Energy supplements for working dogs

[Naj]

Naj who said anything about dogs collapsing? I've certainly never had a dog collapse.

Read the op. And collapsing dogs and dogs that run out of steam appear to be common place these days by all accounts and everyone seems to think it normal.

[EssGrouse]

I agree about Greyhounds being used for a different purpose but you look at Sled dogs, they are also using the same products so again we are somewhere in between with our dogs and you say your dogs need nothing but a good food diet, mmmmm if your happy with that then fair enough.

Just because our cars run on supermarket fuel without a problem doesn't mean its the right fuel to be putting into it. Same principle.

These greyhound lads are still way ahead of us when it comes to feeding/supplements/recovery like it or not, your attitude does nothing but tell people its OK to stand still and let the world pass you by, as it has in gundogs.

Theres always room to learn new methods and try new things. That goes for training also.

[Naj]

so what fuel do you put in your car!? Red diesel.

[Naj]

... and I don’t think I can be accused of standing still and letting the world pass me by on diet or training. I was the first to write about the BARF diet in the sporting press when it was very little heard of. Raw feeding (and, yes, I went from tripe to balanced commercial diets to BARF) is now pretty well mainstream. And I’m a bit of a bore, I’m sure, on ‘new’ and innovative training methods.

[ips]

Naj who said anything about dogs collapsing? I've certainly never had a dog collapse.

Read the op. And collapsing dogs and dogs that run out of steam appear to be common place these days by all accounts and everyone seems to think it normal.

My pals springer collapsed on our beaters day,

[EssGrouse]

Maybe it was lacking something nutritionally , this is why its good to have blood test to see if the dogs are lacking in anything before you put it down to poor breeding as alot of people do.

[EssGrouse]

... and I don’t think I can be accused of standing still and letting the world pass me by on diet or training. I was the first to write about the BARF diet in the sporting press when it was very little heard of. Raw feeding (and, yes, I went from tripe to balanced commercial diets to BARF) is now pretty well mainstream. And I’m a bit of a bore, I’m sure, on ‘new’ and innovative training methods.

Just because you might have been in front then doesn't mean your still in front now, not by any stretch of the imagination. Your simply dismissing supplements so no need comment is there. Rather people who are open minded and have used supplements to comment and have a decent conversation.

Why red Diesel, what about Shell V Power, BP Ultimate etc.....

Lets forget about top athletes who have the best diets but still use Supplements.

[munstyman]

Supplements by there very nature are there to make up for those things lacking in the feed your using. A greyhound kennel, sled dog kennel much like a large gundog kennel will have a cost factor to weigh up as few are millionaires. Cheaper foods, no matter the hype will not contain all the natural items of a canine diet for all eventualities, let alone the individual dogs digestive preferences.
As has been mentioned already a good natural diet will give the dog all it needs without the use of `special supplements ' . If you expect a dog to maintain condition on a maintenance diet when put through a sudden increase in work exercise without paying attention to the feed your putting in, then you can expect a negative impact on the dogs performance and condition, its not rocket science
I think you should feed just like you train, forget the sales pitch and deal with the dog or dogs in front of you. A little basic research on to how a dog metabolises energy should give you enough knowledge on what you should be feeding and how much. Pretty much the rest will come from you looking at your dog and from your bank balance, how much of the latter you give to those selling supplements rather than the feed selling companies is a personal matter...your going to be poorer either way
You still have to `train. for speed or stamina, you support it with nutrition not the other way around

[Cambusvale]

I have not seen any dogs collapse, I have seen dogs start to lag which I put down to stamina and fitness. I swap my dogs to maintain speed and if I wanted dogs for endurance I would train them for that.

Supplements, if you feel they assist and are of benefit, why not. I still feed a Mars bar on shoot or trial days have done for as long as I have been shooting.

My Dad run Greyhound kennels for all my life and he fed cooked Beef Mince, some veg and bread. The dogs were given walks on set courses with varied hills and speed walks completed by his sons. The fitter the dog the more they pulled as simple as that, we would walk four dogs per handler three times a day and the fitter dogs pulled the less so until all were going the same pace, the handlers got fitter as well. I still walk my dogs like Greyhounds to this day though my pace has slowed somewhat and they walk to heel. I can see a Greyhound man by how he walks. We flapped from Scotland to Blackpool, we held record holders from steeples to sprints. That is how it was done in my Dads era, if still alive and they were better ways found I think I my dad would have embraced them to gain speed or betting odds. One other method I use in Trials is jackets between runs which goes to my Greyhound days keeping muscles warm.

[ips]

My pals Springer just collapsed after the third drive having been beating, it could not get up i had to go pick man and dog up with the polaris and take the dog back to the bothey ..it was out of it all day but recovered by the day after. I have no other info