busting ice and then making him sit there.... maybe not so good. I dont think an inside dog develops the oils as well as the thick coat that an outside dog does.

Run him hard, its a lab, its what they want you to do!

[trailratedtj]

sorry i was talking about waterfowl. he gets run hard when off the water but when on the water birds arent always steady action and sometimes theres the normal 10 minutes to an hour till the next flock of birds come through.

do you guys normally bring towels to dry some of the water off the dog?

[Joe15]

nope usually i am his towel and he shakes it off all over me

[ZEEK1223]

keep him out of the water as much as possible and he will be fine with the vest. Keep an eye on his behavior, he will let you know if something is wrong.