# How cold is too cold for Labrador swimming?



## slicksps (Oct 11, 2009)

Started fishing every so often to see if I can catch some free dinner and thought it could be good to try training Shadow to help me land fish (if I ever catch the damn things)

It would get him involved and give him something to do...

The thing is, how cold is too cold when it comes to the water? He ran into the sea a couple of weeks ago chasing some invisible thing and seemed absolutely fine in temperatures which would probably kill even me.

*EDIT* Should probably add that he's part Springer. That may make a difference.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

when the dog will not enter the water past paw-wet depth?, LOL...

_*just do not let dogs jump into DEPTH ever, 
unless U *KNOW* that the water is obstruction-free - Just in Case! 

Warning - ugly story - 
___________________ 
a buddy of mine had taught his 2-YO M Lab a really thrilling, leaping launch; 
one day he and the dog were driving along, it was Hot!, he saw a sign for a fishing pier; 
he figured take a break, give the dog a chance to cool off... 
the 2 of them walked the length of the pier, he casually SENT the dog hurtling, 
and the dog hit with a SCREAM - and disappeared. 
that man did not even think, he was straight into the WATER himself (which of course, 
could have been JUST as dangerous to HIM)... 
he found the dog after a struggle, managed to heave him up a LADDER on his SHOULDERS - 
and rushed to the nearest vet-ER, the dog was in shock, shallow resps. 
that poor animal RUPTURED his diaphragm on a PILING, completely submerged! 
he landed On It, ouch, ouch ouch...  
greenstick fractured ribs, much bruising, LOTs of pain! 
2 grand later, his dog was OK - very scary - no more JUMPING into deep water, 
without SCOUTING it thoroughly... launch in the shallows, much safer for all! *_ :thumbup1:


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## kevin1954 (Jul 2, 2008)

Hi there, my 2 boys swim in the sea occasionally but we have to be careful because if they swallow too much sea water it can upset the older boy's digestion. They swim in the river or lake local to us at least once but usually 2 or 3 times a week, the swimming is good for the older boy as he has arthritis. I take them in all weathers but don't allow him to swim if it is frosty or colder than say 3 or 4 degrees C air temp.


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## Guest (Dec 7, 2009)

If your dog is going to sit on the river bank in freezing weather after the swim, then I don't think it's a good idea.
If he is running around after, let him decide


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## DelboyTrotter (Nov 14, 2009)

As above poster has said, let the dog decide, if the dog is working they shiver like hell at the end of the day, a good rub down and maybe a equa fleece are a worthy investment.


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## slicksps (Oct 11, 2009)

leashedForLife said:


> when the dog will not enter the water past paw-wet depth?


That's probably it, let him decide if it's too cold. This patch is free of nasties but warning heeded. I'll give him a try with a tennis ball when we go down tonight. I'll bundle a towel into the car just in case.

If it's too cold, he just won't go in.

Definitely when it's freezing freezing we'll avoid it. He won't be sitting around afterwards. When we're outside he can't keep still, too many smells to sniff. He's usually on the rampage to find the smallest piece of stick he can possibly pick up for me to throw. How he finds it in the dark with high, cold winds is just fascinating.


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## Corinthian (Oct 13, 2009)

If he can walk on water, it's too cold.


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## MerlinsMum (Aug 2, 2009)

Corinthian said:


> If he can walk on water, it's too cold.


LOL!!!!!!!!! :lol:

And yes, very dangerous to let a dog walk on ice.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

re corinthian -



> If he can walk on water, it's too cold.


yup - 
and *how many bleedin eejits leave the dog OFF-leash 
at the local park to chase the waterfowl, who Of Course take flight over the ICE?... 
and then the poor dingbat dog follows after, crashes thru,  and the Fire Dept 
has to rescue the poor sod, :yikes: freezing and shaking and dam*-near stiff?! 

every year,  this little drama gets endlessly looped, oh my word! 

people - Human beings! - are very definitely IMO the hardest to train... 
at least, if theres any species that is MORE difficult, i have yet to encounter them - 
and by Heaven, i do not even want to TRY training them!, whatever they may be - 
i know my limits, LOL... * :lol: :lol: 

cheers, and a safe and happy winter-sports season to all! 
--- terry


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## slicksps (Oct 11, 2009)

Our local duck ponds have fencing around. Personally between inquisitive Shadow and the terrifying, defensive Swans, I think Shadow is more at risk if they weren't there. Shadows comes wandering over to us for a play and those swans jump out onto the ledge hissing and flapping like crazy... the queen's birds my a$$



leashedForLife said:


> has to rescue the poor sod


Completely unrelated, I don't think I've ever heard an American say the word 'sod' is that normal? Have you spent too much time on an English forum or do you have some English in you? (By English I mean British English not American Sodomisation... [no offence  ])


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## lemmsy (May 12, 2008)

Corinthian said:


> If he can walk on water, it's too cold.


