Check out this award worthy photo by PS Korupa!
• More types of hunting dogs added to our Breeds list.
• Training your dog to hunt in 11 steps.
• Off Season Conditioning Guide.
• Improve your dogs overall health with proper nutrition.
• How to compete in the Hunting Dog Masters circuit.
• First Aid for Hunting Dogs
• How to release your dog from a trap
• Remedies for Skunk Spray
• DC Metro - Vet Prices
Your Hunting Dog's Nutrition
When it comes to your hunting dogs health, nutrition should not be ignored. Nutrition should actually be your biggest concern. It doesnt matter how pure your hunting dogs genetics are or how well it has been trained, your dog will not perform at its best without eating a diet that is designed for peak performance.
The title of "performance dog" does not include dogs who are brought out for opening weekend that may or may not retrieve a single fowl the entire season. Performance dogs are to be consider the hardest working hunting dogs out there, who hunt just about every weekend of the season, including hunting trips that span the course of a week. Dogs who are trained and conditioned as well as field and hunt trial dogs would also be considered performance dogs.
If you plan on feeding your performance dog whatever is the cheapest food at the time that you bought it, would be the same as feeding an olympic athlete nothing but rice. So what food what be the best for a performance dog?
Scientists at Iams went out to answer that question for you. They embarked on a study to observe the effects of various diets on the performance of pointers used to hunt in a closed field. They divided up two sets of dogs and both sets were given quality diets. The first set was given high grade performance dog chow; the other set was given a premium diet chow. They hired trainers and handlers to observe the performance of the dogs throughout the season without knowing which plan the dogs were on. Veterinarians were also brought in to observe readings of blood and the physical state of the dogs.
As the season went on, the studies became very revealing as to the effectiveness of the two types of diets. The studies showed that both sets of dogs continued to stay healthy and each would eat the same amounts of food. However, the set of dogs eating the performance chow were maintaining or gaining weight and conditioning, while the other set progressively dropped in weight and condition.
These trials revealed that the set od dogs who were fed the performance chow were performing far beyond the other set of dogs who were fed the premium chow. The results began to show that the performance dogs were able to find more targets total per hunt and locate more birds every hour of hunting than the premium chow dogs. Basically, the performance dogs on the performance chow diet, outperformed the premium chow dogs, in performance.
The biggest variant between the performance chow and the premium chow is that the performance chow contains an enormously larger amount of fat. As opposed to the performance of humans, dogs require a minimal amount of carbs while requiring a much higher increase in fat.
Additionally, performance chow also contains an incease of protein which is useful for dogs involved in a more aerboic training regiment than non-performance dogs. The increased amounts of fats and proteins may also assist in helping dogs adapt to higher temperatures such as areas in the south.
If your performance dog doesnt perform all year long, your dog doesnt require performance chow all year long. When switching from a performance chow to a premium chow, it is best to subtely transition between the foods by mixing the new food with the old food for about three or four days. If your dog is on a premium diet as the season approaches, studies indicate that you should allow eight weeks before the season begins to switch to the performance chow. This will allow your dogs body to adjust to the increase in fat, allowing it the ability to utilize the fat when the season begins.
