How much do you feed during hunting season?

[marshboy]

Hey folks,
I have a lab that is 57 or 58 lbs, and she looks good. She lives in the house and gets lots of regular exercise.
I feed her Nutro Large Breed Adult food. She gets two cups early in the morning, and two cups in the late afternoon.
I basically feed her this same amount year round. Come pheasant season, we are out a lot and hunt hard. Would you bump up the food during the season? Sometimes at noon, after several hours of hard hunting, I'll give her an extra cup.
marshboy

[ezzy333]

Feed whatever it takes to keep the dog healthy and looking good. No one can tell you how much that is other than your dog. I have three dogs and they all eat different amounts of the same feed. There is NO CORRECT amount to feed since every one id different. You are feeding a dog and not dogfood.

Ezzy

[MikeB]

During heavy exercise times you might want to feed a higher protein/fat/calorie food and you won't have to feed as much. The Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Adult Chicen (blue bag) is 26/12 and are not has high calorie as performance foods. If you stay with the Nutro Natural Choice you may want to try the High Energy 30/20 formula. Many other brands of performance foods are more calorie per cup than the Nutro.

[R-Heaton]

You are feeding a dog and not dogfood

Ya lost me Ezzy,,,,,

[ezzy333]

Rich, I thought you would understand. There is no correct amount of dogfood that every dog should be fed. When you feed any animal it is the animal that tells you how much to feed. When I was feeding hogs and cattle we fed hogs and cattle and no one tried to figure out how much each of them were eating. Only on the research farm did we do that. Same with your dogs. when you do chores you feed your dogs and if you do the job I think you do you can tell how each one of them are feeling by how much they eat or how fast they eat or even by how there eyes look when you walk in. That in my book is what animal husbandry is all about. You reading the condition of each animal you have everyday and normally you do that during feeding time. Dogs, horses, makes no different but your job is to "feed the animal" and read how much it needs rather than read a bag which can't tell how much your dog needs.

I don't even bother looking at feeding directions on any bag and have no idea what it says but my three dogs say that Time gets a cup and a half, Rush gets 2 cups but its hard to get him to eat that much, and Comet is eating 3 cups and wants a lot more as does Time. But their condition says that is the right amount.

Ezzy

[marshboy]

So Ezzy, do you feed your dogs more if they are hunted hard for several days in a row?
marshboy

[Rick Hall]

Marshboy, I'm with those suggesting that you are the only one here in a position to see how your dog is doing on its current feeding regime. But you may want to consider the information for "intermediate canine atheletes" in THIS LINK.

And in an interview with Mike Lardy, doctor Reynolds has suggested that if you feel you must provide mid hunt snacks that they should be fats given less than 15 minutes before work continues, so there's no time for a counterproductive insulin spike to occur.

(My dogs are hunted hard virtually daily throughout the season and have been fed a 30/20 formula once a day, in the evening, for the past dozen or so years with good result. Your mileage may vary.)

[Rick Hall]

Since you've mentioned "several days in a row" (as opposed to a two or three day weekend outing), you might also find THIS LINK of interest. It outlines a regime that's tough to adapt to our waterfowling work, but I've seen quite appreciable benefit from it when doing upland work for many days on end. Would likely be wasted effort for most weekenders, but I'd no longer make an extended upland outing without bringing maltodextrin to administer daily at hunts' end.

We used the bars when they were available, then Annamaet's pre-baited Glycocharge for a while, but have found my guys will drink plain maltodextrin in water and, so, now use the much cheaper (on line) Carbo Charge marketed for humans.

[marshboy]

Rick,
Thanks for the info. I'll have to consider some of that.
marshboy

[djswizz]

It's called Carbo Gain. NOT Carbo charge, FYI. Thought I'd clear that up. My dog did GREAT on the stuff last hunting season. Will be using it again this year.

[ezzy333]

I feed whatever it takes to keep the dog in good shape. I just never measure or weigh how much each dog gets. I just have never had a problem with any of our dogs at anytime of the year if you just watch them closely.

Ezzy

[mcbosco]

Some of you guys really give your dogs Maltodextrin? Better quality protein and fat coupled with a little extra Complex Carbs on a consistent basis would be a better idea if your training is that hard.

Maltodextrin sounds like the express train to diabetes.

[djswizz]

Some of you guys really give your dogs Maltodextrin? Better quality protein and fat coupled with a little extra Complex Carbs on a consistent basis would be a better idea if your training is that hard.

Maltodextrin sounds like the express train to diabetes.

