Energy Booster Snack On Long Hunt

[madmurph]

While on a long hunt, what if any snack or supplement do you give your dog for energy, and have you truly noticed a difference in the perormance of the dog?

[markj]

Well I do as my dad did. When field dressing the bird, hand the innards over to the dogs. Makes them hunt real hard and have plenty of energy.

[ezzy333]

Any energy your dog is going to have today was from food eaten yesterday. What makes it last all day is conditioning. You can give a small snack when you need one but I don't think you can see a difference since if there is one it probably won't be visiable till tomorrow.
And by then what are you going to compare it to?

Ezzy

[madmurph]

Ezzy, I agree that proper conditioning is the best thing for maintaining energy in the field. I have never given any energy supplements or snacks while in the field. That's why I was curious if anybody has truly noticed a difference when doing so.

[rkappes]

I'm curious as well....

How about peanut butter sammies since they are not as solid as other things? Would the dog be able digest it faster and turn it into useable energy faster?

I heard that it takes dogs like 6-8 hours to turn kibbles into useable energy.

[Chukar12]

My research has led me to the belief that you can get some relief by replenishing with Glycol. It replaces the "fast burning" fuels (sugar). However, even that requires a time for absorption generally an hour or more. Having said that, what we really want in a performance dog is for them to tap into the secondary fuel stored in the more complex to digest forms. This is where conditioning comes in and I believe whether its dogs or humans we commonly refer to it as metabolism.

Think of it this way...you have two ten year old boys, for the sake of argument call them Spanky and Alfafa...Alfalfa can ride his bike all day long and has to be forced to come in and eat. Spanky, being of a more substantial stature, eats a candy bar, rides his bike around the block a few times and then flops down in the shade too tired to go on. He never begins burning the more complex reserves he stores as fat, his metabolism shuts him down...it wants to burn the easy stuff it is as lazy as he is.

[ezzy333]

In our pigeons we have found that the free energy in the blood stream is used by the white muscle fibers for quick unexpected movements but it is the fat in the cells that feed the dark muscle fibers which are the ones that power the pigeon for long flights. We feed high protein feed for the first day or two after a race, gradually switch to high carbs as we near the next race and take the protein away so that the day before the race they get high carb with a little fat and then not fed after that till they get home.

Ezzy

[Brazosvalleyvizslas]

Dogs are at there highest capacity for endurance 18 hrs after their last meal. Since they burn fat mostly for endurance that meal should be high in protein and fat. Now, dogs also burn sugars for short periods so vanilla cream cookies gives short bursts. So yes, there are things you can do to help. My dogs are on a supplement called K9 Superfuel and yes you can see a difference both in lean muscle and drive.

[cjhills]

In our pigeons we have found that the free energy in the blood stream is used by the white muscle fibers for quick unexpected movements but it is the fat in the cells that feed the dark muscle fibers which are the ones that power the pigeon for long flights. We feed high protein feed for the first day or two after a race, gradually switch to high carbs as we near the next race and take the protein away so that the day before the race they get high carb with a little fat and then not fed after that till they get home.

Ezzy

How do figure all this out. Seems like it would take some serius testing.

[Meller]

I supplement with satin balls while on the road, and hunting for long periods for five or six days in a row.

[MikeB]

You can Google Satin Balls for the recipe. It's excellent for adding weight to some dogs too.

[jimbo&rooster]

when running coyote hounds a couple of the old timers carried around a bottle of honey, and when they would pick up dogs either after a catch or strung out on a chase, they would give them a squirt of honey and a shot of water before either running them to the front or putting them in the box.

Jim

[deke]

I dont know if this works, but it did seem to help my dogs out. We would feed them a light meal in the morning before hunting, give them a peanut butter and jelly sandwich right when we got back to the truck, feed them a light lunch, let them sleep it off for a little while head out and hunt again, when we got done hunting we would feed them two cups of food plus a half a can of chicken noodle soup. Also, we gave them gatorade out in the field to give them a little sugar to burn. I must say, i am not a vet, This is what i have done, and i only do this when i am hours away from home hunting and need the dogs to hunt for a week strait.

[prairiefirepointers]

I agree with Ezzy's aforementioned statement about prior intake and conditioning. However, I always use Rehydrate, and when we break for lunch on long days afield I give them each a TRI-Nutrition bar.

Back when I had my first birddog I used my fathers old trick and carried a jar of Molasses. When she tired, I rubbed it all over her gums. Worked like a champ. Messy as hades.

[Gertie]

I haven't tried it yet but a friend of mine who does agility stuff recommended "Kronch Pemmikan" http://www.eng.kronch.com/default.asp?A ... s&Item=400 . It's made of delicious stuff like fish meal, pig fat, glucose and... CORN . She gave me a few squares so I'll let you know if I notice a difference if we use it. Anyone else tried it?

[Brazosvalleyvizslas]

I haven't tried that but agility only lasts for a matter of seconds so I don't think that is a reliable source of info. Out of the ingredients you listed only the glucose would have any affect within several hours.

[Willie Hunter]

I have used Glycocharge after the hunt for the past 5 years, there is no doubt it makes a big difference when hunting for more than one day.

http://www.lcsupply.com/Glycocharge/productinfo/GLY/

[Brazosvalleyvizslas]

Gertie, now that I actually read the site you linked, Kronch may be something to loop at especially for multiple day excursions.

I will agree with the above about Glycocharge. I didn't use it this season and I can remember only one weekend where my dog ran as well on Sunday as he did on Saturday. In every other trial, he was noticeably down on Sunday.

[MikeB]

Another product to look at is NUPRO's Custom Electrolyte Formula you mix with water.

Click on the link on the left side of the web site for Electrolyte Formula
http://www.nuprosupplements.com/

[ACooper]

I notice several people mention feeding just before or during a hunt, I would be very careful doing either.

[madmurph]

ACooper, I agree. One of my biggest fears is bloat or torsion. I never feed right before, during or right after a hunt, strenuous exercise or other active outings. A million studies give a million different causes, but I believe feeding at these times can greatly increase the chances of bloat, so why take the chance.

[Brazosvalleyvizslas]

I just re-read all of the posts and I didn't see where anyone was recommending "feeding" just before or during a hunt. Small amounts of supplements will not cause problems. Did I moss something?

[markj]

I notice several people mention feeding just before or during a hunt, I would be very careful doing either.

A full tummy may get "twisted", as I said we just give them the innards to reduce their hunger and as a treat. One time I didnt do this, went in to a place and had lunch, dog did too, ate the 2 birds we shot tore open the box they were in and went to town on them. Left me wings and feet Nothing you give a dog during the hunt will add to its ability to hunt unless you drastically dehydrate them.