Feeding and hunting

This will be my second season with my pup. He gets 3 cups a day of acana grasslands. 1.5 in the morning and 1.5- late afternoon.

I would like to know how you guys feed your dogs before a day's hunt?

I heard ppl feed their dogs the night before .

I also heard ppl feed their dogs a quarter of their total amount two hours before hunting begin and feed the rest in the evening.

Do you guys feed them during the hunt, like little snacks?

I will to develop a feed schedule during hunting season to prevent bloat but allow their stomach to have some sort of fuel.

Bc23

Once a day. In the evenings after hunting

Studies(Purina) have shown maximum value achieved from once a day feeding. I don't feed my guys mornings we are hunting....rather night before.

I will PM you shortly bonecollector.

I fill the food bowl in the morning and let them eat what thy want ,,Dutch

I feed my dog once a day, in the evening, regardless of the season. So the normal feeding routine simply continues into the hunting season, & I adjust the quantity depending on exercise.

Depending on when my hunt ends I may feed them when we get back home but usually they get feed only once on hunting days and in the evenings. I don't bring snacks or treats.

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Originally Posted by welsh

I adjust the quantity depending on exercise.

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This ^^

I think the dog needs fuel to hunt all day and fuel to keep warm well retrieving in cold water ,I feed in the morning all year and let them eat as much as thy want ,fill the bowl early in the morning ,Dutch

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Originally Posted by dutchhunter

I think the dog needs fuel to hunt all day and fuel to keep warm well retrieving in cold water ,I feed in the morning all year and let them eat as much as thy want ,fill the bowl early in the morning ,Dutch

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I am not trying to be mean, but this is a recipe for bloat (stomach torsion). Rule of feeding I grew up with - no food less than 2 hours to hunt/exercise, or 1 hour after. I usually feed 2x day, time varies by seasons, i.e. when I run dogs, depending on day light and weather.
On multi day hunting trips, they hunt in the morning, get a bit to eat when I eat lunch, assuming the lunch break is at least couple hours, then they're fed in the evening, after hunting. The bigger night meal gives them the energy for the next day. Dogs take very long time to digest food and make the energy available. I don't believe they should get energy supplements, except in medical emergency.

I fill there bowl in the morning but thy do not eat it all right away ,My dogs are hounds and live in the house .and a bowl of food last them all day thy just pick at it and eat when thy want ,by the end of the day the bowl is empty ,Dutch

I feed once a day about 5PM. I'm normally up till 1 a.m so dogs have lots of time to empty themselves fully before bedtime, or a morning hunt.

I feed same - 1.5 cups morning and night of acana for my 50lb Vizsla.
Hunting mornings - I wake up early with my dogs anyways and feed only 1flat cup at 6am and we hit the bush just after 9am. We come back in around 11:30/12:00pm rest, and I feed the ither .5 cup. After an afternoon nap we're recharged for 3:00/3:30pm and go hunt until dinnertime, so like 5:00/5:30pm light pending. Come in and rest and feel 1.5 cups at usually closet to 7pm.
Always speak to your vet, breeder about this stuff and of course know your own dog and I ducatw yourself on risks of bloat and torsion.
General rule of thumb - at least wait 2hr after a feeding, and wait to feed at least 1 hour after. But dogs can still bloat no matter what. Use caution and good judgement.

Very good advice.

2 cups in the morning and 2 evening. My boy won't get breaky or dinner, depending on when we are hunting during the day to avoid bloat. And I generally beef up the food by a cup during the late season.

Purina and other studies show feeding the morning of a hunt is not recommended.
Also a high fat diet throughout the year is also recommended for working dogs.
Example sled dogs diet are as high as 50% in fat.Most commercial food is 10- 20% fat.
I also feed my dog Acna -sport & agility 24% fat .
I will regulate his intake depending on activity.I feed him 4 cups & 1 can a day and still shows ribs.
Day before hunt i will reduce amount.

Its nice to see people focusing on fat. I think too often we look at high protein, which is important of course for muscle growth and repair but fat is what is used by canines for energy. Most performance type feeds are somewhere around 30/20 (protein/fat). I like to add fish oil though as well. Jake gets a tablespoon of nordic fish oils added to his food daily regardless of the season.

