Dog Energy Treat

[Aled]

Hello All 

Looking for advice: What treats do you give your dogs to help them keep energy levels up on shoot days? 

Cheers

Aled 

[Fellside]

5 minutes ago, Aled said:

Hello All 

Looking for advice: What treats do you give your dogs to help them keep energy levels up on shoot days? 

Cheers

Aled 

No ‘energy’ treats what so ever. A dog’s system doesn’t work that way. 

[Dougy]

Betting you have a Cocker or Springer ? 

 

 

[Aled]

No Dougy, i've got a mongrel, Labrador Cross NZ Huntaway.  Fair enough fellside, its just he seems to flag after an hours work, Does that include dog biscuits or meat chews fellside? Maybe like his master, his fitness levels are not good enough. 

Cheers

Aled

[Dave at kelton]

My labs work steep sided fells three days a week and then a little wildfowling in between. Once hill fit after a few weeks they will go all day unless it is too warm. Never needed extra energy feed but they do need plenty to drink and to cool down in the burns. Think about whether the dog is getting enough water through the day.

[WalkedUp]

I never feed my HPRs during the day. They need their energy in their legs not their stomachs.

[Aled]

Good point regarding water Dave, that may be an issue.  Walked Up do your dogs go all day with only their normal daily food intake? 

[Fellside]

5 hours ago, Aled said:

No Dougy, i've got a mongrel, Labrador Cross NZ Huntaway.  Fair enough fellside, its just he seems to flag after an hours work, Does that include dog biscuits or meat chews fellside? Maybe like his master, his fitness levels are not good enough. 

Cheers

Aled

Ha ha - yes we would all like to be fitter Aled. To be honest though, feeding during a working day will burden the dog if anything. 
 

I have always found with spaniels (that’s all I’ve really known) that if they benefit from a fatty feed the night before they work. I use lamb lap, the lamb belly, cut in to strips and fed with a high quality kibble. The lamb lap is about 70% fat. This is high octane hunting fuel for spaniels. Their after work recovery food is equally important. Many people will have their own favourite food and reasoning. I use a lot of protein, usually wood pigeon breast, again with a good kibble. 
 

That’s all I can offer. 

Just now, Fellside said:

Ha ha - yes we would all like to be fitter Aled. To be honest though, feeding during a working day will burden the dog if anything. 
 

I have always found with spaniels (that’s all I’ve really known) that if they benefit from a fatty feed the night before they work. I use lamb lap, the lamb belly, cut in to strips and fed with a high quality kibble. The lamb lap is about 70% fat. This is high octane hunting fuel for spaniels. Their after work recovery food is equally important. Many people will have their own favourite food and reasoning. I use a lot of protein, usually wood pigeon breast, again with a good kibble. 
 

That’s all I can offer. 

P.S Yes agree - Dave’s point re water is important. 

[WalkedUp]

30 minutes ago, Aled said:

Good point regarding water Dave, that may be an issue.  Walked Up do your dogs go all day with only their normal daily food intake? 

Yes, there was a stage a few years ago when I couldn’t get dressed in my shooting suit before feeding them in the morning as they would not want to eat at all. Up on the moors they are doing some serious running.

I stop when I find water for them. On very hot days I take water for them too. 

But I probably keep my dogs a lot leaner than most! 

[Lloyd90]

28 minutes ago, WalkedUp said:

Yes, there was a stage a few years ago when I couldn’t get dressed in my shooting suit before feeding them in the morning as they would not want to eat at all. Up on the moors they are doing some serious running.

I stop when I find water for them. On very hot days I take water for them too. 

But I probably keep my dogs a lot leaner than most! 

 

Those dogs are a pleasure to behold! 

Fit and ready to work.

 

A lot of dogs on shoots are overweight and unfit.

Many people spending money to pump these "high energy" snacks into their dogs would be a lot better off getting their dog as well conditioned as the dogs in this picture.  

 

 

[WalkedUp]

That is mid season so full fitness. This is early season so carrying summer weight. 

[Aled]

Great replies everybody many thanks all. Got me thinking,  as an ex rugger bug*er i know that i felt my "match fitness" improved after the first few games, thinking about it, today was my dogs first working session (working not training) of this season, wondering if that is relevant. However the water issue could well be relevant very humid day today.  Opinions and contributions still welcome all. 

Cheers

Aled

Edited October 8, 2021 by Aled

[WalkedUp]

1 minute ago, Aled said:

Great replies everybody many thanks all. Got me thinking,  as an ex rugger bug*er i know that i felt my "match fitness" improved after the first few games, thinking about it, today was my dogs first working session (working not training) wondering if that is relevant. However the water issue could well be relevant very humid day today.  Opinions and contributions still welcome all. 

Cheers

Aled

It’ll be brain tired rather than leg tired is my guess. Physically dogs are made of strong stuff, but mentally it takes a lot to get them prepared to work a full day. To concentrate for that long. So many smells, commands, excitement.

[Aled]

Interesting reply walked up. Well we have a full season in front of us, lets see how we go. 

Cheers

Aled

[WalkedUp]

Note that others will know much more than me on this topic. There are some serious dog-handlers on this forum with lots of experience.

[Aled]

👍

[Lloyd90]

4 hours ago, WalkedUp said:

That is mid season so full fitness. This is early season so carrying summer weight. 

What happened next?!!!! 
 

