Gun Dog Forum

I was wondering if anyone uses supplements along with there regular feed. I am happy with my food but when we are working harder they seem to need more and don't want to mix foods. Just wondering what others may use. Any input is always appreciated....

No store-bought supplements here, we just up the amount fed to include a second meal daily, maybe topdressed with some high calorie table scraps.

I think that you would be hard pressed to find a supplement that has the nutrients that a quality dog food has. On days that your dog is working hard just up the amount you feed. On non-hunting days my Brittany gets 1 3/4 - 2 cups. On days we hunt I'll give her 3 cups. Now, with all that said, I do give her a tablespoon of Coconut Oil on her food every day. Not sure if the Coconut Oil is worth it or not but I sure read a lot of positive things about it.

Same here, just up the amount of feed as needed, if anything else add a tablespoon of corn oil.

I also just up the food amount on hard working days.

Flashorthair wrote:I was wondering if anyone uses supplements along with there regular feed. I am happy with my food but when we are working harder they seem to need more and don't want to mix foods. Just wondering what others may use. Any input is always appreciated....

Back when I was hunting my dogs( one usually and sometimes two) pretty hard(4 or more full days(pretty much dawn to dusk) a week during the upland season) they would get really thin if I did not supplement. It seemed that no matter how much 30/20 kibble I fed them, it didn't completely get the job done. I like my dogs on the lean side, but with just a little bit of fat on the flank. I think a touch of fat gives the dog something to draw on when it has to dig deep to keep going strong. Turns out my instinct on that was correct. I attended a seminar on canine nutrition and one of the takeaways was the fact that dogs can both use and even thrive on a diet that is up to 50% fat when they are working hard. Apparently, a hard working dog can "turn on" a fat burning metabolism to keep on after the sugar based metabolism is depleted. In humans, when the sugars are depeleted, we "hit the wall". No so with dogs, as I understand it.

Anyway, I used to go to the supermarket during the summer and when they had beef on sale, I would ask for beef fat, which they would give me for free or charge a mimimal(ten cents per pound) amount. I would dice it up and freeze it in 1/4 lb baggies.

During the season, I would add one bag to the dog's kibble. I would also pour hot water on the kibble to make it warm and soupy. No matter how tired the dogs were, they would eat it down pretty much gone. On multiple day outings, if I did not wet down the kibble, by about the third day, the dogs were passing red blood due to the irritation from the partially digested kibble racing through their system. Wetting it down to a mush kept that from happening.


I know some folks will give their dogs sardines in oil and things like that, for the same reasons.

Hope some of this helps.

RayG

I echo alot of Ray G's post. I have done several things to increase the fat in my dog's diet during hunting season. Dyne is one product I use. This is another. http://www.nationaldogfood.com/energy.html, and I have switched to Inukshuk 32/32 as well. I was not after an increase in protein, but rather fat and that is the highest fat content dry food I have found. When on the road I also microwave some Pro Plan canned dog food and mix half a can in, not for the nutrition value, rather because it gets my dogs to eat when they are otherwise too tired to eat.

I feed Annamaet Endure (Glucosamine Chondroitin) to my two GSP's. The youngest is 6 years old and has had it daily since a pup; so she may benefit the most as she ages.

I just got back from my final leg of a 10,000 mile upland bird hunting expedition. After every hunt I gave my hard runners Annamaet Glycocharge.

Only time will tell

Ive used the "satin balls" recipe on clients dogs. just adding fat would probably do the same thing, but people (and the dogs) seem to like the meatball thing - easy to throw them a couple every day. you can find it on the internet, but I wont be responsible for any "alternative content" you might find when you google satin balls...

Only supplement I ever used was added fat if needed.

Ezzy

I am feeding twice a day when they are working too. Just want to add more fat to hold the weight a little better. Coat looks good, just looking for what others do in that situation. Thank you all ...

OK, so here is what I feed to my three English Pointers. Each dog gets about the same. 2 cups of kibble, then I feed 2 heaping tablespoons of pureed vegetables. I split one can of sardines 3 ways. I give probiotics for dogs. uncooked rolled oats 1 tablespoon and 1 tablespoon of oil (the oil will differ every day.) I give either chicken breast or pork or beef as a additive for protein. Seems to work and they constantly have energy and can hunt all day with back to back days.

Additional raw animal fat the night before is the best source of energy for a dog. Adding fish oil for additional Omega 3 helps to balance the Omega 6 found in most animal fats. Capsules are best as Omega 3 are fragile and rapidly oxidize once exposed to air.

Glucose "energy packs" provide a sugar rush and resulting crash, they should be avoided.

What's most critical is recognizing when the dog is spent and it's time to pick him up. If it takes your dog 2 days to recover from hunting, you're over doing it.

Flashorhair,

You may want to look into the supplements from K9Power.com

Diamond Extreme Athlete - Fat content as others have said, is the energy source and this dog food seems to do it for me. I feed twice a day early(2 hours) before putting dogs on the ground and within a hour of finishing for the day. I also use Glycocharge immediately after picking up a dog for the day. I've had very good luck with it and I do notice a significant difference. At day 4 or 5 of being on the ground 4-5 hours per day they're about as fresh as dogs after 2 days without it.

straightup1 wrote:Diamond Extreme Athlete - Fat content as others have said, is the energy source and this dog food seems to do it for me. I feed twice a day early(2 hours) before putting dogs on the ground and within a hour of finishing for the day. I also use Glycocharge immediately after picking up a dog for the day. I've had very good luck with it and I do notice a significant difference. At day 4 or 5 of being on the ground 4-5 hours per day they're about as fresh as dogs after 2 days without it.

You may want to do some research on feeding prior to the hunt. Plenty of research out there showing that you are putting your dog at greater risk of bloat and hindering their performance by running them with a full stomach.

Garrison wrote:You may want to do some research on feeding prior to the hunt. Plenty of research out there showing that you are putting your dog at greater risk of bloat and hindering their performance by running them with a full stomach.

Thanks. Morning feeding isn't a full feeding.

The energy they use today was from what they have eaten in days past and not the day of the hunt.

Ezzy

straightup1 wrote:

Garrison wrote:You may want to do some research on feeding prior to the hunt. Plenty of research out there showing that you are putting your dog at greater risk of bloat and hindering their performance by running them with a full stomach.

Thanks. Morning feeding isn't a full feeding.

No problem, I think some old guy ^^^ taught me that a few dogs ago.

Thanks MikeB. I just did some reading and going to order a 1 pound to try.....