AVB Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Was out on small rough shoot yesterday. My dog Benson, 2 1/2 year old cocker, was working well. As we got towards the end of the day he started slowing down through a patch of thick brambles. I had to really encourage him through. Then as we we were walking back to the cars he stopped and laid down. I tried coaxing him up but no joy. Put him in game bag (don't laugh) and carried him back to car. Fed him some flapjacks and squirted some lucazade sport in his mouth. He ate a few more dog biscuits and perked up a bit. By the time we got home he was a lot better although a bit tired. Next time I'll remember to keep feeding him snacks through the day. The scary thing was how quickly it came on. It was just as though you had flicked the off switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocker boy Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Is the dog fit?. A good feed, of quality food, at night time the day before should last the dog through it's work the next day. Foxhounds don't get fed half way through a days hunting. And before anybody says it the average gundog does not work ALL day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEADLY PLUMBER Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 We had a thread on here a while back about spaniels collapsing. I have a 2 1/2 yr cocker and give him some snacks during the day when he is working. Also some fellow spaniel owners have warned me to watch for it. Sudden collapse or I guess completely worn out. Sounds like you did the right thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEADLY PLUMBER Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Found it. The thread was as follows. Title: COLLAPSED COCKER Date: NOV 9th 2014 Started by: delburto AVB Have a read through that, it may help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul T Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 You should not need to feed your dogs at intervals during a shoot day. Mine are fed a good sized meal of quality food around 10pm the night before. That sees them through. Running while trying to digest food is not a good idea. The most important bit is to make sure your dogs are 100% fit. Too many people spend time on retreiving and hunting training, but not enough on solid exercise. I see way too many loose muscled dogs about... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocker boy Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 You should not need to feed your dogs at intervals during a shoot day. Mine are fed a good sized meal of quality food around 10pm the night before. That sees them through. Running while trying to digest food is not a good idea. The most important bit is to make sure your dogs are 100% fit. Too many people spend time on retreiving and hunting training, but not enough on solid exercise. I see way too many loose muscled dogs about... That's a long winded version of what I said but 100% correct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 I don't know how fit your dog is etc. but this does seem to happen to spanners more than lavertry doors, if its energy used or size I don't know. pointers seem to do more and although the nose can fail the body don't. Foxhounds are a breed apart I remember one old girl who made her own way to the trailer at lurch each day and got in, that's the nearest to collapse I have ever seen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVB Posted January 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Found it. The thread was as follows. Title: COLLAPSED COCKER Date: NOV 9th 2014 Started by: delburto AVB Have a read through that, it may help. Thanks. Sounds very similar. As for fitness. I thought he was fit enough. But he isn't a 'professional' working dog so there will be fitter dogs out there. He is small, 10kg, and doesn't have a lot of meat on him. Yesterday was cold and that may have been the difference to other occasions as he was probably burning up a lot of energy to keep warm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loriusgarrulus Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 True you should not feed your dog a full meal during a working day as they can get a twisted gut. Small carbohydrate snacks shouldn't cause a problem though and help keep low blood sugar at bay as they give slow release energy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toontastic Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 True you should not feed your dog a full meal during a working day as they can get a twisted gut. Small carbohydrate snacks shouldn't cause a problem though and help keep low blood sugar at bay as they give slow release energy. Sometimes the guns have upto 90 minutes for lunch, I often give my dog a small snack and a drink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 Might be worth looking into. http://www.csjk9.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=110&idcategory=14 Thanks. Sounds very similar.As for fitness. I thought he was fit enough. But he isn't a 'professional' working dog so there will be fitter dogs out there. He is small, 10kg, and doesn't have a lot of meat on him. Yesterday was cold and that may have been the difference to other occasions as he was probably burning up a lot of energy to keep warm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVB Posted January 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 Might be worth looking into. http://www.csjk9.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=110&idcategory=14 Thanks. Anybody know what it tastes like? I might need some myself 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scutt Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 Soaking wet and cold affects my dogs at the end of a day they don't collapse but do slow down a bit and sometimes refuse to jump up into the back of the land rover must admit to getting softer with them in my old age and giving them a dog biscuit at lunch time the only thing I have to be careful with is my fingers . PS I always feed dogs main meal at night anyway as I do think it helps them to settle down in the kennel for the night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayDT10 Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 I now feed my dogs twice a day morning then night . And before and days shooting or picking up they get fed a few hours before their going to be working . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee-kinsman Posted January 26, 2016 Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 Is the dog fit?. A good feed, of quality food, at night time the day before should last the dog through it's work the next day. Foxhounds don't get fed half way through a days hunting. And before anybody says it the average gundog does not work ALL day. Sorry Cockerboy but very poor advice. Fox hounds run a totally different style to gundogs so there bodies become efficient at burning fuel. Also they dont hunt all day. Consider a marathon runner as an analogy Gundog work is in short bursts of high intensity intervals. Which is an anaerobic discipline, basically short burst of power, the heart rate never balances out but is continually going from rested to fast paced therefore the body cannot make efficient use of stored energy and it burns it much quicker. Therefore the op is right to remember to feed and water his dog at intervals through the days. What his dog experienced was "hitting the wall" something anyone who has done intense physical work for long periods of time will have experienced. The only thing I would advise the op to do is not give Lucozade to his dog, it can have an adverse affect and cause it to vomit and diaorhea making it more dehydrated. Water is always best. Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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