Retrievers in below freezing temps

Hunted last Friday on a frozen pond in Oklahoma. Dog was fine with the cold, but wouldn't get close to the ice.

Should be fine. Just keep an eye on how the dog is acting. If anything is off, dry them off and put them in the kennel.

Seen videos of guys hunting and the labs have ice cycles on them and they look like they're loving the action. I have never hunted freezing temps or ice with a dog, but people do it. Maybe bring a little box heater and make sure to pet it to keep the water from freezing every so often and some treats.

They’re dumb as a box of rocks but hardy as hell.

Labs have a water resistant double coat and they were bred from water dogs that came from Labrador. As in the far Northern Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. They were specifically bred to be water retrievers in colder weather and if they're active, they tend to do really well in the wet and cold. Of course, if their coats get really wet and they just sit around, they can get hypothermia just like you can.

I'm with everyone else. Bring a blanket and maybe a little heater, let them run around every now and then to keep their body temp up, and watch them for signs of distress, but they'll probably be loving it.

Your dog will be fine. 23 won’t feel like 23 would in the south. You can tell which car in the ski parking lot has a big dog inside because the windows don’t have snow. Dogs put off a tremendous amount of heat.

Re: southern dog... my old lab is South LA/MS breed. My young lab is from northern Iowa. I don’t notice a difference about their cold tolerances.

Several years back a front pushed thru with 15-20 mph winds with temps in the upper teens. Shoot our first volley my dog hits the water. Comes back, heels in his spot. Shoot another volley and he's off again. By the time he gets back to the blind, maybe 5 minutes, the spot he was sitting in is frozen. He loved every minute of it, I was freezing my balls off.