Advise needed on how to keep dog fresh

B

BusterB

New member
Hi guys,

Long time reader first time poster. I will be hunting Garden City Kansas next for 5-6 days straight. I am looking to get some advise on how to keep my dog "fresh" for that many days of straight hunting. Is there some supplements I can give him?
What have you guys done to keep your dog going for the full week and not let down after the 3rd or 4th day?

All comments are welcome

Thanks,

Jesse
 
Hey Jesse,

Judging by the picture of your Vizsla, you'll have no problem. My boy "Cutter", a Vizsla as well, has endless energy as long as I water him frequently and let him eat very small portions throughout the day. He will not eat anything as long as he is still in the field and thinks it's time to hunt . Not even energy snacks. So, I have to stop and take a break in order for him to eat even a snack. I do give him an energy bar that I found at Sportsmans Warehouse, but I can't think of the name right now. I will not however let him eat a "meal" until we are through for the day. Keep in mind that temperature should dictate how hard and long you hunt your dog as well. We had some very warm early season weather (65-70) and I would only hunt him for 2-3 hours. Better to shorten the day than deal with your dog suffering from heat realated illness and or collapse. The birds will always be there!

I hope this helps.

Paul
 
I have one dog and found when I pace her right, water and food, etc., the biggest problem is grass shredding her nose & lips and eyes some. The pads of her paws in back around the hair line get raw as well.

You have to be careful of the heat, don't hunt fields with stickers and burrs, look for small fields and patches. Keep feeding and watering, first thing in the morning, throughout the day, and last thing at night. Try baby aspirin (81mg. with cheese) twice a day.

If you make it past three days with 1 dog you will have to post on how you did it. I always plan to leave the dog in the truck every other field, thus double the days hunting, but I never find the field I can hunt without her.
 
Hubsker said:
I have one dog and found when I pace her right, water and food, etc., the biggest problem is grass shredding her nose & lips and eyes some. The pads of her paws in back around the hair line get raw as well.

You have to be careful of the heat, don't hunt fields with stickers and burrs, look for small fields and patches. Keep feeding and watering, first thing in the morning, throughout the day, and last thing at night. Try baby aspirin (81mg. with cheese) twice a day.

If you make it past three days with 1 dog you will have to post on how you did it. I always plan to leave the dog in the truck every other field, thus double the days hunting, but I never find the field I can hunt without her.
Click to expand...

It is important that you do not feed a dog right before or during the hunt..the muscles help the stomach digest the food ,it can lead to craps and muscle strains..good luck
 
We had a great trip to Kansas and found the birds to be up from last year. We ended up taking 3 dogs and 5 guys. The weather was warm the beginning of the week and then turned cold on us. We had a good time and some success. One thing we did was feed the dogs 2 hours before we started hunting in the morning and gave them lots of water. We also gave them some honey in the afternoon to keep the energy level, and feed them within 30 minutes after we were done hunting. This seemed to help with the energy level.

Feeding honey
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A good day
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Buster on Point
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Sandy with the retrieve
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We had a great time and saw a lot of birds. Next time we will have to do something different for the dogs feet to protect them from those stickers. Those things as nasty!!!!
 
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