:lol:
In a nutshell :lol:


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

re slick -



> Completely unrelated, I don't think I've ever heard an American say the word 'sod' - _*is that normal?*_
> Have you spent too much time on an English forum or do you have some English in you?


hey, slick! :--)

i don;t know if it is normal - but i have never claimed to be, LOL. (shrug)

i like language; just as an FYI, women pick up idiomatic tidbits much-more rapidly than men, 
when they are learning a new language. it gives women a distinct edge in translation; 
also in any cross-cultural communication, as women tend NOT to say things in an un-intentionally offensive manner.  

*side topic - *
that was one of the big problems in all of the recent USA-military engagements in the Middle East; 
this is not OUR culture, and the military were always sticking their feet into their all-too-open mouths, 
and wiggling their naked toes out their deaf ears, ye gods... 
a LOT of really stunningly bad communication went on, for years. 
_*military minds think in terms of military solutions - 
they SUCK at dealing with the needs of civilian refugees, hungry, homeless, scared, displaced people, 
whose jobs, lives, and futures have been turned upside-down and inside-out. *_ 

they seem to have FINALLY got it into their heads that they have to talk to civilians, 
to help their own cause - _talk to them - not order them, not bulldoze!_
maybe peace will be possible, in the next 2 or 3 generations, ~ sigh ~. 
but i will not be around to see it. (shrug)

*i love words - i have a polyglot vocabulary,  always room for another perfect term or phrase... * 
and no - no Brits in the family; Irish! *Ooop the Oirish! God bless us all... *
cheers, 
--- terry


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## MerlinsMum (Aug 2, 2009)

slicksps said:


> Completely unrelated, I don't think I've ever heard an American say the word 'sod' is that normal?


Lol... I wondered the same.... See pic below:









Taken in the Appalachians in Georgia a few years ago. My American host couldn't see the joke _at all_.


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## maxandskye (Jan 31, 2009)

MerlinsMum said:


> Lol... I wondered the same.... See pic below:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Brilliant piccie, LOL.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

the Appalachians (said Ap - uh - LATCH - ee - uns) were settled overwhelmingly by Scots-Irish, and a dialect that was quite unique to the mountain people there, persisted for over 2 centuries. 
the music, too, was specific to their small world, of steep valleys and spectacular views.

it was not until after WW-I and into the Depression that much change came - 
the Depression forced even many hardy self-reliant hill-people to leave, in order to feed their children; 
the fertility of the hill-farms had been badly damaged by poor husbandry, and erosion had taken much topsoil. 
young adults of both sexes, and husbands and fathers left; many women and children stayed behind, 
as eking out a subsistence with a cow, some chickens and a mule, 
was cheaper than trying to house + feed a family in the city.

also in the 1930s, the eugenics movement and early social-studies badly treated the mountain-people; 
inbreeding in the sparsely-settled and remote valleys was a common problem, and many young men 
went out of the mountains to find a wife not related to them.

the term _*hillbilly*_ was NOT a derogatory term, to begin with; it referred to the tough and agile mountain-folk 
as mountain goats, living lightly and high, far above the broad, safe, lowland valleys. 
but today, still, hillbilly can get Ur lights punched-out, if used at the wrong time, or to the wrong person. 
SOCIOLOGISTS of all people!, made the former proud, self-awarded title into a term of derision, 
tainted with ignorance, shiftlessness, and clannish suspicion of outsiders.

many wonderful phrases from the Scots-Irish still pop-up like mushrooms in US-english, including 
*dead as a door-nail*... door-nails were _*clinched, or bent, and thus could never be used again; 
cut-nails and handmade nails were so precious, houses, barns or sheds that were no longer used 
or occupied, were torched for their hardware; door-nails were good only as metal to be re-forged. *_

today, the descendants of the Scots-Irish are still trying to save what is left of their beautiful mountains 
and the unique species found there; more than 200 years of extraction industries, 
from timber to mining, have left huge scars. 
_*mountaintop removal as a coal-mining technique is the most recent deadly threat; acid leachate 
from mines, coal-ash slurry, and other environmental legacies mark the landscape like ulcers.*_*

the mountains at a distance are as blue and beautiful as ever; fold on fold, fading into the horizon. 
and the people are still as hardy, pithy and clan and village minded; a death in a family brings food 
from miles about, and a barn raising or christening are still community events. 
neighbors and neighborliness matter, here.*

if U ever get the chance to hike the Appalachian Trail - _*GO. there is nowhere like it on Earth. 

love Ur Mother... *_ 

--- terry


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## MerlinsMum (Aug 2, 2009)

leashedForLife said:


> if U ever get the chance to hike the Appalachian Trail - GO. there is nowhere like it on Earth.
> 
> love Ur Mother...


Hahaha! I didn't meet many/any? hillbillies but the week I spent in a cabin in Nth Georgia was truly lovely, the mountains are very beautiful indeed and chock full of great wildlife.... deer coming up to the cabin, chipmunks, turtles in the forest, snakes, skinks, salamanders, skunks, cicadas, and katydids on the back porch.

I also discovered boiled peanuts.... Yum!


