Just curious on what most people do as far as feedings on hunting days. When I work my dog in the evenings I usually feed about an hour afterwards or sometimes longer. But for hunting, I leave the house in the morning 2 hrs before shooting time and don't return until around 11-12. Would it be best to feed before leaving the house, after i get home around noon, or give the dog maybe half of a feeding before leaving in the morning?
Morning duck hunt feeding schedule
mja9346
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Just curious on what most people do as far as feedings on hunting days. When I work my dog in the evenings I usually feed about an hour afterwards or sometimes longer. But for hunting, I leave the house in the morning 2 hrs before shooting time and don't return until around 11-12. Would it be best to feed before leaving the house, after i get home around noon, or give the dog maybe half of a feeding before leaving in the morning?
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I feed my pup about 2 hrs before shooting time and again in the pm
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Trap eats what I do when we go out.
burritos, doughnuts, candy, jerky, mcnuggets, hot dogs, etc.
I do bring water and his bowl tho.
He doesn't like coffee, or mountain dew.
burritos, doughnuts, candy, jerky, mcnuggets, hot dogs, etc.
I do bring water and his bowl tho.
He doesn't like coffee, or mountain dew.
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Here's an article that touches on this subject from the Purina Sporting Dog Summit:
The highlights pertaining to your questions-
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• The best time to feed is as soon as possible after your dog has cooled down from hunting or other strenuous exercise, and as long as possible—up to 24 hours—before the next serious exercise. And unless there’s an overriding reason to feed more frequently—for example, if you feel that your dog is at risk for bloat—one meal a day is optimal.
• Feeding in the morning prior to a hunt does more harm than good—a lot more. There’s a litany of reasons for this but the bottom line is that dogs, unlike humans, do better without breakfast.
• There’s really no good snack you can give your dog for a quick, mid-hunt energy boost. Most of the products touted for this purpose will, in fact, have just the opposite effect, triggering an insulin spike that causes your dog’s fat-burning “engine” to shut down.
Full article
http://sportingclassicsdaily.com/is...cle/canine-health-nutrition-and-conditioning-at-the-purina-sporting-dog-summit#
The highlights pertaining to your questions-
​
• The best time to feed is as soon as possible after your dog has cooled down from hunting or other strenuous exercise, and as long as possible—up to 24 hours—before the next serious exercise. And unless there’s an overriding reason to feed more frequently—for example, if you feel that your dog is at risk for bloat—one meal a day is optimal.
• Feeding in the morning prior to a hunt does more harm than good—a lot more. There’s a litany of reasons for this but the bottom line is that dogs, unlike humans, do better without breakfast.
• There’s really no good snack you can give your dog for a quick, mid-hunt energy boost. Most of the products touted for this purpose will, in fact, have just the opposite effect, triggering an insulin spike that causes your dog’s fat-burning “engine” to shut down.
Full article
http://sportingclassicsdaily.com/is...cle/canine-health-nutrition-and-conditioning-at-the-purina-sporting-dog-summit#
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I'm with Cutty on this.
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Will give them a cup or so in the AM. Don't care if they eat it or not. regular feeding about 45 minutes after we finish hunting in the afternoon. Feed them in the crate. They eat well and I have never felt they lacked energy the next day. I do give them energy bars during the day. Lots of water all day and in the PM.
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Me too, but Cutty and Wayne are right according to the latest research. Indications are that if you come back in at, say 11AM, you wait the 1 to 1.5 hours after exercise to feed and then feed as soon as you can thereafter. By the same logic, you might feed early in the day on the day you are traveling, provided of course your dog is not prone to get carsick.
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Here's a Lardy article on the topic: http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/documents/NutritionPerformance.pdf Before that information first appeared on the Pro Plan site, I fed a 1/3 ration prehunt and 2/3s after, thinking I was doing a good thing because I seem to work best with a light, high protein breakfast in me. But once-a-day, post activity feedings have worked well for us over the several years since.
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I feed twice a day.
Whether Hunting or Hunt Test
I feed him ½ of his normal a.m. feeding that morning
and the rest directly after the Test or Hunt.
This way he's got food in his stomach,
but not the normal load.
Heck I'd be weary of taking my dog hunting......but not feeding him first....lol
Don't eat for 12 hours and then put a hotdog sideways in your mouth
see how long it takes before you bite into it. LOL!
Whether Hunting or Hunt Test
I feed him ½ of his normal a.m. feeding that morning
and the rest directly after the Test or Hunt.
This way he's got food in his stomach,
but not the normal load.
Heck I'd be weary of taking my dog hunting......but not feeding him first....lol
Don't eat for 12 hours and then put a hotdog sideways in your mouth
see how long it takes before you bite into it. LOL!
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I also feed twice daily 1/3 morning and 2/3 evening. I am so afraid of torsion, that the twice daily feedings are worth more to my peace of mind than the research that says a dog does better on one feeding 24 hrs before work. On days that I train, hunt or run a trial, I feed at least 2 hours before working the dog (even on early morning duck hunts). I have never seen diminished performance from my dog because of the morning feeding (of course I probably would not recognize diminished performance).
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Mine does.....found that out when he was 8 months old.
Left the truck door open with coffee sitting in the cup holder.
Came around the side of the truck to find dog in front seat.....LAPPING UP THE OPEN COFFEE CUP!
Spilling it everywhere......Hot or not....he likes it.
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I'm interested in the reasoning of those who feed their dog before training, testing, trialing or hunting when the scientific evidence is clearly in favor of feeding after the exercise. I'd have to find where I saw the research, but I'm pretty sure feeding your dog before exercise increases the dog's risk of torsion in additional to lowering their energy levels.
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Lists of factors associated with torsion that include once-a-day feeding have appeared on these boards occasionally, but no one has been able to tell me if the timing between those potentially causal feedings and activity has been looked into.
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Fortunately, my dogs have always been much better trained than I am.
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Thanks for all the replies. Just to be clear i feed my dog twice a day. After reading everything I believe I am going to just feed Annie after returning from the hunt and then again that evening as usual. Good luck to everyone this season! Opening day is Saturday for us.
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Magillicutty posted
I must have seen dozens and dozens of "mazed" Springers come round in a couple of minutes after half a Mars. SOP in UK; it might not be a "good snack" but you have my assurance that it works.
Eug
A million Springer handlers and lots of corner shops selling Mars bars will be desolate to read this.
I must have seen dozens and dozens of "mazed" Springers come round in a couple of minutes after half a Mars. SOP in UK; it might not be a "good snack" but you have my assurance that it works.
Eug
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