Thought ?

[foxbolter 447]

I know that carrots help you see in the dark so he could be right

[desertdog 149]

There's nowt so queer as scent,sept a woman!,so many men,so many minds,so many hounds,so many kinds,"thoughts on hunting"Otho paget.

[rob84 112]

I've just had a thought.

Feeding any dog a dry dogfood dry, ie. not soaked, dehydrates a dog.

If it doesn't then why do they drink so much afterwards ?

So, if scent needs moisture to carry it and a hound is dried out maybe it picks up scent better ?????

 

Not sure how to word this right but a dogs nose is full of moisture, mucus that's used to transfer information to the brain so that a dog can work out scent, a dog with a dry nose will not working nowhere near its full ability. Vitamin A is associated with scenting powers in dogs, but it is found in naturally in flesh and added to dry food. What I can think of is maybe the hunted better with him on buscuit because of the fat content was higher than for instance if they were fed lean meat such as calves/ horse and they had more energy and hunted harder. Just a thought?

[foxbolter 447]

Ive heard all sorts in my life like hounds with pink noses wont have such a good nose as the normal black nose and hounds with long ears hunt better cause when they run the ears flap back and fore making the scent waft into the nose . None of these I believe cause ive seen hounds with short ears and pink noses hunt just as well as other hounds people hear things off others who have been successful and believe it when the answers why they are successful lies somewhere else

[wyddfa 13]

I don't understand the science in this to be honest, but one thing is for sure, it's all in the breeding... the bloodlines.

Good hounds are bred from for their strengths, and good scenting is a strength that any huntsman would look for and try to keep strong in his pack.

A good huntsman can usually tell which hound is leading and who's more likely to hit a line first.

JP is a huntsman that has run and bred hounds for many years, so if that what he feeds his hounds..., that's what he feeds his hounds!

[GreggB 2]

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2013/03/more-fat-less-protein-improves-detection-dogs-sniffers

 

Studies from Cornell and Auburn University. I guess it would depend on the quality of the dry kibble and it's fat to protien ratio, as well as the quality of flesh being fed. I would like to see this study done using quality animal fat instead of corn oil.

Edited June 1, 2015 by GreggB

[neil cooney 10,415]

Thanks for that Gregg, very interesting.

I've always said you can't beat a good man with good stockmans skills.

Looks like there's a lot of truth in his statement.

Thanks again.

[dEs 6]

Ive never heard so much shit in all my life

 

Absolute bullshit ... A dogs diet has nothing to do with its scenting ability ........

 

My case being how can what the hound is fed on can inprove the hounds nose or its want to hold a cold line.

 

Thanks for the link Gregg. There'll be a few lads doing a bit of studying now

 

Nature's a wonderful thing.

[foxbolter 447]

Whould there be more fat in a bag of food than a cow or sheep and back in the day I bet there wasn't much fat in a bag when jp was feeding bag food if he ever did I bet there didn't say much on the bag

[rob84 112]

Interesting stuff

[foxbolter 447]

How did the blaencathra manage when the great johnny richardson was hunting hounds them hounds were mostly trencher fed and and they would spend half a day hunting a cold line

[neil cooney 10,415]

Foxbolter, what John Pugh said was that a pack fed on a meal diet could hold a cold line better than a flesh fed pack. Not that they couldn't hunt at all.

Don't forget when it comes to scent that huntsmen of years ago didn't have as much spoil to contend with as todays huntsmen.

A man can tell himself as much as he wants that he knows it all but no one will ever know it all when it comes to scent that's why I would never rush in calling someones theory (especially an experienced huntsman) rubbish regarding scent.

I used to ask two men at the meet (both involved in hunt service since the '50s) would there be scent today ?

They always gave me the same answer.

"I don't know".

[MIK 4,754]

Foxbolter, what John Pugh said was that a pack fed on a meal diet could hold a cold line better than a flesh fed pack. Not that they couldn't hunt at all.

Don't forget when it comes to scent that huntsmen of years ago didn't have as much spoil to contend with as todays huntsmen.

A man can tell himself as much as he wants that he knows it all but no one will ever know it all when it comes to scent that's why I would never rush in calling someones theory (especially an experienced huntsman) rubbish regarding scent.

I used to ask two men at the meet (both involved in hunt service since the '50s) would there be scent today ?

They always gave me the same answer.

"I don't know".

Wise words ....its similar to what I say now a days when asked regarding what the scent will be like today ...my answer nowadays is I will tell you when I see the hounds on a line ...scent is not just about the hounds or the conditions some foxes and in the old days otter give of more scent than others

Edited June 2, 2015 by MIK

[Bosun11 537]

From the little i know, scent is a maze of variables, we still know very little.

 

I'd have always thought food would have never made a difference before i read this thred, i would have never have linked them but i have an open mind and would always bow to expierience.

[foxbolter 447]

Some times scent is used far too much as a excuse why the hounds havent hunted very well ive seen hounds speak on a cold line when the majority of the pack can not is this becase they have been fed on meal and the other hounds fed flesh or is it because they are deeper scented hounds bred a different way and if you put all the deeper scented hounds that could hunt a cold line in 1 kennel and fed them flesh and fed the rest of the pack meal in another kennel would you then see the ones fed meal hunt the best I can tell you they wouldn't cause plain and simple it is in the breeding of the hound what its nose will let it do not what it eats but if your happy to believe it you carry on cause I don't care