Long day hunting ideas?

helpful_cub · Post by **helpful_cub** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 10:21 pm

So I kick off opening quail season day in field with 4 other guys and my one GSP. So for whatever reason the birds were flushing 50+ yards out and not even giving my little guy a chance to sniff and point. Anyways, so we break at 9am and I drive to the Red Mountain, CA area. I full well know it will be hot, mid-day and what quail left will be terrified from the horde of hunters in the morning. Long story short, it was about 85 degrees, my GSP had at least 3 hours of rest and hydration and after 20 minutes in the new area he decides to quit. He heeled and refused to leave my shadow and hunt. And of course I stumble on to 20 quail in a creek bed hanging out in the shade. Had my dog been working that would have been an easy point for him. So how can I keep his energy up and him cool enough to keep going? By the way, since it's deer season in CA we Uplanders are only allowed 1 dog per hunter.

I do carry water for him and I do water his back down to help his black and white coat stay a little cooler.

birddogger · Post by **birddogger** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 11:15 pm

Those kind of temps can be tough on a GSP, at least it is on mine. My roan colored dog seem to be more affected by it than the two white and liver ones. I don't know if the coat color is the reason though. The only suggestion I have is to make sure he is in top physical condition leading up to hunting season. Also, if he is a house dog, hunting in the warmer temps will make it harder on him.

Charlie

SetterNut · Post by **SetterNut** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 7:22 pm

Be careful, 85* is pretty hot for any dog to hunt long and hard in. Even when they are drinking a lot of water they can overheat.

Once you let a dog get heat stressed / stroked it will happen more easily. Dogs die from heat every year.

When it is hot, its best to hunt early in the day. If there are ponds or creeks that the dog can get in to cool off that helps, but you still have to be careful.

ultracarry · Post by **ultracarry** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 10:21 pm

You have to build the dog up to hunt all day or even for a few hours. In California there is also a variety of terrain the dog will run in and different elevations.

Condition the dog to run all year. Make the dog run off the quad or truck all through the summer and it won't effect them as much next year. What lines are you GSP from anyway?

helpful_cub · Post by **helpful_cub** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 11:51 pm

ultracarry wrote:What lines are you GSP from anyway?

Honestly I'm not sure. His puppy registration number is: SR59190104. I should quit being lazy and actually mail his AKC paperwork in. He hunts, is occasionally loveable and mostly mindful, so he works for me.

I wonder if using something like "Rehydrate" in his water would help? I could probably also give him chilled water that's melted in the cooler. I wonder if putting one of those light weight orange vests on him would keep the sun from hitting his dark coat; that may help him keep him a little cooler? I mean dogs don't sweat through their backs so its not stopping any evaporative cooling.

DonF · Post by **DonF** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:03 am

You can't carry enough water to cool an overheated dog. Pouring it on the head and back don't help. You need to submerse it. Not being able to do that, roll him over and pour water on it's chest.

birddogger · Post by **birddogger** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:46 pm

I wonder if using something like "Rehydrate" in his water would help? I could probably also give him chilled water that's melted in the cooler. I wonder if putting one of those light weight orange vests on him would keep the sun from hitting his dark coat; that may help him keep him a little cooler? I mean dogs don't sweat through their backs so its not stopping any evaporative cooling.

Conditioning..conditioning and conditioning!

Charlie

Troy08er · Post by **Troy08er** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 7:56 pm

I start running mine about 3 weeks before the season starts leaning him out.Once the season starts i'll change his food to 30/20.

Christopher · Post by **Christopher** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:11 pm

I like that your dog knew when to say when and healed up and quit when he got hot. I hunted this morning and it was about 35 degrees, it was nice. As the day progressed it got up to 70 and very sunny. My liver GSP got hot, we took lots of water breaks, he drank two quarts of water in five hours then I boxed him up. I don't imagine my dog would go very far or long in 85 degree weather and he is in decent shape.

helpful_cub · Post by **helpful_cub** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:16 pm

He's definitely getting a workout. Today I took advantage our location and did morning hunting until about 10:30am in the desert. Then we packed up and headed for higher elevations. Around 7000 feet its nice and cool with the occasional Mountain Quail. Expensive on the gas though.

Christopher · Post by **Christopher** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:35 pm

Excellent idea, those of us who live near mountains can do that. I stopped off for a few minutes myself on the way back home in the mountains to let the dog run, man, was it nice and cool up there.

Post by **kninebirddog** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:56 pm

a buddy of mine was just telling me about these cooler vest http://www.gundogsupply.com/ruff-wear-swamp-cooler.html he has a dog that doesn't tolerate heat well no matter how much he tries and condition him said with this vest his dog is now out hunting the rest of his dogs so he is getting a few more vests to hunt his dogs with...I am thinking about getting one to try out also

Billinsd · Post by **Billinsd** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 1:22 pm

I also hunted the Mojave on Saturday. I was about 50 miles south of you, in the Apple Valley. It was VERY HOT and very bright!!

