Ways to Energize your dog during a hunting day??

[OUTDOORNUT]

It is that time of the year when I start thinking about what methods I'm going to try this year for helping my dog maintain a nice level of energy thoughout the day afield.

I've used everything from Pasta to Purina Proformance Bars to Dyne.

I'd like to hear what others use, what works best, etc.

(assuming your dogs have been getting daily workouts and are in good shape already.)

[catman71]

i have 2 big male labs and the night before I take them upland hunting I cook pasta and oats, mix in some packs of Raman noodles for the cheapness and the flavor packets (1 pack of flavor per batch, it's all salt). The average guy cannot tell but I really notice a longer stretch between the first half hour of excitement and the end of the day "walk on my heels"

On a really hot day I gave them both Gatoraide cut with 1/2 water and it seemed to help quite a bit.

I'm no vet but I can't see either thing really hurting a dog.

[catman71]

i heard once and my vet agreed, that some eggs once in a while during the duck season will help a dog maintain oil on thier skin and coat. that being said, he also said NO BATHS during the duck season as well as the soap break down the oils. Let me just say my dogs are big and fat inside dogs so maybe i'm all wrong!

[gspman]

A wild pheasant or grouse every 30-60 minutes seems to energize my dog just fine.

[catman71]

that used to do it for mine too. But they are getting a little old, one has hip problems and are tipping the scales at 120 and 100. I don't feed them that much but if I work them hard the one in particular gets very sore. Next time i want a 1/2 lab 1/2 chessie cross, perhaps the gene diversity will prevent some problems.......

[Bushwacker]

Quote:

---

A wild pheasant or grouse every 30-60 minutes seems to energize my dog just fine.

---

That is exactly what I was thinking. I ofter daydream of the day when I have to worry about 2 year old lab not having enough energy I switch her to performance dog food during August when we step up the training and get into the hunting season. You can tell about 2 days after the switch that the high performance translates into high energy. When she first gets out of the house or her kennel you have to get out of her way because she has to make 4 or 5 full speed laps around the yard. I did pick up some tablets at the game fair that are supposed to be like a Gatoraide for dogs. I worry about my dog getting heat stroke because she won't even drink water when we are in the field, this stuff takes like chicken and replenishes the eloctrolites. After having a dog for a couple of years it really makes me realize the difference nutrition makes. It makes me think a little about what I put in my body.

[Jackpine Rob]

My old dog gave me the same problem - simply too excited about the hunt to drink or eat. During the course of the hunting season his weight would drop way too much. Seemed like he was either having too much fun or then simply too tired to bothering eating. Then I started giving some of that canned dog food at lunch time - just a can then, and another can on his food in the evening after the hunt and a suitable cool-down period. The liquid seemed to help him, and I noticed that his weight seemed to stay up better during the hunting season. Another little trick was to get some canned gravy in the grocery store and mix it up with some dry food.

You do want to be careful with the mid-day food thing though - give them too much and you could have problems, at least with larger breeds.

[leechlake]

I think the most important thing is to know you're dog and make sure they eat. One of my dogs eats her food in 30 seconds, rain or shine, tired or not. One dog, especially when tired or other dogs are around needs some help. Bacon grease, canned dog food, etc mixed with his regular food just to get him to eat it. Also, I make sure I watch my dog eat. Nothing like putting the food down, walking away some other dog eats your dogs food and you come back and assume your dog ate. That may not be an issue but we all know the dog food dogs love the most is anything new that isn't their normal food. I'd say some sort of small snack with a new doggy bar only makes sense. Probably beats the 1/2 sandwich my dogs get.

[BLACKJACK]

If you're talking about a one day hunt, if you're feeding a high quality dog food, they should have enough energy. When we go to SoDak for five days, they're so tired after a day that sometimes they don't want to eat, so we mix up a dish of dry and canned food each evening, and then stand there and make sure each one eats their own, some dogs are pigs and will wolf it down while others are slow eaters. I'd be real leery of the bacon grease, thats a mess waiting to happen!! One time we had a little left over pheasant stir fry and we mixed it with their chow, what a mess that was in the truck in the morning!!! Yikes! Sometimes we'll give them a little dry food at noon while we have our sandwich, but I don't really think that they need it. Catman, it sounds like your dog is overweight and out of shape... Older dogs, fixed or not, will gain weight easily, I go to the 'lite' dogfood in the summer and really watch portion sizes. My two year old pays the price and looks skinny but it sure helps with the eight year old lab.

[OUTDOORNUT]

I'm talking about 3-4 days every weekend during Pheasant season & 2-3 nights per week hunting Grouse. My Lab will be in the Duck blind from Sunrise to 8:50 then it is back to the truck, switch out the vest, grab the other dog and hunt pheasants until dark. I hunt with very high energy dogs (Wirehairs, Shorhairs, Weimys) we see them lose energy rapidly if not given extra supplements. I should have clarified more. I'm not talking about one day hunting.

Catman71 - the hip problems are a direct result of being overweight. Try your best to cut those weights down. And try a little asprin when training/working your dog. It will help with the pain.

[gspman]

If your dogs are not eating during hunting season and hunting trips you could try the "gravy in a bottle" stuff that Iams is now selling. You just pour some on their dry kibble. That might entice your pooch to eat. I know of one serious hunter/trialer that is going to give that a try this fall and I may buy a bottle or 2 as well.

