Should I feed my dog a special diet during hunting season?

Dr.Mike
I was wondering now that the hunting is getting closer,is there anything that I can add to my dogs feeding program to give them a little more energy and to prevent burnout during the long days hunt?
Samuel

Samuel, great question and one I am constantly "tinkering" with on my own dogs. Starting 3-4 weeks before hunting season I start switching my dogs to a diet of at least 23% fat (I use a commercially available dry food ). If possible I try to feed about 1/3 of his food a couple of hours before the hunt, during the hunt I feed small portions (another 10% or so...often canned food of the same brand) and the rest of his food 1-4 hours post hunt. I have one springer that gets so excited he wont eat before or during the hunt so to entice him I dissolve a beef bouillon cube in some water and pour it in his food. Most of the hunting dog "wrecks" I see are from lack of conditioning and not dietary related. Good hunting........Mike

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