I do. Combined with the regular premium kibble, it works great. BUT, I only use if for the one week I am in North Dakota. Other times, like on weekend hunts or day hunts, there is no reason to use maltodextrin. It's only best suited for hard, extended, hunts. I would think diabetes would be an issue more if you used it year round or for months at a time. Good input though...

[mcbosco]

If your dog is in shape, does it really help? I recall those supplements only helped when the dog was not sufficiently conditioned to use fat efficiently and even then it was short lived.

I dunno, sounds like some thoroughly cooked oatmeal, rice or pasta would do the trick if the dog really needed extra carbs with less insulin impact.

Anyway, interesting topic.

[djswizz]

They do help. Read this:

http://www.purinaproclub.com/sportingdo ... ercise.htm

And yes, mine is in great shape. It's the environment of being out there, hunting hard all day that I cant emulate. It's different to me roading, blading, running, or sprinting with him. So the recovery is more important. It was AMAZING how my and my dad's dogs did last year compared to the others who did not use this supp. Night and day, so yes, it worked from my experience. Thus, I am going ot use it again.

[mcbosco]

these supplements are very topical, there is generally a war in my house every soccer season. my older son plays on three travel teams, including the state team and wont let him drink anything with dextrin, glucose, fructose, etc.

rather than eat well, kids want that stuff....

at least with dogs they dont complain, LOL

sal

[ezzy333]

I think the myth of what you eat causing diabetes has been dispelled. That idea probably came from the fact that what you eat if you have diabetes makes a difference.

Ezzy

[mcbosco]

it is complex thats for sure, but eating poorly is a big contributor even if its indirect...no need to experiment with it since there is no benefit to having roller coaster insulin levels to begin with, man or beast

[Rick Hall]

Some of you guys really give your dogs Maltodextrin? Better quality protein and fat coupled with a little extra Complex Carbs on a consistent basis would be a better idea if your training is that hard.

Maltodextrin sounds like the express train to diabetes...

If your dog is in shape, does it really help? I recall those supplements only helped when the dog was not sufficiently conditioned to use fat efficiently and even then it was short lived.

I dunno, sounds like some thoroughly cooked oatmeal, rice or pasta would do the trick if the dog really needed extra carbs with less insulin impact.

Once again, I'm putting my faith in qualified canine nutritionists on this one, rather than netspurtise. The link included in my previous post explains the science. And, yes, my dogs go into the season in far, far better condition than most and adapted to utilizing a relatively high fat diet. But any dog worked hard for multiple days on end is going to dip into its blood glucose and need to replentish it if it is to continue to do so.

[Rick Hall]

It's called Carbo Gain. NOT Carbo charge, FYI. Thought I'd clear that up. My dog did GREAT on the stuff last hunting season. Will be using it again this year.

My bad. Carbo Gain is, in fact, the maltodextrin source we are now using.

[fourtrax]

I don't get all shook up about lots of additives, that is apersonal choice. If feeding additives makes you feel better for your dog, great.
I do however up the feed input on all 3 of my dogs. With increased physical activity (this is assuming that the dog/s in question are in decent condition already
(not fat couch potatoes) comes the need to add more caloric intake. I just add more food. I up the food amount as much as necessary to keep their ribs from showing
(too plainly). A dog that is in good weight / condition should have a pronounced (waist) as viewed from above. If you run your fingers over the flank ribs should not be too easy to feel, (There is a fair amount of lee way on this). It is as simple as if a dog burns more calories he needs to take in more unless your goal is to reduce weight in the first place. Some dogs simply lose weight slowly & steadily all season and gain it back in the off season. If I am hunting a dog regularly it is not unusual to double his normal food intake. I glance at the dog I am feeding and decide how much he gets based on how he looks daily. As a simple rule more activity
/ exercise - more food, how much depends on the shape of the dog. I do observe that most people who are NOT KNOWLEDGEABLE about dogs tend to over feed
"poor little rover". Folks here on the board are more informed and on top of their dogs condition than the general public. I look at it as maintaining athletes not just
feeding a k9. I feed a premium food ( varies with prices & availability) and just observe the dog/s condition especially during the season. I do however also spoil'em
with some extra treats etc. just to let'em know I think they did soomething well.

[brdhntr]

[quote="Rick Hall
But any dog worked hard for multiple days on end is going to dip into its blood glucose and need to replentish it if it is to continue to do so.[/quote]

Glucose will be depleted in hours, not days. Most likely less than 3 hours. This is why it is so important for a dog to efficiently convert over to burning fat.

[Rick Hall]

My, but we're digging for something to expound on. Hopefully, those who actually followed the thread and read the links understood that the time it takes to replenish glycogen is what becomes an issue when dogs are worked hard for days on end.