How much should I feed my dog? | Health

| Next

How much should I feed my gun dog?

Dogs are carnivores and they need to sleep to enable food to be digested.

Monday, 18 June 2007

How many times should I feed my gun dog everyday?

OUR EXPERTS
Jeremy Hunt
Jeremy has been breeding gun dogs for over 25 years. He is a member of the Kennel Club and lives in Lancashire and is well known as a writer on country sports and rural issues.

Mark Whitehouse
Mark is an 'A' panel Kennel Club judge for spaniels and has represented England six times in international gundog events. He trains and breeds labradors and spaniels at the Cheweky Gundog Kennels in Yorkshire.

JEREMY SAYS:

Dogs are carnivores and after a kill – or a meal in the case of the domestic dog – a carnivore sleeps to enable its food to be digested. The period after a feed is the quietest time in any kennels as dogs usually curl up and rest. We feed our kennel dogs twice a day with a small meal in the morning and the main meal about 4.30pm.

I am a stickler for regular feeding times whenever possible, but if your circumstances mean you have to feed your dog in the early evening and then undertake a training session soon after I would consider re-organising your routine.

Many dogs, particularly Labradors, bolt their food which makes it even more important to allow them time to digest it. Perhaps you should consider giving your dog his main meal in the morning and then giving him a smaller meal after you have trained in the evening.

Dogs carrying a full stomach will feel uncomfortable during training - a distraction you don't want. Alternatively you could make sure your dog is fed his main meal mid-afternoon so it's well ahead of his training session. But don't let the light nights make you overdo the training either – too much all at once can be counter-productive.

If you have have any gundog related questions/queries then please send them in to:
Gundog Questions, Shooting Gazette, PO Box 225, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 2HS.

What's the best way to get my gun dog to eat her food?

MARK WHITEHOUSE SAYS: I have never met a dog yet t...

How do I breed a litter of puppies from my gun dog?

OUR EXPERTS Jeremy Hunt Jeremy has been breedi...

Gundogs Training

How do I train my spaniel to be a good marker?

As a gun dog she's a poor at this skill.... Read more

Gundogs Events

Midland Retrievers at Bretby

The Midland Area of the United Retriever Club held an open cold game t... Read more

Gundogs Health

Should we take a litter from a headstrong bitch?

We own a three-year old English springer spaniel bitch who is very hea... Read more

Comments

norrie spacey

Wed, 11th Nov 2009 22:34:10

i have 2 ess 1 at 14 months and 1 at 9 years old i work all week and they are in a outside kennel 24/7 i give them 15 mins before i go to work in the morning and 6 biscuits each the wife gives them a tripe chew during the day i take them out for 1hr every night how much should i feed them after i walk them then how much should i feed them at the w/end after a days picking up or a days beating during the season?

Shooting Gazette March 2010

KEEPING AN EAR TO THE GROUND - Driven shooting's finest journal

Sporting Gun APRIL issue

ON SALE NOW!

The Field April 2010 issue

Free country wallplanner inside

Shooting Times & Country Magazine

FREE inside this week's issue (on sale 17th March) is the Shooting Times Country Show Guide 2010 - this pull out map contains details of over 200 countryside events happening all over the country and further afield this spring/summer. PLUS save £5 on CLA Game Fair tickets with our early-bird adult ticket offer! Don't miss it - buy your copy today!