# Dog food while hunting



## Wasatch Wings (Sep 29, 2015)

Does anybody else struggle with what to feed your dog while on a long day hunt? I don't know why, but it seems that every time I do a long hunt day with the dog I struggle and debate on what I should be giving him for nutrition.

He eats dry food almost exclusively for his meals, and although he is given the food in the morning, he usually eats between noon and 4 pm. 

I don't like feeding him late at night or in the early mornings before a hunt as he has struggled with getting sick on car rides. I just get tired of cleaning his bed or my car. 

It seems he will run all day, but I can tell he gets fatigued and plain water doesn't give back some of the energy he needs. Is there a good option for dogs that I don't know about? Are there things like granola bars for dogs. Sure dogs will eat most anything, but I'd like something more like a good protein energy bar tailored to high energy hunting dogs. 

What do you all like to do?


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## gdog (Sep 13, 2007)

Dogs metabolism is not like ours. Purina did a study some time ago about feeding working dogs. You do not want to feed directly prior to hunting them or immediately after. Too great of a risk for bloat. I lost a dog to GVD (gastric dilatation volvulus)/twisted stomach and I can assure you....you don't want to deal with that. Studies showed that dogs performed better with empty stomach/bowels. Best performance achieved was feeding dog night prior to hunt and then letting dog run following morning/day on empty stomach.

During hunting season, you may need to increase caloric intake and bump them to a higher k/cup fat & protein food. 

Is your dog in tip top shape? Fatigue can be more related to conditioning then food intake. Ideally, weeks prior to hunting, dogs should be conditioned to get them up to hunting shape. Just like humans, conditioning should be reflective of the actual exercise your going to demand of your dog. Tossing the ball in the back yard for 30 mins is not reflective of a multi hour all day hunt. Ideally you'd road them longer distances to replicate a typical hunt. I wish I had the time to do this or a place close to road my dogs, but I don't and therefore I know the first few weeks of hunting season, they'll not have the endurance they will have come end of season.

Really if your feeding a good food and your dog is healthy, it should be getting all the nutrition they need for being a weekend warrior like most. As previously stated, you may need to bump up quantity or supplement with addition meat/fat during hunting season. Go checkout some sled dog forums and read posts about nutrition. They are all about endurance and recovery.

There's some that like to give their dogs a maltodextrin product within 30 mins after running them. Products like glcyocharge's main ingredients are maltodextrin. Maltodextrin is used immediately after exercise to aid in recovery so the normal diet will work quicker at replenishing fat/protein storages. Pro Plan had some dog sports bars out....and I believe that one of the top ingredients was maltodextrin.

Maltodextrin is used in brewing and can be purchased from brewing supply stores, which is quite a bit cheaper then dog specific marketed products.


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## Kevin D (Sep 15, 2007)

As gdog mentioned, conditioning is the key to increasing a dog's stamina. I run big game hounds where success often comes down to an endurance test between the dogs and the target animal, particularly bear and bobcat. I feed a high quality dry dog food, keep an eye on their weight, and run them vigorously ten to fifteen miles a day in preparation for the season.

Even still, after a dog has used up it's energy on a hunt, time is the only thing I've found that will bring it up to top fitness level again.


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## Wasatch Wings (Sep 29, 2015)

Thanks for the replies. I definitely did much more conditioning with him this year compared to last. He won't turn 2 yrs old until the end of this year and he has matured a lot physically since last fall when he was really just coming along for the ride so you could say. 

It helped that I was able to take him on runs all summer while training for some trail races. Then, starting about a month before bird season, I would run him while I biked each night. While it wasn't as long of a distance for a full day hunt, it was at a much quicker pace and his strength and stamina improved weekly. This also helped to toughen up his pads -- had a dog tear his front pads once something awful, I try to avoid that now. 

He performed great on the chukar opener. It helped that it was cool, he covered a ton of ground, and he hated to rest while us humans took our breaks. 

Seems that we were more limited by our other hunting partners as the dog never tired and I felt great.


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## Packfish (Oct 30, 2007)

I do not feed the morning of the hunt- they do get a pumpkin cookie laced with malodextrin after the hunt. There are some decent dog sports drinks out there. But I feed the night before- and then feed awhile after when I get home after the hunt-


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