Kibble

[Gypsydog94 4,328]

Just now, dodger said:

A lot of lurcher lads don't like it but a lot of gundog lads swear by it I know a few lads that use dr johns gold all year round and there dogs look and work well.

Best of just trying it then see what they look like on it 

[SheepChaser 8,082]

Yer I feed Dr John’s titanium which is in the silver bag, and then whatever meat is around. My lot will do a whole roe deer in a sitting if I let them. 

[Shadow100 1,065]

6 hours ago, Gypsydog94 said:

Anyone fed dr johns silver bag? Mine are on field and trail maintenance at the moment for summer. But that’s only 18% protein want to start upping the protein end of July/august to get them ready for September. Or any other kibble. There not getting hammered 4 nights a week but have couple nights a week in season with plenty of evening exercise 

If you’re adding meat then 18% is fine to be honest, people get too hung up on protein, it’s important but only when the dog needs it, too much protein all the time is just as bad for a dog as not enough. If you’re running twice a week better sticking to a mid level protein diet & just giving bigger portions & extra meat for a day or 2 after the dogs ran.

[SheepChaser 8,082]

I think something that makes me chuckle a little bit sometimes. Is folk talk about conditioning their dogs like canine athletes, which is great. And a healthy and balanced nutritional diet is important. But let’s face it ...... how many folks work their dogs THAT hard. Folk do a lot of talking, especially on the internet, but how many  folk really have the dogs out and grafting real hard multiple days / nights a week throughout the season, week in, week out. Serious question ? And an hour or twos mooch isn’t really hard work ....... it’s just normal exercise. 

[dodger 2,660]

11 minutes ago, SheepChaser said:

I think something that makes me chuckle a little bit sometimes. Is folk talk about conditioning their dogs like canine athletes, which is great. And a healthy and balanced nutritional diet is important. But let’s face it ...... how many folks work their dogs THAT hard. Folk do a lot of talking, especially on the internet, but how many  folk really have the dogs out and grafting real hard multiple days / nights a week throughout the season, week in, week out. Serious question ? And an hour or twos mooch isn’t really hard work ....... it’s just normal exercise. 

My gundogs were out 4 days a week all season in fact I think I only missed one day on three different shoots all season I did to much with them tbh but they had a job to do and had to do it but I still didn't put them on a high protein biscuit I just added quality and quantity spaced out with extra meat fat n vitamins tbh by the end of the season they looked in poor condition regarding weight but that was due to the workload not diet so whatever I would've fed I'm confident it would've been the same result in fact only just this last month have they started to get back to condition and fill back out, they were never to stiff or overly tired as out of condition in that way as they'd been conditioned for that type of work but regards to that kind of workload along with the calorie deficit it really is hard to maintain weight there is only so many ways and hours in a day were you can get those calories into them.

A point of high protein foods I to think that there is to emphasis put on protein for both man and animal or it is over rated yes it's needed but at the right times to much n to often seems to overload the system and give them dark urine I'm also not a fan of giving pregnant bitches to high a protein diet atleast not until the final stages can't beat natural when possible just my take n what iv found.

[Black neck 15,162]

6 minutes ago, dodger said:

My gundogs were out 4 days a week all season in fact I think I only missed one day on three different shoots all season I did to much with them tbh but they had a job to do and had to do it but I still didn't put them on a high protein biscuit I just added quality and quantity spaced out with extra meat fat n vitamins tbh by the end of the season they looked in poor condition regarding weight but that was due to the workload not diet so whatever I would've fed I'm confident it would've been the same result in fact only just this last month have they started to get back to condition and fill back out, they were never to stiff or overly tired as out of condition in that way as they'd been conditioned for that type of work but regards to that kind of workload along with the calorie deficit it really is hard to maintain weight there is only so many ways and hours in a day were you can get those calories into them.

A point of high protein foods I to think that there is to emphasis put on protein for both man and animal or it is over rated yes it's needed but at the right times to much n to often seems to overload the system and give them dark urine I'm also not a fan of giving pregnant bitches to high a protein diet atleast not until the final stages can't beat natural when possible just my take n what iv found.

Need more fat rather than protein for that lark sure u know that tho 

[Shadow100 1,065]

43 minutes ago, SheepChaser said:

I think something that makes me chuckle a little bit sometimes. Is folk talk about conditioning their dogs like canine athletes, which is great. And a healthy and balanced nutritional diet is important. But let’s face it ...... how many folks work their dogs THAT hard. Folk do a lot of talking, especially on the internet, but how many  folk really have the dogs out and grafting real hard multiple days / nights a week throughout the season, week in, week out. Serious question ? And an hour or twos mooch isn’t really hard work ....... it’s just normal exercise. 

You hear a lot of people saying their dogs get ran 4/5 nights a week, but they’re classing a quick drive round the local back roads running a hare or 2 as a night out.

If you’re doing a good amount of travelling, 2 hard days/nights a week is a lot for a dog if you’re giving them plenty runs when you go.

