How many hours hunting do you get from your dogs?

Wolfhillbilly

Just wondering how many hours hunting you lads get from your dog on a day. My two Irish setters seem to me to be packing it in fairly early in the day, with the maximum seeming to be about two and a half hours of what I would call decent questing for game. I'm not expecting then to be flat out but after that 2 1/2 -3 hours (or less) they have often just given up. Certainly the cover is tough and there isn't exactly game every five minutes but I would be expecting more. I had the father of these dogs (now two and a half years old) and he would have kept going for much longer, although even he wasn't like dogs I had years ago which seemed to me to keep going the entire day.
The father and mother are field trial bred while years ago I never worried about papers and just bought from 'hunting stock'. Am I looking back through rose-tinted glasses?

kermitpwee

I don't know how long a man should get out of the setting/pointing breed but I have a springer that will do 7 hours plus. For the previous two seasons he was only able to do 2hours and I thought I would retire him. I changed his dog food and he is a totally new dog. He was 6 in September and ran a few young dogs ragged this season, my mate stopped bringing his 16 month old springer out with him as his dog couldn't walk for 3-4 days after. I can only conclude that the difference is the dog food.

Vizzy

I'd say that the key to it may be that they are field trial bred.
Bear in mind the field trial dog only has to perform for about 10 mins at a time.
I also remember dogs we had in the "olden days" (setters-both Red and English) and I would certainly have been on my knees a lot sooner than the dogs-4 or 5 hours would have been the norm.

landkeeper

hahaha years ago i would have been out at every single chance i got i used to beat three days a week and shoot the other days my spaniel was with me constantly he was as fit as a flea the same as me
things are a bit different these days maybe age and enthusiasm has a lot to do with it

steyrman2

hi i have a 9 year old lab hunts all day if needed i tend to hunt the gwp in the morning and lab in afternoon just in case of duck on the river i do have a you lab strong as a horse when his time is right god know when he will stop

ace86

well normally i would be out on a sunday with my mate and our springers from 10-4 roughly and the dog would be wrecked from trying cover and be tired the next day too. I have seen them to get fed up after a few hours of trying cover if there is no scent or birds to be rattled too. I found this out about 4 years ago when woodcock numbers were low due to heavy gales when they were migrating here and many didnt make it in.

EPointer=Birdss

Vizzy wrote: »

I'd say that the key to it may be that they are field trial bred.
Bear in mind the field trial dog only has to perform for about 10 mins at a time.
I also remember dogs we had in the "olden days" (setters-both Red and English) and I would certainly have been on my knees a lot sooner than the dogs-4 or 5 hours would have been the norm.

I think you raise a good point on trial dogs. Derry Argue has no meas in the trialing circuit if you read his site.
He goes on about dogs crowned champions in minutes etc which is no true test & the connections with Kennel Clubs ruining the breeds.
The man knows is dogs in fairness to him.

Personally I get say 8:30 to 11:30 or 1 to 4 out of the pointer. I have worked him all day & would easily give me say 4+ hours on wet ground but I dont abuse em. A morning shift or after dinner shift is plenty per dog. If you wanna work more get a second one i say
The springer 2-3 hours.
The days I've worked them both shifts they are very sore & stiff looking the next so a shift per day works well.

declan1980

I get the day out of my setter. She's like a bullet speeding around the place at first, but after an hour or so she'll slow down a bit and pace herself. I rest her for an hour or so at dinner time then she's fresh again after dinner.
My springer just stays going and going. It's like he never gets tired

terminator2

4 hours is enough for me , never mind the dog ,

Ronnie Beck

It could be too much cereal and not enough meat in their in their food. A sugar rush from all the carbohydrate followed by a crash a couple of hours later.

If there getting regular exercise and there fit and healthy I would look into the food first before anything else.

Deerspotter

A slice of good home made plum pudding with an aspirin in it, will give you another two hours out of the dog...

blackpearl

kermitpwee just worndering what type of dog food you changed to as ronnie beck said their might of been more cereal than meat in the dog food you were useing i feed a mainly cereal mix to my dogs in the summer months but from mid august on i slowly increase the meat content and the excrise by early october my dogs are getting 3 to 4 hours hunting 3 times a week by the end of october they can do 6 to 7 hours a day no problem come the start of november they can do full days

Vizzy

Deerspotter wrote: »

A slice of good home made plum pudding with an aspirin in it, will give you another two hours out of the dog...

LMAF

Would you give them a bit of cream and brandy butter as well?

kermitpwee

EPointer=Birdss wrote: »

Personally I get say 8:30 to 11:30 or 1 to 4 out of the pointer. I have worked him all day & would easily give me say 4+ hours on wet ground but I dont abuse em. A morning shift or after dinner shift is plenty per dog. If you wanna work more get a second one i say
The springer 2-3 hours.
The days I've worked them both shifts they are very sore & stiff looking the next so a shift per day works well.

I couldn't agree more, I can get 7 hours plus out of my springer but rarely do, he really means a lot to me and I want him to last so I don't abuse him. There is no point in me lying there has been a 3 or 4 days this season where I kept going and did the day with him, I then wouldn't work him for 4 days. Most of the time I would do no more than 4 hours then go home for the other dog.

kermitpwee

Ronnie Beck wrote: »

It could be too much cereal and not enough meat in their in their food. A sugar rush from all the carbohydrate followed by a crash a couple of hours later.

