Do you add anything to your dogs water while hunting

The best water supplement that I have found is Kinetic Hydro30K.
I run a 5 gallon sport cooler with spigot of it in the truck to fill up his water bottles for in my vest, to fill up his dish for breaks at the truck. The water bucket back at whatever lodging I'm at is mixed with it too.
My lab was pretty stubborn about rehydrating duribg hunting until the squeeze bottles and the Hydro30K.....now it is not an issue.
He stays hydrated better/longer and has a much better recovery time. I tried other things such as sugar free pedialyte, sugar free gatorade, broth powder.....but this hands down exceeds those.
 
The best water supplement that I have found is Kinetic Hydro30K.
I run a 5 gallon sport cooler with spigot of it in the truck to fill up his water bottles for in my vest, to fill up his dish for breaks at the truck. The water bucket back at whatever lodging I'm at is mixed with it too.
My lab was pretty stubborn about rehydrating duribg hunting until the squeeze bottles and the Hydro30K.....now it is not an issue.
He stays hydrated better/longer and has a much better recovery time. I tried other things such as sugar free pedialyte, sugar free gatorade, broth powder.....but this hands down exceeds those.
thank you
 
The best water supplement that I have found is Kinetic Hydro30K.
I run a 5 gallon sport cooler with spigot of it in the truck to fill up his water bottles for in my vest, to fill up his dish for breaks at the truck. The water bucket back at whatever lodging I'm at is mixed with it too.
My lab was pretty stubborn about rehydrating duribg hunting until the squeeze bottles and the Hydro30K.....now it is not an issue.
He stays hydrated better/longer and has a much better recovery time. I tried other things such as sugar free pedialyte, sugar free gatorade, broth powder.....but this hands down exceeds those.
Question: I bought some Hydro30K. Dog does not care for it much but will drink some. I have noticed that it smells bad. I would not want to drink it. Does your water mix smell bad?
 
I tried the Glycocharge a couple years ago but my dogs didn't care for it. I don't remember it having a strong odor but it is flavored so I'm sure the dogs could smell it. Some said you need to serve the Glycocharge in plastic vs metal bowls too. Metal evidently changes the taste. I gave up. I'm back to plain H20 this year.
 
Question: I bought some Hydro30K. Dog does not care for it much but will drink some. I have noticed that it smells bad. I would not want to drink it. Does your water mix smell bad?

Ya, the water has a "beef broth" like smell to it.....I mix 1 scoop typically in a 20oz squeeze bottle. Shake it, let it settle, reshape it. I always shake it good before squeezing it out of the bottle too. If I recall, it took a couple hunts for mine to adjust and just drink it. Now it's not an issue.
 
my poor girl has megaesophogus plus she has glucose issues when she over exerts...have started giving her water mixed with her Viagra plus corn syrup...seems to be doing the job.
I use good rx to buy the sldenafil (viagra) in bulk and on the cheap.
Let em roll boys....
 
my poor girl has megaesophogus plus she has glucose issues when she over exerts...have started giving her water mixed with her Viagra plus corn syrup...seems to be doing the job.
I use good rx to buy the sldenafil (viagra) in bulk and on the cheap.
Let em roll boys....
That's rough. Wondering if bees honey would be a slower glucose boost. Or are you using light corn syrup?
 
That's rough. Wondering if bees honey would be a slower glucose boost. Or are you using light corn syrup?
That's a good suggestion. Yep, just using plain old corn syrup, but I think the honey might work better.
Had to carry her back to the truck last year first time it happened, so trying to avoid going down that rabbit hole again.
Part of the problem....a major part..is her esophagus just doesn't work right, so she can't easily drink water.
We have been using the sildenafil 2x day when feeding and I got the idea to use that in a bottle of her drinking water while we are hunting. Seems to be working.
She is turning out to be a pretty good hunting dog...just has some special needs.
 
That's a good suggestion. Yep, just using plain old corn syrup, but I think the honey might work better.
Take what I am saying as just another hunter, not as a vet or anything. In theory, the standard corn syrup (not high fructose corn syrup) should be pretty much all glucose and will spike blood sugar and cause a large insulin release if given when the dog isn't exercising. However, if given part way into the hunt, it should go more directly to the muscles instead of being stored as fat. It is replenishing the stores rather than being converted to fat (what would happen if the dog wasn't exercising when consuming it). In theory, I think it shuts down the ability for the dog's body to burn fat, and the large insulin spike could cause a rebound of hypoglycemia in the blood (low blood sugar).

With honey being a mix of glucose and fructose, the insulin response is lower, and the dog's body continues to burn fat at the same time as the glucose. The fructose goes through the liver and is converted to glucose, giving a slow drip of glucose to be used over a longer period of time.

I give bees honey to my dog (who happens to be named Honey) once in cold weather during hunts and once right at the end of those hunts. I may also give it to her at the end of a not so cold weather hunt if we are hunting more than 2 days in a row.