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Originally Posted by Sharon

and Pro Plan Performance/Sport is 30% fat.

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Think you mean 20% fat and 30% protein.

Yes I did so I deleted it. I can't get away with much around you. :)That's good.

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Originally Posted by maplevizsla

I feed same - 1.5 cups morning and night of acana for my 50lb Vizsla.
Hunting mornings - I wake up early with my dogs anyways and feed only 1flat cup at 6am and we hit the bush just after 9am. We come back in around 11:30/12:00pm rest, and I feed the ither .5 cup. After an afternoon nap we're recharged for 3:00/3:30pm and go hunt until dinnertime, so like 5:00/5:30pm light pending. Come in and rest and feel 1.5 cups at usually closet to 7pm.
Always speak to your vet, breeder about this stuff and of course know your own dog and I ducatw yourself on risks of bloat and torsion.
General rule of thumb - at least wait 2hr after a feeding, and wait to feed at least 1 hour after. But dogs can still bloat no matter what. Use caution and good judgement.

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Does that 2 hour rule include travelling? My dog is a kennel back of the truck during transport? And he used it. I was wondering if feeding within two hours and stress of transport before actually hunting can cause bloat? Or Bloat is mostly caused when the dog is full stomach with motion ( running, swimming and jumping)

Bc23

8 to 10 hours before hunting. They can get twisted stomachs. Perfectly fine feeding them once a day.

If you are unsure - feed a few hours after you have finished hunting for the day.

My hounds don't like watching me eat breakfast and then they have to chase a coyote for hours through snow, swamp, corn fields , etc on an empty tummy.
They have the option of eating their twice daily meal, if they are loosing weight I feed them more. The old timers only fed in the evening, small wonder some of them didn't want to come home. Just saying. I'm no expert , just have happy hounds.

There was a very good article in gun dog mag about this very topic a while ago you maybe able to find it with some research. This article was written by an old gun dog vet that is at the u of g. He goes on to say is what most of us are doing and that is to feed once a day. It also does recommend trying to get there food into them within 2 hrs after a day's hunt, and I believe he said try and get it in about 30 mins after (kinda like us and the need to get protein when exercising). I generally go by the 2 hour rule. He does go on to say that if doing a full days hunt rather than using a supplement to aid with fatigue feed a cooked sausage to up the levels of fat for them during their hunt. I actually adopted this tip and find it works especially in my older boy Jim.

I used to feed two times a day like others as well, and found he would have about twenty mins a hunt of doddling around before he found a place to poop I called these exercise poops and most of us likely know all about these too. After his poop and belly issues he would be ready to tear up the fields. Again the article goes on to talk about this and it has to do with dogs tendency to have sensitive digestions.

Any way hope you get something from this, I know where you are coming from.

You'd be mistaken to think they perform better with a full stomach. My experience with foxhounds and coonhounds is you don't feed them before they run. You are increasing the odds of a twisted stomach and you will have to give the dog a final lead pill.

Most dog food performance brand dog foods are fed typically the night before a hunt in order to prevent bloat. Extreme working dog foods such as Red Paw, National Dog food, Caribou Greek and Eagle Pak can be fed a couple of hours before working in small amounts throughout the day. Reason being is kibble size and ingredients. Typically these foods are slightly larger than rabbit food(pellet) and do not expand like other larger kibbles made up of meat base, corn, wheat and other ingredients that expand and cause bloat. The smaller kibble made up of 2 or 3 meat base first ingredients do not expand to the same degree and do not contain corn, wheat etc. But also keep in mind a performance dog food fed the night before made up of grains will cause diarhea while working. Corn and wheat middlings because they are sharp will rub against the intestinal tract causing irritation and the end result diarhea. A performance dog food with the first 2 or 3 meat based ingredients and no grains will not create this result. A small kibble heavily meat base performance dog food breaks down much faster and is quickly absorbed into the blood stream as fuel needed to perform. I have always fed 2 hours before working my sled dogs and hunting dogs proven by extreme dog food manufacturers myself and most competing dog mushers who will feed continuously throughout a long distance race and never get bloat.