Best snack to give your dog whilst working

[danspence2012]

hi i give mine this http://www.chudleys....g/big-bite.html

 

chudleys big bite. give it to them at lunch and within 30mins they are back to full throttle again.

 

they are very fit as they have worked evey sat, wednesday, and some fridays..

 

i will countine to use... i wouldnt use sasuages or buts of buttys as it dose not meet the dogs needs. i did see a dog last season collapse last year

and fit was not nice so since then i use this bar and so dose the dog that fitted last year and has never looked back..

 

BUT OF COURSE WE ALL DO THINGS DIFFRENTLY AND EACH TO THERE OWN..

Edited January 17, 2013 by danspence2012

[ETO]

Well whatever - Fruit gives energy, energy is good and banana's give sustainable energy. Besides it's much more healthier than fatty sausages. Mine happen to love banana's also.

[WGD]

Well whatever - Fruit gives energy, energy is good and banana's give sustainable energy. Besides it's much more healthier than fatty sausages. Mine happen to love banana's also.

 

Exactly, well whatever... Whatever I do I won't be loading my pockets with bananas to take a team of dogs out to work for the day.

[Piebob]

There's always a first time for a dog to run out of steam, i don't tend to worry about the labs but spaniels a different story - they don't know when they're beat.

seconded its well documented through the shooting press that you need to be careful with spaniels.

 

I've a mate who had serious issues with his collapsing £600 of tests later the vet still had no ideas this wasn't just shoot days, the only change was going from feeding her wag to something better. In desperation back to wag and she hasn't done it since and at 14 now she is almost a peg dog

 

My cocker spaniel (he's 6 or 7 now) stopped last Saturday afternoon on my walk-and-stand shoot. He slowed down, then stopped hunting, then walked beside me, then behind me, then lay down. I had to carry him after that. I could see he was shivering and could feel it when I picked him up. As I was carrying him back I could feel him spasm every now and then - it was like a human would do with "jittering". His jaw would jitter and his whole body spasmed. He'd been working hard and doing really well all morning. The weather had been pretty cold that day, and in the afternoon the snow came on hard as we were on the high ground of the shoot. I got him dried off and warmed up with a jacket, then headed home where he got some warmed food. After an hour at home he was much better and pretty soon after that he was back to normal, but it was a bit of a shock to me and it's amazing how heavy a cocker can get when trudging through a field chopped up by cattle in a Scottish hill-blizzard! Thankfully, my mate shared the load as we had a fair treck to get back to the vehicles.

 

Anyway, lesson learned and I've ordered some of the Kronch energy bars instead of relying on titbits from my lunch. On shoot days, I have trouble getting him to eat breakfast as he gets too excited, so perhaps I need to think about ways to get him fed before he realises the gun is coming out.

 

I knew about the potential for this as per the posts above, but it still happened to me. I let myself and, more importantly, my dog down. Take heed of my lesson if you own a spaniel, please.

[kent]

 

 

 

My cocker spaniel (he's 6 or 7 now) stopped last Saturday afternoon on my walk-and-stand shoot. He slowed down, then stopped hunting, then walked beside me, then behind me, then lay down. I had to carry him after that. I could see he was shivering and could feel it when I picked him up. As I was carrying him back I could feel him spasm every now and then - it was like a human would do with "jittering". His jaw would jitter and his whole body spasmed. He'd been working hard and doing really well all morning. The weather had been pretty cold that day, and in the afternoon the snow came on hard as we were on the high ground of the shoot. I got him dried off and warmed up with a jacket, then headed home where he got some warmed food. After an hour at home he was much better and pretty soon after that he was back to normal, but it was a bit of a shock to me and it's amazing how heavy a cocker can get when trudging through a field chopped up by cattle in a Scottish hill-blizzard! Thankfully, my mate shared the load as we had a fair treck to get back to the vehicles.

 

Anyway, lesson learned and I've ordered some of the Kronch energy bars instead of relying on titbits from my lunch. On shoot days, I have trouble getting him to eat breakfast as he gets too excited, so perhaps I need to think about ways to get him fed before he realises the gun is coming out.

 

I knew about the potential for this as per the posts above, but it still happened to me. I let myself and, more importantly, my dog down. Take heed of my lesson if you own a spaniel, please.

 

or any other breed that gets a real hard day

[apache]

Dogs aren't designed to live on sugar or fat - in the wild they'd get most of their energy from protein.

