I bought a yellow lab from a reputable breeder. She doesn't seem to shed water like other labs Ive seen. I inspected her closely and she has both her upper and inner coats. However I take her out and she still shivers even in 40 degree weather. I bought her a neoprene vest and she still shivers. She will not stay out of the water and retrieves like a master but all the whole time lookin miserable and shivering. I did notice that she soaks all the way to the skin despite her dual layers. Some one told me to coat her down with baby oil before a hunt but I don't want to do anything to my dog to hurt her. Any suggeestions?

I take it your dog is an inside dog?
The best thing I did was when the weather turns cool, is I put my dog in his outside kennel for 4-6 hours a day. that helped a bunch
Oh one more thing, excessive bathing with cause the coat issue also

Give her one egg a day, sunny side up. The oil will help her coat.

Actually she stays outside 90 percent of the time. She only comes in below 20 degrees and above 90 degrees.

Dogs naturaly shiver ~ your dogs coat is just as it should be and feeding a reputable brand dog food is all one needs to do.
Applying baby oil, or adding suppliments to food is not the thing to do. Talk to your vet.

JW

so how do I know when it becomes too much shivering? I didn't hunt my last dog when it got below 20 degrees but he was a fuller haired black lab. I want to be able to take my dog out this year but I refuse to over expose her to elements.

Also, she is fed Pedigree dry with 1/2 can of pedigree wet. I heard this was the best food for the money.

http://www.icelandpure.com/salmon_oil_info.htm

Not sure if this is even close to the problem but are you sure its the cold thats making him shiver? I have border collies for working dogs and I have two that will work in any weather possible, no problem. When its time to work certain sites though and they get super focused, they'll just sit there, focus and shake. It looks like they're shivering but they are getting so amped and ready for their command to go to work, they shake. Just a thought, good luck

I have a Lab and a Springer, and feed them both Precision brand food. Their coats have a really nice shine to both of them, and I have to think it is because of the food, being they are different breeds. Not sure if it will help you but I think the shiney look must be from a bit of oil.

thanks all, Im gonna try a few different approaches you all posted and see what works best