Does dried food improve a gun dog’s performance?

About our feeds

From guns and gundogs to the latest shooting news; the complete online network for the British shooting community.

| Next

Does dried food improve a gun dog’s performance?

A dry food mix can be convenient if you keep a lot of dogs.

By Mark Whitehouse

Tuesday, 30 June 2009

In the past I have fed tripe and meat mine with a plain biscuit mixer and had good results.

Last year my freezer broke down and I switched to a dry food mix just for convenience, but I do not think my gun dogs have faired nearly so well on it. Any thoughts?

MARK WHITEHOUSE SAYS: Running a gun dog training kennel is time-consuming and I have switched to using a dry food mix for convenience.

If I only had a few gun dogs and had the facilities to store raw meat and tripe hygienically, I would go back to this more natural way of feeding.

I have tried many complete dry foods; some were so badly formulated that they created work around the kennels cleaning it up.

In today’s market the cost of leading brands can vary from £12 to £30 for a 15kg bag and there are many excellent mid-range feeds that are specially created for gundogs.

For more gun dog health advice click here

What'll it be like when my gundog has puppies?

MARK WHITEHOUSE SAYS: The duration of a dog's...

How can I stop my gundogs fouling their kennel?

MARK WHITEHOUSE SAYS: This is an unpleasant proble...

Gundogs Training

I don't understand gundog terms

Abbreviations are particularly confusing.... Read more

Gundogs Events

Wiltshire Gun Dog Society open retriever stake

The Wiltshire Working Gun Dog Society held their open retriever stake ... Read more

Gundogs Health

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

My young bitch is a very fussy eater. I have tried several brands of d... Read more

Comments

ali linton

Fri, 26th Mar 2010 21:40:20

dog`s are omnivore`s,they need a little of everything,not pawned of with the cheapest rubbish you can find.my lab get`s a non complex carbohydrate meal(rice,pasta,toast) 1 hour before working,a high energy snack half way through the day and a high protien meal(chicken,fish) when he get`s back,then washed,your dog depend`s on you 100% for food,warmth and companionship. ali linton