My gsp is 4.5, weighs 43 pounds, has a HUGE PREY DRIVE, is in great shape, and is all HEART. And we have been going on local hikes. It was still tough.

I carried 2 gallons of water and most of it was for her. I was careful not to spill much. When we took breaks I found cool shady spots like this photo.

She pointed a covey at about 7 am in the morning. After that the scenting conditions deterirorated and it was tough for both of us.

We hunted from 6:30 am and got back at the truck by about 3:30pm after we had run out of water. The gps showed that we walked over 8 miles, up and down. She probably ran around over 30 or so? My dog kept hunting all day, however, she did get tired out chasing a cripple that she gave up on. I did not push her and took her aside to some shade and we rested and I gave her water.

I recovered very easily and she was pretty tired and sore the next day. It took her a couple days to recover.

We are headed back out again tomorrow. This time I will head back to the truck earlier this time.

Most hunters in the Mojave hit the guzzlers and most do not hunt very hard or very long. Last year it was in the 80s in January.

Good luck
Bill

Billinsd · Post by **Billinsd** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 1:29 pm

helpful_cub wrote:By the way, since it's deer season in CA we Uplanders are only allowed 1 dog per hunter.

Good grief, I hope you are kidding, that is ridiculous!! I only have one dog, but who is going to enforce that and what where the ?!%$ thinking when they wrote that.

Anyway, I would not push your dog too hard. I know it is tough, because where we hunt it always seems to be so hot!!

I see you live in Antelope Valley. It gets real hot there, doesn't it? Do you leave your dog outside, or keep him inside?

I do stop often and I even just put the bladder tube in my dog's mouth to make her drink and with the other hand catch the drips to put on her head to conserve water.

About a year ago in January I made a big post kinda on the same subject. Frustrated that I thought my dog was not making points.

I've come to the conclusion that my dog is doing the best she can. More hunting and easing into hunting season and not pushing her is what I have found works best.

This weekend is the waterfowl opener and the temps in the Imperial Valley are supposed to be almost 100!!! LOL

Bill

Wenaha · Post by **Wenaha** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 5:09 pm

birddogger wrote:
I wonder if using something like "Rehydrate" in his water would help? I could probably also give him chilled water that's melted in the cooler. I wonder if putting one of those light weight orange vests on him would keep the sun from hitting his dark coat; that may help him keep him a little cooler? I mean dogs don't sweat through their backs so its not stopping any evaporative cooling.
Conditioning..conditioning and conditioning!

Charlie

X2 -- in top condition most dogs could hunt at 85dF, Young dogs, tho' you'll want to keep from burning out - pleanty of breaks in the shade and lots of water. I you can arrange your hunt to come to a creek, cattle tank, any source of water, and you can get him into it every 45 minutes to an hour... then he'll be good to go for a while.

Conditioning, Conditioning, Conditioning!

DonF · Post by **DonF** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 7:37 pm

kninebirddog wrote:a buddy of mine was just telling me about these cooler vest http://www.gundogsupply.com/ruff-wear-swamp-cooler.html he has a dog that doesn't tolerate heat well no matter how much he tries and condition him said with this vest his dog is now out hunting the rest of his dogs so he is getting a few more vests to hunt his dogs with...I am thinking about getting one to try out also

Would be interesting to see if that really works. I was always under the impression that dogs sweat thru their tounge. I have never felt a wet spot fron any of my dogs when they got hot. Watch a hot dog when it goes to water and it will lay down with it's chest in the water. Same with a puddle. Rather thaan roll, they lay on their belly's and chest.

helpful_cub · Post by **helpful_cub** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 12:55 am

So far I've been having success with the water cooled vest suggested above. The main downside is that it drys really fast and needs constant replenishment to keep it cooling. I guess that's a small price to pay to keep the dog happy and hunting. My dog was in-between two size ranges so I took the website advice and took the larger of the two. Lengthwise it fits really well. The white vest covers to just short of his tail. I wish it was a bit more variable on chest size since its at its smallest setting to fit him. He walks and runs in it without any issues so far. I haven't seen him bust brush with it yet. I did discover something I didn't excepting about the vest. It has reflective strips on it. In the dark when I hit it was a flashlight it glows much brighter than my dogs eyes and I can find him even when he's not looking at me.

It may not get much more use this season as we have snow rolling into the area. Snow line is 4000 feet, its about time to go looking for those Mountain Quail.

gotpointers · Post by **gotpointers** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 6:16 am

Simple solution, buy a english pointer out of AA lines. That is what they are bred for

I need horses to tire my dogs out.

Lalospalo · Post by **Lalospalo** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:14 pm

My dogs had the same problem for the opener. We hunted the Owens Valley and it was in the 80's. But when we hit the Chukar both my dogs( white/liver and the Roan) get zapped! I just try and keep them cool when we break by letting them sit in water. What I do is get a small cement mixing tray and fill it with water about 4 inches worth and that will keep there temps down. Hunting in California especially the Southern is hard on the dogs. And if you hunt the Mojave for Gambels Quail thats a killer on dogs 3-4 hrs max in the day.

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