Feeding on Hunting Day ? ? ?

[Poundhound]

I have a question about how everyone feeds their dogs on Hunting Day. I have to imagine that the ideas for this will be as different as "What is the best king of Hound?" because everyone probably does it different for different reasons.

Normally I feed my dogs twice a day, once in the morning and once at bedtime. I find the dogs keep weight on better this way on less feed, and because they are able to use the calories better there seems to be less waste.

On hunting day I skip the morning feeding for the dogs that are getting on the truck, and increase the ration of the bedtime feeding. My reason for this, I don't want my dogs running on a full stomach. I have heard stories about folks that have lost a dog to a twisted gut and that would be a hard way to lose a dog and a painful way for a dog to go. But does this cost me in the dogs stamina during the day?

So as I ride around in the hills waiting for a strike, I wonder if there is a way I could do it that is better and healtier for the dogs.

Would it be better to feed the dogs a small portion in the morning? 1/2 a cup? 1 cup?

The drive from home to the hunting area is about an hour, is this ample time for the dog to digest enough that they won't have a belly ache in a race? The longer I go without a strike the more I think I could have fed the dogs before putting them on the truck.

So, I look to the more experienced hunters for the right way to do it.


ph

[nmplott]

I feed excess on the night before with a higher than normal protien content.

[sow flat slim]

Sounds to me like what you are doing is fine.

[doug]

I seem to feed the same way as you do Poundhound.Have not had any problems that I can see so far.But then I'm no expert.

[Grzyadms4x4]

I do the same thing PH. No feed in the morning of hunting and extra with maybe some beef scraps in the evening. I usually feed them their normal amount the night before.

[Poundhound]

I think of it this way:

These dogs are athletes, and I am their coach. Folks give hound hunters grief because the dogs are skinny. Folks don't like to see ribs on an animal I guess. I like to see a couple ribs but not every one of them. When folks say something about it I explain to them that these are marathon runners, and "Have you ever seen a fat marathon runner"? Most times that opens their eyes a little.

Well, as the coach it is my job to get them ready for race day and that includes the best diet to help them WIN. I feed a pretty good quality feed, and that has been getting harder to afford with the price of dog food going up $4 a bag over the past year or so.

I have been on vacation to hunt spring bear for the past week, and for the past couple weeks each time I go to the hill I get a good race on good game. Hunting for a week straight the dogs have seemed to be losing a bit of stamina each day. I made a bear tree after a long hard run on a tennis shoe size bear a couple days ago, and then the two days since the dogs have gotten schooled by "runner" size bear. When it came time to load dogs on the truck they were not bouncing around like they were at the beginning of the week.

IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN CHANGE TO HELP THEM RECOVER FROM THESE HARD RACES ANY FASTER?

I have found that oatmeal helps them keep a little weight on them and they absorb it pretty readily. An egg or two now and again on their dry dog food I am told helps them for protein and as a bonus keeps their coat looking healthy. Luckily these are both fairly cheap to feed.

I know I am going on and on, but when my team loses I feel that some of the responsibility has to come back to the coach.




ph

[doug]

I have read somewhere or was told that feeding raw egg whites can have a detrimental effect on food digestion.I'll do a little more research on that,but I know a lot of old timers fed raw eggs to there dogs.Of course some of them dewormed with tobacco and eggshells too.

[POORBOY]

Have you ever been out hunting all day and coming into town drive by a place cooking food. My nose works overtime when I am hungry.

I feed the night before. Add eggs, raw meat, milk, if they are loosing stamina.

Ever feed them right before hunting? Had them stop to clean out in the middle of a race?

Jerry

[ryan goodwin]

PH, I never feed my dogs the day of a hunt, look at it this way if you eat a big a@$ breakfast you are not wanting to go out and jog around the block your tummy is full and yousonner our latter are needing to S#$@ out on your way around the block and your starting to get a side ach and a belly ach cause you ate way to much, No way would i do that to my team. And rob as for lossing staminia iduring bear season and runnin them hard i double there food and I fed them Dimond high performance it is expensive bought like you said they are your team and your the couch, and my dogs when the beging of bear seson rolls in they are amped up and full of piss and vinger then they get hunted down and they are still full of it but dont act like tere on crack, i dont use eggs our raw meat just good dog food and it works for me, Rob i allso use Red Cell in ther dog food and what a diff, it takes about a week our so to see a diff but buddy what a diff if you have a dog that is running but just aint running like it should this is the stuff it has the vitamins and minnrals they dont get in there dog food, great for your stamina prob, Just trying to help rob give me a call sometime