It might not seem a lot 2 days out of 7 but when you do it every week from September to March it’s a lot of running, and if your dogs decent you’ll put a lot of game away.

If the “I’m out every night” guys really did what they said they did, they’d overload all the local gamedealers, restaurants, butchers and feed their whole street on what they catch

[SheepChaser 8,082]

Just now, Shadow100 said:

You hear a lot of people saying their dogs get ran 4/5 nights a week, but they’re classing a quick drive round the local back roads running a hare or 2 as a night out.

If you’re doing a good amount of travelling, 2 hard days/nights a week is a lot for a dog if you’re giving them plenty runs when you go.

It might not seem a lot 2 days out of 7 but when you do it every week from September to March it’s a lot of running, and if your dogs decent you’ll put a lot of game away.

If the “I’m out every night” guys really did what they said they did, they’d overload all the local gamedealers, restaurants, butchers and feed their whole street on what they catch

Yep.

Years ago i remember thinking, if everyone caught what they said they did / had. . . . . . . there wouldn't be much left out there!

I agree a couple of hard nights / days out will take it out of a dog.

But I just think some folk worry too much / over complicate things. If you go ferreting once a week, maybe catch 20 rabbits, of which the dog nails a few. . . . .  I wouldn't say the dog is going to be needing special supplements, and an overly complex barf diet to be able to perform.

Even a couple of hard nights . . . . . if you're after rabbits and are lucky enough to be somewhere with a lot of them, then that can be a lot of running, bigger things, how many runs are you really having a night??? Not that many if the dogs good.

Admittedly there are people out there really testing and pushing their dogs, and those dogs will need a diet to suit, and also theres nothing wrong with giving a dog the best food you can. I just thunk maybe some folk worry too much or feel they have to stick to this complex barf diet, or their dogs wont perform. There are plenty of dogs out there, grafting hard, killing a lot of game, and being fed on a bowl of mid price biscuit, with a few table scraps now and then.

 

[Shadow100 1,065]

1 minute ago, SheepChaser said:

Yep.

Years ago i remember thinking, if everyone caught what they said they did / had. . . . . . . there wouldn't be much left out there!

I agree a couple of hard nights / days out will take it out of a dog.

But I just think some folk worry too much / over complicate things. If you go ferreting once a week, maybe catch 20 rabbits, of which the dog nails a few. . . . .  I wouldn't say the dog is going to be needing special supplements, and an overly complex barf diet to be able to perform.

Even a couple of hard nights . . . . . if you're after rabbits and are lucky enough to be somewhere with a lot of them, then that can be a lot of running, bigger things, how many runs are you really having a night??? Not that many if the dogs good.

Admittedly there are people out there really testing and pushing their dogs, and those dogs will need a diet to suit, and also theres nothing wrong with giving a dog the best food you can. I just thunk maybe some folk worry too much or feel they have to stick to this complex barf diet, or their dogs wont perform. There are plenty of dogs out there, grafting hard, killing a lot of game, and being fed on a bowl of mid price biscuit, with a few table scraps now and then.

 

I’ve known a hound pack to get fed on fallen sheep, green tripe and the odd bag of budget biscuit & they were worked harder than most lurchers I’ve seen, but I still put 100% in to mine, if you want 100% back from them I think it’s only fair 

[Daniel cain 42,842]

I've seen dogs fed on a diet of stale pies and pastys and dirt cheap biscuits.... They worked like trojans.... If it was in em.... You can't polish a turd and that

 

[SheepChaser 8,082]

1 minute ago, Shadow100 said:

I’ve known a hound pack to get fed on fallen sheep, green tripe and the odd bag of budget biscuit & they were worked harder than most lurchers I’ve seen, but I still put 100% in to mine, if you want 100% back from them I think it’s only fair 

Theres hound packs out there fed on pasties lol.

[Daniel cain 42,842]

1 minute ago, SheepChaser said:

Theres hound packs out there fed on pasties lol.

Davis bakeries, Nelson lol......like  Most the allotment boys

[Black neck 15,162]

4 minutes ago, Daniel cain said:

I've seen dogs fed on a diet of stale pies and pastys and dirt cheap biscuits.... They worked like trojans.... If it was in em.... You can't polish a turd and that

 

Used 2 feed 30 couple of beagles on pork pies and hardly ote else looked sound on it

[MH1 1,804]

10 minutes ago, Daniel cain said:

I've seen dogs fed on a diet of stale pies and pastys and dirt cheap biscuits.... They worked like trojans.... If it was in em.... You can't polish a turd and that

 

Sounds like my diet

[dodger 2,660]

51 minutes ago, Black neck said:

Need more fat rather than protein for that lark sure u know that tho 

It's just another interest for me tbh and I'd never try to advice someone else's way as I genuinely think that my dogs look no better than many others as I said earlier I see some dogs fed on something like dr johns n nothing else so I wouldn't say why do you feed that shit if there dogs do well on it so more of a shared interest thing really in how others do it, I do think aswell that a lot of people can over think things and in a lot of cases you just get good stock men that seem to have the nack of always having there dogs right whatever they do n feed.