 

Taking some [shock horror] dog food may be a good start. Actually I'd say a decent sausage would be better than most things - bananas just provide sura that is either used quickly or stored. Protein provides sustained release of energy.

 

If the dog is already looking wobbly or tired then that is the time to give a quick sugary boost, but once the dog comes round it needs a good heart meal. Not half a Mars bar and expect the dog to get on with the day.

[sky gipsy]

Hi Apache

What are your views on the Kronch bars. i have been thinking about these.

As i said in an earlier post, my dogs get fed well the day prior to & after working, but on very hard shoots, I feel a bit of help my be needed, thats why I have been using little bits of sausage (home made mind, left over from game sausage meat I make, so they contain 75% game meat + 25% pork fat but with no added seasoning). Maybe the Kronch would be very handy as it can always be kept in your pocket from one day to the next.

Regards

S.G.

[apache]

The Kronch bars do have a LOT of fat in them. I'd be concerned about susceptible dogs and pancreatitis.

 

I'd go for your sausages.

[agy28]

Normal feed in the morning and I tend to cook up some liver bread and take that out with me. Dogs love it and I use it for training treat. Both my sprockets respond well to it and keeps them going throughout the day. Good grub up in the evening and a warm fire. just the job

[beeredup]

Hi Apache

What are your views on the Kronch bars. i have been thinking about these.

As i said in an earlier post, my dogs get fed well the day prior to & after working, but on very hard shoots, I feel a bit of help my be needed, thats why I have been using little bits of sausage (home made mind, left over from game sausage meat I make, so they contain 75% game meat + 25% pork fat but with no added seasoning). Maybe the Kronch would be very handy as it can always be kept in your pocket from one day to the next.

Regards

S.G.

 

LOL by the sounds of those sausages i would jump in to an icey estuary and retrieve a goose for them

[delburt0]

Don't give a massive breakfast as if he is running straight after it can knot the stomach , a dozen biscuits or so then just give him a little of what you have , my cocker Seth is partial to a scotch egg..

 

[gazbev]

I was told by a bloke who has worked dogs for years to give them sausage, he gets the higher meat content ones that you can find in big bags at the supermarket, cooks the lot and pops them in the freezer then just takes a few out the night before he needs them.He also gives them a small portion of their normal dog food a couple of hours before starting..

He did mention that he does not give them anything while they are working but gives them the chopped up sausage at lunch when they have calmed down a bit to give them a while to digest.the food

[spinny]

ithink the most importent thing with dogs in the field is that there condistioned for the job in hand. i look at some of the dogs that pick up at the shoots i beat on and most are not in tip top order and it shows at launch time when you see them.. i took on a ess a month ago she 14 months just by lookin at her you can see she was kept alve with **** dry food poor dog .when frist comin out huntin she would fade and you could see it takin its toll on her tryin to keep with my cocker bitch. now a month on gettin fed on good red meat [stake beef hearts] scraps off a good butcher pork fat as well she dont show the strain when out bushing and ferreting every day good grub and plenty of hunting shes half way there now when she gets home she dont lay there shakin were lactic acids was in her poor develope muccles. LACTIC ACID is a big shut down in uncondistion dogs in the field

[chrispti]

Don't give a massive breakfast as if he is running straight after it can knot the stomach ,

 

 

True,

 

So why not get up an hour or so earlier and give your dog a good breakfast, then will have time to digest it properly.....

 

 

[blackbird]

Both my spanners share my buttys and everyone elses at lunch time.

 

 

+1

[delburt0]

 

 

 

True,

 

So why not get up an hour or so earlier and give your dog a good breakfast, then will have time to digest it properly.....

u don't want to feed a dog up hours before then don't let them work they won't work well,,, can you give your best 2 hrs after your Sunday roast, you want them lightly fed ready for the day with treats in-between ,not laid in the boot farting..

[chrispti]

u don't want to feed a dog up hours before then don't let them work they won't work well,,, can you give your best 2 hrs after your Sunday roast, you want them lightly fed ready for the day with treats in-between ,not laid in the boot farting..

 

My dog would not last past lunch time if I did that, she starts slowing down, mind you, spaniels don't know when to stop and that could cause her problems...

 

I couldn't work flat out all day without a good breakfast, and make do with treats........

 

I feed my spaniel a bit more than her usual in the morning on work days. Then the same again in the evening, she goes flat out all day and is well recovered by the following day.

 

Works for her.

Edited January 21, 2013 by chrispti