[Travis Stirek]

maybe you need a feed with a higher fat content everyone thinks PROTEIN PROTEIN PROTEIN and overlook fat.When dogs are getting run hard its just like you and I they burn calories and alot of these calories can and should be replaced with fat sources.Here is an example,look at the sled dogs getting fed a chunk of whale blubber between feedings.Bodies burn fat not protein to produce energy.Protein builds and maintains muscle.This is why you see that the fat levels in your top end performance dog food formulas are rising to levels that are getting close to being equal to protein levels.I think HOW your feeding is fine but take a look at WHAT your feeding.I turned Ryan onto the Red Cell and it does wonders too.Cost of dog feed ALOT of times is relative.Take a pencil and figure it out dollar for dollar.Alot of times the more expensive too purchase feeds are actually cheaper to feed,1)usually you don't have to add any supplements 2)VERY often you will only feed 1/3 rd the amount you feed of the cheap shit 3)healthier dogs mean less vet bills 4)(My wifes favorite part)less crap to clean up.

[Travis Stirek]

Another thing I thought of is,you mentioned its an hour drive to and from your spot.Be darn sure that you are watering them as soon after your done(like before the drive home) as you can.Rehydration helps flush the the bad acids out that cause them to stove up.Your on the right track treating them as athletes just think about what athletes do whenever they come to the sidelines or cross the finish line,thats right,rehydrate.Look at how many times you've seen Lance Armstrong reach over and take a drink from a car along the route(but usually our dogs won't stop{better not LOL])

[Mike Leonard]

I spent a good deal of time training retrievers and field trialing years ago. This was wonderful expereince and you get to be around some of the best canine health experts in the business.

I couldn't agree more with the coach these hounds are atheletes and mine being on the ground moving most of the time rather than bouncing around in a dog box looking for a track really need that extra boost. I do feed a good ration of top quality feed in the evening boosted with DinOvite which is excellent( DinOvite.com). However just like any endurance athelete blood sugar changes after a fast( sleep time) . No you don't want to load their gut up for digestion when they are going to work but you want to give them that quick boost that will balance their blood sugars and help them perform their very best. A quick light protien snack such as cut up hot dogs ( and not too much) will really get them moving. Give them a few minutes to roam after the treat because many times they will have to go, and you don't want that in the box. They learn this routine and before long they grab a snack take a quick dump and are ready to rock n roll!

We did this very thing early this morning and then had the pleasure of setting up on a sand stone ridge and watching the dogs pound out a tough track , get it up and going, and locate like they should and set down and tree with gusto. They were still ready to go when we leashed them and led them to the trailer for a big drink of cool water.

[cityboy]

I feed my dogs twice a day also. After their morning walk and after their evening walk. I kinda look at it like how i myself would feel. If I was gonna be running through the woods a good part of the day i think I'd want a little breakfast first. I usually leave the house around 6 am or so. Dogs are not usually in the woods until 7:30, so that gives em' close to 2 hrs to digest. When they get out of the box it isn't too long before they dump. Then it's off to the races. I see most of you don't feed in the am before hunting, but I don't notice any downside to it. In fact, the last time I ran my Blue in the coyote pen I did not feed him in the am, and he seemed to get gassed out a bit sooner than usual. It was also the first time there with the temps above 50 (it got up to about 70), so that very well could have had something to do with it.

[Melanie Hampton]

Hey Travis and Ryan

That Red Cell stuff... is it liquid form? We used to give the performance horses some red cell stuff when I used to work on a ranch.. I keep thinking for some reason it is some strong smelling liquid stuff..


Mike.. I like the hot dog idea... I don't feed the dogs in the morning but think maybe a bite or two of hotdog would give them a little something to run on..When you say a little bit are you talking a half a hot dog, quarter, or a whole one?


I generally feed them at night or a couple hours after we are back home from hunting (soaked food) I also give the dog a bit of the Super 14, but that is mainly just for the fatty acids for their coats Makes them slick and shiny... We use a high protien/fat content dog food that also has a lot of calories per cup.. I think it is about 364 and the highest that we could find that we liked and all the dogs did well on...

[Travis Stirek]

Mel thats the stuff.We used to give it to all our bucking horses and bulls and pickup horses.Father-in-law always gave it to his dogs and so the story goes.