Beautiful ground to work that type of dog. 

[WalkedUp]

Pheasant are not in season in August! That is up in the Peaks not far from Kinder Scout. 

[B725]

I can only comment on spaniels I give mine a handful of pre cooked chicken at lunch time as I have seen quite a few burn out and collapse even to the point of having a seizure so the owner's carry a small bottle of honey with them as the blood sugar levels had dropped 

[Fellside]

1 hour ago, B725 said:

I can only comment on spaniels I give mine a handful of pre cooked chicken at lunch time as I have seen quite a few burn out and collapse even to the point of having a seizure so the owner's carry a small bottle of honey with them as the blood sugar levels had dropped 

Please don’t take this as criticism - just trying to help. Dogs don’t usually collapse because because blood sugar levels are low. This is really imposing human physiological assumptions on a completely different animal. Snacking won’t help. If you consider wild dogs, they can hunt perfectly well by eating on average every 48 hours, and can go much longer. If spaniels collapse it’s normally because they are unfit and/or dehydrated - or have an underlying health challenge. Giving them food on a working day will make them worse if anything.
 

I would recommend a chat with a vet who has a specialist  interest in nutrition. I’ve never known a vet recommend snacks on a working day however. 

[Krico woodcock]

17 hours ago, Fellside said:

Ha ha - yes we would all like to be fitter Aled. To be honest though, feeding during a working day will burden the dog if anything. 
 

I have always found with spaniels (that’s all I’ve really known) that if they benefit from a fatty feed the night before they work. I use lamb lap, the lamb belly, cut in to strips and fed with a high quality kibble. The lamb lap is about 70% fat. This is high octane hunting fuel for spaniels. Their after work recovery food is equally important. Many people will have their own favourite food and reasoning. I use a lot of protein, usually wood pigeon breast, again with a good kibble. 
 

That’s all I can offer. 

P.S Yes agree - Dave’s point re water is important. 

This.^^^ 100%..although years ago I used to work a springer particularly hard( 2 days on the trot, ) woodcock  shooting and half way through 2nd day I used to give him a Mars bar, it was like cocaine to him, when it kicked in. Now I know your  not  supposed to give chocolate etc. But this lad lived 14 and was still hunting at 12,  all be it only for a couple of hours, so didn't do any harm to him, but he was a hardy buck..

[Rob85]

On 09/10/2021 at 14:02, Krico woodcock said:

This.^^^ 100%..although years ago I used to work a springer particularly hard( 2 days on the trot, ) woodcock  shooting and half way through 2nd day I used to give him a Mars bar, it was like cocaine to him, when it kicked in. Now I know your  not  supposed to give chocolate etc. But this lad lived 14 and was still hunting at 12,  all be it only for a couple of hours, so didn't do any harm to him, but he was a hardy buck..

I used to see a lot of spaniel guys giving a cube of Mars bar at lunchtime. A few of them were field trial guys and their dogs would work harder than you ever seen a dog work.....for a short period of time then had to go back on the lead while their 2nd dog took over until it knackered itself and the pattern went on through the drives.

I think it just depends on how you condition the dogs to work. For what it's worth I was under the impression that dogs got their energy directly from fat and not glucose like humans so the Mars bar may have been more of a mind game for the handler rather than the dog.

[Fellside]

3 hours ago, Rob85 said:

I used to see a lot of spaniel guys giving a cube of Mars bar at lunchtime. A few of them were field trial guys and their dogs would work harder than you ever seen a dog work.....for a short period of time then had to go back on the lead while their 2nd dog took over until it knackered itself and the pattern went on through the drives.

I think it just depends on how you condition the dogs to work. For what it's worth I was under the impression that dogs got their energy directly from fat and not glucose like humans so the Mars bar may have been more of a mind game for the handler rather than the dog.

Your spot on Rob85 re fat being beneficial for energy levels. I won’t bore you with the science - but concentrated sugar causes hyperglycaemia (as it does in humans actually). So basically a short term boost in energy followed by a pronounced low. It’s the low that causes problems.
 

Trends come and go in working dog circles, but I’m glad the Mars bar one has more or less gone. Fat gives a longer sustained energy output. Having said that, a fit spaniel, with its stamina well developed, should have no problem working all day long. 

[Krico woodcock]

12 hours ago, Fellside said:

Your spot on Rob85 re fat being beneficial for energy levels. I won’t bore you with the science - but concentrated sugar causes hyperglycaemia (as it does in humans actually). So basically a short term boost in energy followed by a pronounced low. It’s the low that causes problems.
 

Trends come and go in working dog circles, but I’m glad the Mars bar one has more or less gone. Fat gives a longer sustained energy output. Having said that, a fit spaniel, with its stamina well developed, should have no problem working all day long. 

Agree 100%. This lad had no problem working all day long,  was half through 2nd day on trot  he would start to lagg a bit then I'd give him Mars bar.  But It definitely picked him up when it kicked in to see day out. He would have be well fed on raw food and nuts.  It was at a time  when the other Springer I had was too old to work and had to depend on him for all my shooting till I had a pup off him to share the load. Not advocating use of Mars bars in any way.  Haven't used them on any other dogs. Fitness levels and properly fed dog to build up stamina is key, definitely. 

[Aled]

Thanks for the replies all, much appreciated. Interesting information. 

Cheers

Aled