Stop your gundogs getting fat

By Mark Whitehouse

Tuesday, 30 March 2010

I struggle to keep weight off my team.

I have tried several brands of dog food varying from £10 to £40 per bag. What feeding programme do you use to monitor gun dog weight and keep your gun dogs in top condition?

MARK WHITEHOUSE SAYS: Like most training kennels I too have tried lots of different brands of complete feeds and have also experienced the same problems.

The different brands tell you that they are the best and provide the highest nutritional value for working gun dogs.

And yet they vary some £30+ on price per bag and this can become very confusing for the purchaser.

For the past three years I have been feeding a gun dog food that is in the middle price range bracket and I mix it with raw minced tripe that I buy in 5lb blocks.

The tripe can be messy and very smelly but my gun dogs love it and I have had good results with both condition and work rate for the past three seasons.

When choosing food be aware that they can vary in protein and energy levels.

Working gun dogs will need higher protein levels than gun dogs that are resting or are older.

I would recommend 26 per cent to 30 per cent protein for working gun dogs and 18 per cent to 20 per cent for resting and older gun dogs.

Gun dogs that are being worked three to four times a week should have extra feeds both morning and night, this will help them with reducing weight loss and conditioning.