[Swamp Scooter]

A few things I have used over the years with my Vizslas is making sure you give them a top quality base food. something with 30% protein and about 20% fat. This will cover the basics. Also think about how many calories are in the volume you are feeding. Some foods are about 2000 calories per cup so 3 cups is only 6000 calories. For all the running they do it is no wonder they drop weight. I would feed them up as much as they wanted and found if I could get them to take in 12000 - 18000 calories( by my rough estimate) they maintained the weight. Most of that came from the food. Trying to give them 2 full meals a day. Make it soupy with any sort of canned food. Cheap stuff can give them the runs but I also have used cream cheese. Not that expensive, stays fresh without much cooling, and NO RUNS. This can round them out too.

I also collect some of the sample foods at teh Game Fair and places. This I keep with me in the field and when there is a lull in the action or we break I give them a packet - about 1 cup.

the evening meal is hard to get them to eat if the day has been long and sometimes resorts to hand feeding the old dog.

An aspirin can help with the soreness too. REMEMBER NEVER ADVIL - IBUPROFEN - This is toxic to the dogs.

[wolfman-k]

Has anyone tried Glycocharge? I just read about this, and it makes alot of sense to replace the sugars that get burned up in the muscles would seem to keep their energy levels up for a day of hard hunting. This is to be given to your dag AFTER you're done hunting for the day. I believe that there is a 'home-made' version of this too, (sugar-water)if cost is a factor.

[akomadogman]

Outdoornut, I use two products that i am very happy with. My favorite is called "Top Dog Power Stix". They are like a Slim Jim with lots of good stuff in them to keep their energy going. They have a HSOforum. The other is K-9 restart. I mix it in their water and give it to them when I water them in the field. I agree with the guys about a rooster every few minutes but it goes back to how fast they recover for the next days hunt. Same reason I use those 12 Volt heat pads I found. Lay them in my dog crate,plug em in my dogs sleep great, even when they are is wet. Wakes up raring to go. Call me a softy, but this is my partner!! The Dog

[Kodiak]

red bull and a hotdog....no i was wondering if eggs are good for dogs due to the high protein plus it is natural.

[leekie]

I had a lab for years which I bought from a hunt club when he was 2 years old. The trainer at the club told me to give the dog a half of a Hersheys bar part way thru the day. I have heard that chocolate is bad for dogs, but he lived to be an old dog. He also said not to feed or water a dog in large amounts before it runs. He claimed it may flip the dogs stomach which will kill or harm the animals insides.

[Kodiak]

Quote:

---

He also said not to feed or water a dog in large amounts before it runs. He claimed it may flip the dogs stomach which will kill or harm the animals insides.

---

whoaa no Sh*t thanks for the heads up!!

[OUTDOORNUT]

I had a close friend lose his Lab that way. It is more prone in "Barrel Chested" dogs, but a good practice with any dog none the less! It is also easier for a dog to digest their food if their feeding bowls are elevated.

[Kodiak]

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

He also said not to feed or water a dog in large amounts before it runs. He claimed it may flip the dogs stomach which will kill or harm the animals insides.

---

[/indent]

so how much time before you go out hunting do you feed them?

[OUTDOORNUT]

The more time you can give them, the better. I'm sure within a hour a dog has started breaking down most of what they ate. I know when we Pheasant hunt we always try and get up and get the dogs feed early (6:30-7:00 a.m.) Giving them a good two-two and half hours before hitting the field.

[leekie]

I was told to only feed him 4 cups of "good dog food" no Ole Roy....once a day when I was putting him away for the night (80-90lb dog)

At the Hunt Club he took away the food after 10 min. He claimed if the dog does not eat its food by that time, they are not hungry or their body is telling them they do not need that stored energy.

I stress that I am no expert, just telling you the way I was told to care for my dog. I am guessing this is another type of training/conditioning for a dog mentally as well as physically.

[walleye_dog]

My vet once recomended Karo corn syrup. Just put some in a small jug and carry it in your vest. Just a little bit with some water during the day seems to help my lab while pheasant hunting in SD every year.

[311Hemi]

I want to bring this back to the top.

Will be my first year hunting with my dog and I am curious what peoples feeding schedules are. Do you feed morning and night with snacks mid-day? Duck hunting is in two weeks and I am wondering if I should feed when we get up at 4am, and then once we get home or what?

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

I stay with PDC but increase amount as I work dog more. I also give her a small amount during the hunt when we break for lunch. Lots of water and that is it. My dogs stamina seems more closely related to outside temp. She just doesnt last long if its hot but can go forever if its cool and or/raining. Its really a bummer to go all the way to Iowa for opener then see 80 degrees. Fortunately the birds are thick enought to successfully hunt without dog part of the day.

[ReelTimes]

Interesting to hear the different ideas. We have spaniels and they generally run hard all day long. I have found that sometimes due to fatigue they are not real excited about their dog food at night. We feed Iams but have found coating the food with gravy helps tremendously. Then we just do a light feed early in the morning given 3 hours b4 the hunt. Throughout the day frequent but small amounts of water. I carry water bottles in my vest throughout the day. Perhaps the same with a gatorade drink would make sense. We do notice that towards the 3rd or 4th day the dogs tend to get a little soreness or fatigue but I think the best remedy is a good amount of grouse hunting for conditioning prior to going to SD. The other comment on warm days, and this probably seems obvious, but we usually have 4-5 dogs on the trip. We watch the dogs closely and often times will only hunt them hard for an hour and then switch up the dogs, letting them rest for an hour or two and then rotate. If you have several good dogs amongst your hunting partners, its a good way to keep fresh dogs in the field throughout the day when its hot outside.