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

re sue -

a lot of Irish-Americans still refer to Eire as * the Auld Sod... especially on Saint Paddys!, 
or when they gather for a baptism, wedding or funeral, and wax sentimental and soppy.* 

U would be amazed, the number of men in business-suits who can warble 
*I;ll Take U Home Again, Maureen*...  or cry over *The Wearing of the Green.* 

--- terry


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## Colliepoodle (Oct 20, 2008)

> the Appalachians* (said Ap - uh - LATCH - ee - uns) *were settled overwhelmingly by Scots-Irish, and a dialect that was quite unique to the mountain people there, persisted for over 2 centuries.
> the music, too, was specific to their small world, of steep valleys and spectacular views.


Ooh I always thought it was pronounced "Apple-AY-shuns"!!

Have I been saying it wrong all these years (not that I say it that often, to be fair)??

Mind you I was 34 before I learned that Arkansas isn't pronounced as it's spelled.


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## Plabebob (Nov 30, 2009)

Nope I'm pretty sure that it's lay not laaa as well! Unless radio 4 get it wrong & I seriously doubt that


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

the people who live-there call them the Ap-uh-Latch-ee-uns... ;--) 
and i agreed with my college-prof, who said the residents rule. 
(i said Apuh-LAY-shuns up until then, too! ;--) 


my prof was involved in the first-few editions of the FOXFIRE books - 
saving traditional crafts from extinction. he was a terrific teacher... 
great class, i took the honours class the next-term. 

cheers, 
--- terry


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## Plabebob (Nov 30, 2009)

leashedForLife said:


> the people who live-there call them the Ap-uh-Latch-ee-uns... ;--)
> *and i agreed with my college-prof, who said the residents rule. *
> (i said Apuh-LAY-shuns up until then, too! ;--)
> 
> ...


It's a weird one that though - I don't say the names of american places with an accent normally (noo york!) I say them in my own accent.


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## Colliepoodle (Oct 20, 2008)

Plabebob said:


> It's a weird one that though - I don't say the names of american places with an accent normally (noo york!) I say them in my own accent.


It's "Noo Yoik" isn't it? :biggrin:


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

huh-uh.... its N-yAWk, (grin) :lol: :lol: 

and duh toikey was berled in erl dis yeah... 
(the turkey was boiled in oil, this year... ;--) 
> snort < :laugh: 

ta, 
--- terry


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## lady_r0gue (Jul 22, 2009)

leashedForLife said:


> just as an FYI, women pick up idiomatic tidbits much-more rapidly than men,
> when they are learning a new language. it gives women a distinct edge in translation;
> also in any cross-cultural communication, as women tend NOT to say things in an un-intentionally offensive manner.


So are you a lady, Terry? I hadn't worked that out yet x fascinating posts there btw!  xx

Slick - well I don't know, u know, my boy loves to swim and will swim for hours in the summer but I'm not letting him in the water at the moment - temperature aside, it's tidal and seems a lot fuller and faster than in the summer - yesterday the river flooded a bit and he accidentally/on purpose investigated too far and splooshed in off the edge - I called him straight out and he harrumphed and snorted a lot more than usual - I guess the watewr must've been pretty icy! I think that if he really wanted to swim he would be doing it naturally, he likes a paddle but doesn't tend to just go for a swim this time of year. I don't chuck sticks in for him this time of year as I'd rather not wade in were he to get in any trouble plus wet dogs in winter don't rock!


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

> So are you a lady, Terry? I hadn't worked that out yet x


yes, definitely female...  
but i have been mistaken for M many, many times in my life in person, as i have had a lot of jobs that are 
traditionally-M, (landscaping, plant-nursery, fine dining staff, etc) and wardrobe is not much of a clue.

i never get weirded-out when folks take me for M - i have discovered that it has advantages - 
customers in the garden-nursery who THOUGHT that i was M, (even tho their first-impression of my gender 
was immediately corrected when i turned around, coverall-clad, to face them, LOL, or spoke - 
i do not have a girly-voice but for sure a womans) - 
were a ==LOT== more likely to actually *listen to my suggs, and then to act on them.  
it happened far too-often to be mere coincidence - 
customers who thought i was M, listened + took me seriously; customers who KNEW ahead of 
their Q that i was F, were more than twice as likely to dismiss both me, and my advice, LOL...
even when the nursery-mgr sent them to me, specifically for that advice. 
humans are a strange species... and it was true of F customers, too, which really surprised me. *

i make no attempt to deliberately mislead - but i have been surprised what a diff it makes. 
i would never in my life, have =predicted= that being Seen* As F would get me dismissed as clueless, 
where being Seen * As M, would gild every word out of my mouth,  LOL... 
even tho the impression lasted only a minute or less, literally. 
same advice, same client base... totally different reception + outcome. 
humans are defo odd... (grin)... me, too. :laugh:

cheers, 
--- terry


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

blue mountains walking away...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park North Carolina, Tennessee UptoCamp

a creek in spring... 
Great Smoky Mountains National Park en route to Ramsey Cascades 
Photographer's Name:	Ben Fertig
Photographer's Company:	IAN, UMCES
Date Photo was taken (MM/DD/YYYY):	12/31/1969

the 2nd image is a mountaintop-removal mine in Wyoming.


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