Tips for getting GSP back into hunting condition

[Vy65]

I have a 9 year old gsp. He’s in decent shape (he’s active and still runs around my yard a fair bit), but I haven’t worked him for a couple years. I’m planning on taking him out to hunt some pen raised birds, and am thinking about running him in 20-30 increments while giving him plenty of rest and water in between those sprints.

Do you all have any suggestions on whether that is too much or too little? Any other thoughts would be appreciated too. Thanks,

 

[LittleBigHorn22]

Other than potential heat I find it hard to overrun a dog on pen raised birds. It's really just not a hard day between taking the time to let birds out and such. Just need to pay attention to the dog and if he's trying to lay down then let him take as much breaks as he wants.

 

[gimruis]

Other than potential heat

This is a thing to watch. I have an 11.5 year old labrador and heat is a variable I won't be risking. I've never been one to hunt in short sleeves regardless, but my dog over heats very quickly and at that age, its not worth the strain on the older body anymore. 50 degrees is about my max these days.

 

[remy3424]

I would try to keep the hunts short, maybe 1.5-2 hours and see how he is after that and the next day and just slowly start increasing the length of the hunts as he can handle and still be fine the next day. I am with Gim on GSPs and hunting in warm weather. They go wide-open and won't quit.

 

[Vy65]

Thanks for the replies. We're in South Texas, so it’s hotter here, but he’s used to it. I’m not planning on extending him longer than 2 hours of actual activity and will be sure to have enough water to pour over him so his body temp stays low. That and resting him regularly so he doesn’t over do it

 

[Mosby]

I don't feed my dogs the morning of a hunt but I've found that if I spike their morning water with a small amount of food, I can get them to drink a lot more water in the morning before we leave than if I don't. I also float their dry food with a decent amount of water, when I feed them after the day is over. I try to get as much water in them as I can when training or hunting.