The reason for giving it during hunts is because she is burning a ton of extra energy maintaining her body temperature (short coat) when it is cold and/or cold and wet. In those conditions, they just can't convert fat to energy fast enough and use up the glycogen stores in the muscles faster too. Dogs that cover a lot of ground and are hunting all day are running marathons or multiple marathons (GPS collar distances are inaccurate due to limitations in the technology..they are running much farther than what those totals show).

The reason I give her some at the end of the hunt (should be within 30 minutes of stopping) is because it will go directly to the muscles to replenish the glycogen stores, so she is ready for the next day. It also does something to aid in other aspects of recovery. Body builders used to do that too. Now they might use something like maltodextrin, which is again pure glucose, just in a form that doesn't cause as big of an insulin spike.

Had to carry her back to the truck last year first time it happened, so trying to avoid going down that rabbit hole again.
Was that in cold weather or warm weather? Is she on a high fat dog food diet?

Part of the problem....a major part..is her esophagus just doesn't work right, so she can't easily drink water.
We have been using the sildenafil 2x day when feeding and I got the idea to use that in a bottle of her drinking water while we are hunting. Seems to be working.
So the sildenafil is dissolved in the water too?

She is turning out to be a pretty good hunting dog...just has some special needs.
Sounds like you have it figured out! What breed is she?
 
I tried the Glycocharge a couple years ago but my dogs didn't care for it. I don't remember it having a strong odor but it is flavored so I'm sure the dogs could smell it. Some said you need to serve the Glycocharge in plastic vs metal bowls too. Metal evidently changes the taste. I gave up. I'm back to plain H20 this year.
I had the same results
 
Have any of you tried the Dextrose solution that is sold at Cattle Feed stores? I have a 3 yo shorthair that is stubborn with drinking and is super high-strung. Struggling with exertion rhabdomylosis on occasion.

I have used the glycocharge chews as a recovery, just ordered some powder to see if that helps while hunting.

Tried the Fervor and both of my dogs turned their nose at it.
 
Take what I am saying as just another hunter, not as a vet or anything. In theory, the standard corn syrup (not high fructose corn syrup) should be pretty much all glucose and will spike blood sugar and cause a large insulin release if given when the dog isn't exercising. However, if given part way into the hunt, it should go more directly to the muscles instead of being stored as fat. It is replenishing the stores rather than being converted to fat (what would happen if the dog wasn't exercising when consuming it). In theory, I think it shuts down the ability for the dog's body to burn fat, and the large insulin spike could cause a rebound of hypoglycemia in the blood (low blood sugar).

With honey being a mix of glucose and fructose, the insulin response is lower, and the dog's body continues to burn fat at the same time as the glucose. The fructose goes through the liver and is converted to glucose, giving a slow drip of glucose to be used over a longer period of time.

I give bees honey to my dog (who happens to be named Honey) once in cold weather during hunts and once right at the end of those hunts. I may also give it to her at the end of a not so cold weather hunt if we are hunting more than 2 days in a row.

The reason for giving it during hunts is because she is burning a ton of extra energy maintaining her body temperature (short coat) when it is cold and/or cold and wet. In those conditions, they just can't convert fat to energy fast enough and use up the glycogen stores in the muscles faster too. Dogs that cover a lot of ground and are hunting all day are running marathons or multiple marathons (GPS collar distances are inaccurate due to limitations in the technology..they are running much farther than what those totals show).

The reason I give her some at the end of the hunt (should be within 30 minutes of stopping) is because it will go directly to the muscles to replenish the glycogen stores, so she is ready for the next day. It also does something to aid in other aspects of recovery. Body builders used to do that too. Now they might use something like maltodextrin, which is again pure glucose, just in a form that doesn't cause as big of an insulin spike.


Was that in cold weather or warm weather? Is she on a high fat dog food diet?


So the sildenafil is dissolved in the water too?


Sounds like you have it figured out! What breed is she?
How much honey are you giving the dog at the end of the hunt?
 
I'm on my 6th generation of labs. I travel from North Dakota to New Mexico hunting. I've never found it necessary to supplement my dogs water, though I do try to carry water from "home" for the first few days to help them transition to all the different "flavors" of water they will encounter. It has worked so far, but my labs have been healthy and like most labs, pretty much bullet proof. I do think the above discussion on honey is interesting and well thought out. If I had a need, that is the way I would go. Most of the other additives are likely just marketing hype, but if they make you fell better and don't make your dog sick, have at it.
 
How much honey are you giving the dog at the end of the hunt?
I have a small bear shaped plastic bottle that has a hole in the top and you can squeeze out the honey. It sometimes depends on how cold it is out and how well I can get the honey out. Hard to quantify. I lift her side lip and put it on her gums and then she licks it. Maybe a couple inches of honey and a quarter inch diameter string? 3 inches sometimes? Not an exact science, unfortunately.

To the point of this topic, I tried putting it in water, but she doesn't like the taste, and hard to make her drink all of it, and she doesn't like drinking water on cold weather hunts. She scoops snow up as she's running, but when I get out my pop up flexible bowl that she will readily drink from in warm weather, she says "nope". I figure she knows best about getting enough from snow. She will drink regular water at night when eating.
 
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