ESPN Hunting

Chronic water exposure and freezing temperatures can make being in the water a dangerous proposition for the retriever, but even when temperatures are mild, water can cause problems for your dog.

Warm-weather problems

Chronic water exposure during warm weather can set your retriever up for serious ear problems. With its vertical and horizontal canals the canine ear creates an almost P-trap like configuration. This conformation is just not structured well for easy removal of water. While most of the time dogs are capable of removing trapped fluid by vigorously shaking their head, repeated water exposure produces residual moisture and ear infections result.

Symptoms to watch for include: pawing at the ears, intense redness of the inner side of the pinna (floppy part), or discharge from the ear. If your retriever appears especially prone to developing infections after short-term water exposures, he may have a skin allergy affecting his ears. Sometimes, the only way to stop these allergy-induced infections from re-occurring is to have the allergies themselves evaluated and treated.

The best way to prevent ear problems is to keep your dog's ears dry, but this can be a frustrating prospect when you are in the middle of hunting season. To overcome this, I suggest you keep an appropriate ear drying solution on hand to use after your dog has been in the water, and begin using it before problems arise.

Cold-weather problems

About Ben Character

Dr. Character is a freelance writer and private veterinary practitioner concentrating on sporting dog issues. He has practiced large and small animal medicine and surgery since graduating from Auburn University. Recently, he went on to complete post-doctoral studies at Mississippi State University. Dr. Character is a certified PennHIP member and writes for magazines such as Retriever Journal and Pointing Dog Journal. He is an avid outdoorsman who resides in Union, Alabama, south of Tuscaloosa, with his wife and two children.

Now let's consider the more common temperatures during a normal duck season — freezing. What do you get when you put water and cold together? You get ice, of course. Icy marshes, ice flows on rivers, and iced-up ponds are all dangerous areas for your retriever. One wrong step and you or your retriever could be plunged into a situation from which there is no escape.

The best way to handle danger is to avoid or prevent it. This is where having a well-trained retriever may save his life. When you drop a bird on the middle of an iced-over pond or in an icy marsh full of sink holes, the value of your time teaching "whoa" and "stay" will skyrocket like a bull stock market. Never send a dog onto the ice to get a downed bird. If your dog tests you or you're afraid that your dog won't be able to ignore the bird, just pack up and leave. There's always tomorrow.

Prolonged exposure to sub-freezing water temperatures or even long-term exposure to cold and windy conditions can put your retriever at risk for hypothermia. Even though they are very well built to handle very cold days and water temperatures that would send us running for a hot shower, if some form of shelter is not available, or they become trapped in icy water, deadly hypothermia may occur.

Symptoms of hypothermia follow a predictable pattern. The first symptom will be shivering, as the body tries to warm itself. This will progress to weakness, stiffness, and stupor. In the final stages of hypothermia the dog will lapse in to unconsciousness or coma, and then, unless heating occurs, they will die. (Note: These symptoms are also very similar to what would happen for yourself during over exposure)

Frostbite: Use caution when allowing your dog to sit directly against the bottom of metal boats during freezing temperatures. If there is water in the bottom (which there usually is), even short periods of sitting still could allow extremities, and other external body parts, to become frozen to the boat. This can create an interesting (and sometimes painful) situation as you try to free them up!

Good luck and stay safe when hunting this winter.