Feeding the Working Dog
By Denny Hughes
Most of the food energy consumed by warm-blooded animals like humans, and/or
dogs, is used simply to keep warm. The remainder is used to support physical
activity and for productive functions such as growth and milk production.
To maintain body temperature, heat generated from food metabolism must
replace heat lost to the environment. The fullness of hair coat, area of exposed
skin, and the differential between the dog’s body temperature and its
surroundings are all variables in the amount of heat lost. Healthy, normal
animals adjust energy intake to match energy requirements. Therefore, when given
the opportunity dogs will consume more food when exposed to lower winter
temperatures, largely because of hair coat differences. For instance, energy
requirements of Labrador Retrievers are influenced more by changes in
environmental temperature than are requirements of Beagles or Siberian Huskies.
Also, relative feed needs increase more for small dogs than larger dogs when it
gets cold, because small dogs have more surface area for heat loss in relation
to their body weight.
Energy derived by the dog from food consumed is
stored internally in two different forms: 1) as a carbohydrate in the muscles
and 2) as fat in fat deposits stored in the body. Oxygen from respiration is
required to recover energy stored in the form of fat but is not required to
recover energy from carbohydrates. The dog’s oxygen needs quickly exceed their
supply during high intensity activity like sprinting. Therefore, the sprinting
dog must rely on muscle stores of energy from dietary carbohydrates. However,
the amount of energy that may be stored in the muscles is very low in relation
to the amount that is present in fat stores, even in a well-fed, well-trained
dog. The prolonged lower intensity activity required of most hunting dogs is
sustained by their aerobic capacity (the dog’s ability to oxygenate the blood)
and by energy from fat stores in the body. The amount of energy stored as fat is
influenced by both the nutrient composition of the diet and by the level of
feeding above that required for maintenance.
Dogs that are adapted to
high-fat, high-energy diets like PROFILE Performance and PROFILE Elite use fat
as the preferential energy source and have increased stamina. Dogs not adapted
to the use of fat as their preferred energy source are good sprinters but have
little stamina. An abrupt change to a high-fat diet will temporarily cause a
depression in performance until adaptation can take place. In general, dogs
should be adapted to the appropriate feeding regimen several weeks prior to the
hunting season or other activity for which the dogs are being trained. Body
condition of heavily worked dogs should be regularly observed, and at times it
may be necessary to adjust or change the amount and/or type of diet fed. The
main daily meal should be fed following the period of exercise or work to allow
adequate digestion, although lesser amounts may be fed (and should be for
under-conditioned dogs) at other times during the day. During the off-season,
offer only a maintenance amount of food, and it may be advisable to switch to
the use of lower fat rations like PROFILE Adult or PROFILE Active to prevent
excessive weight gain, particularly when feeding certain obesity-prone breeds
like the Labrador.
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