conditioning a retriever for hunting season

[mrjigger]

I have a 4 year old chocolate lab who loves to retrieve.

Every year before hunting season I try to take him for runs a couple months before the season to get him in better shape. We always go to ND for a 3-4 day hunt. where we hunt 5-8 hours a day. every year his rear leg muscles get so sore that he can hardly sit down. Does anybody elses dogs have this problem? Is there anything I should be doing so this does not happen?

[FISHER ED]

I haven't experienced this in my Choc 3 year old male but we run him virtually 365. This time of year swimming is my preference. It works all muscle groups and keeps the dog cool even when it's really hot outside. When it's cooler outside and you can do field work, multiple retreives are a must in my book. A half dozen dummies thrown out 75-100 yards gives the dog a good work out. Just keep in mind that they need to get into these distances and numbers or retrieves slowly.

They are just like us. Make me run a marathon tomorrow and I guarantee I won't be going to work on Monday. Give me many months to get ready for it and I just might survive

We hunt our dog with a group of 8 in ND and a usual day for him is around 30 retreives. Do this for a week and he will sleep for about 4 days. No sign of pain, just plain [PoorWordUsage]ed out. Good luck getting your pooch ready for the season.

[wrshog]

With other hunting breeds, yes. Conditioning is important to dogs just like humans if you plan to hunt them hard, condition them the same way. It helps get you into shape for those long days too. You can also try giving them a little vitamin c before and during the hunt. It is a great antioxidant. If you don't get them the vitamin c a little asprin will work too. Not a lot of either one it's something like 1mg per 10 lbs.

[justin]

What I normaly do is start feeding in addition to her dog food is egg noodles, 2 eggs, brown or wild rice, and even a small amout of beef. It is recomended by both my vet and the pet store I go to. Just becareful to to make em fat, that isnt good for any dog.

[LABS4ME]

MrJigger, You may want to discuss this with your vet. Your dog may have developed some artheritis already. A lot of times you won't see any clinical signs until your dog has total muscle fatigue, especially during "colder" periods of work. He may prescibe Rymidal for the dog for it's pain if that is the case. Otherwise a St. Joseph's kiddie aspirin may help take the edge off. Also try swimming your dog more and running less, it's easier on the joints and they are using different muscle groups than when running, so it will help him build those up for the hunting season. Some running though will help his stamina.

Good Luck!

Ken

[mrjigger]

thanks for the tips everyone. I most likely will give my

vet a call before giving my dog anything out of the

ordinary. one thing that is going to make it hard for me is

that I just had orthoscopic knee surgery. I wont beable to run with him. Guess I will have to get him down to the lakes for swimming lessons.

thanks again

[DuluthGuy]

H2O training for sure - lot off it - they float like corks and it is very gentle on the joints. Glucosamine type suppliment will help for the joints - pick up a generic brand cheap a Sam's or somewhere. Also chocolates are the weakest of the lab breed - so, hip dysplasia (sp) is very likely in there is some form.

P.S. Most lab's stiff up after hard hunting - just work on condtioning - (the aspring and Glu will help today to encourage excersize (sp) if he is showing signs of stiffness today).

B2