Dog Shutting Down

D

Dakotazeb

Well-known member
This has happened twice with my 2 year old female Brittany. After 2-3 hours in the field she just shuts down, quits hunting and wants to lay down. She is a big running, hard charging Brit. Only knows one speed in the field and that's "balls to the wall". But she is also in tremendous condition. 33 lbs. of muscle and bone. The food she is on is 31% protein and 18% fat and she gets more than the recommended amount for her weight. I also give her 1 tablespoon of Coconut Oil with her food. I haven't talked to my vet yet but probably will do so. I've had hunting dogs for 44 years and never seen this. Anyone out there experienced this and have any insight? Thanks.
 
Might want to have some blood work done at your vet just to be safe

If nothing unusual I would give her something small to eat like a half a cooked hotdog every hour or so when you hunt her.

Try to give her a Small amount of something like maple syrup when she shuts down and see if it perks her right back up

If so it would tell you she’s just burning up all her available glycogen.

I would get another pup so you can rotate them and I always feed a hotdog immediately after a hard run to aid in glycogen uptake/ replacement.

That is most effective if done immediately after exercise with the first 20 minutes or less ideally.
 
Not boredom. I think it's physical. Could be not drinking enough water. Had to get them to drink enough in the snow and cold. Might try bringing some coconut water to add to her regular water. Works at field trials.
 
How cold. Hunted with a setter once who got cold and stopped and tried to dig into the snow. Single digits. I could see it happening on a dog not carrying any fat or losing calories on the truck ride.
 
Last edited:
The more I read, I believe I'm probably dealing with "Hunting Dog Hypoglycemia". It's where a dog is burning up all it's glucose reserves. Giving a little corn syrup, honey or some bites of a peanut butter & honey sandwich during the hunt might help. Anyway, I'm going to try that and see if it helps. The cold weather today (temp was about 7 degrees) and snow probably didn't help either.
 
Zeb,

Sounds like HDH. My setter has it. You need to be really careful with it. It is worse when its really cold, as the dog has to burn more calories due to the cold, especially if the dog gets wet. This year I found some of these, Individual honey packets: "LINK". They work well, and are easy to carry. They are also less likely to end up eaten by you or your buddies than Oatmeal cream pies or other assorted prepacked cookies.

Its interesting to me. Ox wont eat the honey, unless he needs it. I can not give it to him before a field or even at home. But when he starts slowing down he craves the stuff. His body knows what it needs.

sorry to hear your pup has it. It can make for some stressful times in the field.
 
Last edited:
Dakotazeb said:
The more I read, I believe I'm probably dealing with "Hunting Dog Hypoglycemia". It's where a dog is burning up all it's glucose reserves. Giving a little corn syrup, honey or some bites of a peanut butter & honey sandwich during the hunt might help. Anyway, I'm going to try that and see if it helps. The cold weather today (temp was about 7 degrees) and snow probably didn't help either.
Click to expand...

I have had two dogs that have had “low blood sugar” issues. Our vet recommended peanut butter. A tablespoon or two in the middle of the day while hunting eliminates the issue. Make sure there is no xylitol in the peanut butter of course! There are also commercial products such as nutrical that are for this issue. They seem to be more of pain than peanut butter but work well too.
 
jonnyB said:
George: do you feed the dog in the morning, before the hunt?
Click to expand...

No I don't. I've always fed once a day in the late afternoon or early evening. I've been a believer that a dog runs better during a day of hunting or field trialing on an empty stomach. BUT, I may have to change my thinking. I may starting feeding a small portion of her food in the morning on days that I hunt. Think I will also carry some Karo syrup, honey or peanut butter with me. Maybe make a peanut butter and honey sandwich and feed portions of it throughout the hunt.

Even us old goats can learn something new every day. :)
 
Might be worth a try...and treats during the day, as you described in your message. I've always fed my dog before the hunt and never had and adverse effects. Nor have I had a dog quit. He does, however, slow way down when it's hot.
 
jonnyB said:
Might be worth a try...and treats during the day, as you described in your message. I've always fed my dog before the hunt and never had and adverse effects. Nor have I had a dog quit. He does, however, slow way down when it's hot.
Click to expand...

Same procedure, same experience JohnnyB. I also carry a few Costco Chicken/Rice dog biscuits and the herd gets a noontime snack on one or two of those.
 
Feeding a dog before hunting is generally a very bad idea. Just the same as feeding directly after hunting. You could be dealing with a dog that has EIC (Exercise-Indused Collapse). A simple blood test at a quality vet clinic will give you the answer. I would surely do this before messing with feeding before hunting. If it is EIC and you continue hunting the dog you could end up with a result you don't want.
 
westksbowhunter said:
Feeding a dog before hunting is generally a very bad idea. Just the same as feeding directly after hunting. You could be dealing with a dog that has EIC (Exercise-Indused Collapse). A simple blood test at a quality vet clinic will give you the answer. I would surely do this before messing with feeding before hunting. If it is EIC and you continue hunting the dog you could end up with a result you don't want.
Click to expand...

I tend to agree with feeding before hunting. But I've know many dogs whose owners fed them a small portion of their daily food in the morning and I've never know one of them to have a problem.

After reading a fair amount on the internet about EIC I would seriously doubt that is the issue. Symptoms are different than what I'm seeing and EIC is not know to effect Brittanys. More prevalent in Labs and other retrieving breeds.

I will visit with my vet just to make sure there is no serious problem.
 
Feed it light and early...

This seems to be the common theme I see/review on line.

If a dog is burning 2500-3000 calories a day - how does the dog make that up, with one feed at night? Must be a pile of dog food!
 
Last edited:
westksbowhunter said:
Feeding a dog before hunting is generally a very bad idea. Just the same as feeding directly after hunting. You could be dealing with a dog that has EIC (Exercise-Indused Collapse). A simple blood test at a quality vet clinic will give you the answer. I would surely do this before messing with feeding before hunting. If it is EIC and you continue hunting the dog you could end up with a result you don't want.
Click to expand...

While I agree with you in a state that has a sun up start but not in South Dakota where you don’t start till 10 am. While hunting there I always feed him a can of high quality food at about 630 or7 am. I have never had an issue with a dog running out of gas unless it is real hot
 
Dakotazeb said:
No I don't. I've always fed once a day in the late afternoon or early evening. I've been a believer that a dog runs better during a day of hunting or field trialing on an empty stomach. BUT, I may have to change my thinking. I may starting feeding a small portion of her food in the morning on days that I hunt. Think I will also carry some Karo syrup, honey or peanut butter with me. Maybe make a peanut butter and honey sandwich and feed portions of it throughout the hunt.

Even us old goats can learn something new every day. :)
Click to expand...

I would recommend letting her eat all she wants the afternoon/evening before a day of hunting rather than her usual ration, and nothing in the a.m. of the hunt.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top