If there getting regular exercise and there fit and healthy I would look into the food first before anything else.

I have never bought cheap feed, I know this won't suit everyone, I don't have a family to feed, drive a banger so I understand that people need to feed what they can afford.
I have tried all the percieved good brands, royal canin( which is pure ****e imo) Burns, pro pac etc. What I am feeding now is a cold pressed food, as a result it can be eaten the morning of the hunt and the dog will not get sick or feel any discomfort. Personally I will feed the dog at 5-6am if I am shooting at 8.30 or you can feed the night before like the normal stuff.
Anyway here it is, its the cheapest I have use yet and the best imo
http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food/markus_muehle

Just to say I was getting this food for my uncles sprocker and he was going like a train, unreal stamina etc. He couldn't afford it long term and has gone back to cheap stuff and his dog is totally gone downhill, 2-3 hours he is tired. This and my own is the only evidence I have!

blackstairsboy

I have recently started feeding meat and only supplement with nuts when I need to. It probably too early to notice any difference in stamina as it's only been a fortnight. Have to say one thing though that I did notice when I let the dogs out they have one solid stool none of this scuttering around for half an hour that you get with some nuts. I also feed scraps from the table if it's good enough for me it is plenty good for the dogs. I intend to feed oily fish when I can get them during the summer mackerel heads and such were recommended to me.

irish setter

there still a bit young to be pushing them too much and feeding is everything. they still have alot of muscle to build at that age and won't be at their prime till nearly 4 years. as regard field trial dogs i'm not sure if there are many lines of working pointers and setters that are not field trial bred dogs somewhere down the line. the field trial dogs are bred to run at a fair pace but they are clever and will learn to pace themselves better with time.

sonofthegun

only the other day my setter worked all day morning till night we had a break half way in the day we gave him a break for about 45 mins and a feed and off he went for another 4 hours he is 2 years 3 months but he his a lovely big strong dog and the only reason i let him work the whole day is i knew he have a good rest for the next week .he is out of rough shooting stock maybe thats the difference he is not as stylish as a good feild trial dog but he dose a great job for us
stog

Ronnie Beck

kermitpwee wrote: »

I have never bought cheap feed, I know this won't suit everyone, I don't have a family to feed, drive a banger so I understand that people need to feed what they can afford.
I have tried all the percieved good brands, royal canin( which is pure ****e imo) Burns, pro pac etc. What I am feeding now is a cold pressed food, as a result it can be eaten the morning of the hunt and the dog will not get sick or feel any discomfort. Personally I will feed the dog at 5-6am if I am shooting at 8.30 or you can feed the night before like the normal stuff.
Anyway here it is, its the cheapest I have use yet and the best imo
http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food/markus_muehle

Just to say I was getting this food for my uncles sprocker and he was going like a train, unreal stamina etc. He couldn't afford it long term and has gone back to cheap stuff and his dog is totally gone downhill, 2-3 hours he is tired. This and my own is the only evidence I have!

Looks a good job that stuff alot better than the dry food I used to have mine on - about the same price too. I feed my dogs raw meat - roughly 2.50/kg for the chicken and mince from lidl and I get offcuts of meat and bone of the butcher for about 1euro/kg. That with a small amount of cooked rice/spuds, cooked veg ,fruit and cod liver oil. Oily fish is supposed to be great for working dogs so i'm gonna be out for bags of mackerel before next season starts.

The reason i've given up on all dry foods altogether, even the expensive ones, is that AFAIK they all cook the meat(if there is any) at about 120deg. for various reasons. This changes the structure of the proteins that a dog needs for energy, stamina and recovery amongst other things. Not sure what they mean by cold pressing but nonetheless I know now there getting the best of food. I dont trust dog food companies. There alll out for a profit at the expense of your dog. I you add up the analysis at the bottom of that link it only equals 60%. I open to correction but I reckon the other 40 percent is cheap carbs of which a dog needs FA. Most bags have more than 50% carbs.

It cost me exactly the same to feed them now as it did when they were on 35 euro/15kg bag of dry food. She's still only a pup(10 months) now so I cant really say how many hours i'm gettin but she doesn't burn out the door like a nutcase anymore when we're going for a walk. She's definitely more alert at the start of a bit of training now too. Took her on a two hour walk last week and she was still pullin on the lead when I put her on it at the end.

kermitpwee

Ronnie Beck wrote: »

Looks a good job that stuff alot better than the dry food I used to have mine on - about the same price too. I feed my dogs raw meat - roughly 2.50/kg for the chicken and mince from lidl and I get offcuts of meat and bone of the butcher for about 1euro/kg. That with a small amount of cooked rice/spuds, cooked veg ,fruit and cod liver oil. Oily fish is supposed to be great for working dogs so i'm gonna be out for bags of mackerel before next season starts.

The reason i've given up on all dry foods altogether, even the expensive ones, is that AFAIK they all cook the meat(if there is any) at about 120deg. for various reasons. This changes the structure of the proteins that a dog needs for energy, stamina and recovery amongst other things. Not sure what they mean by cold pressing but nonetheless I know now there getting the best of food. I dont trust dog food companies. There alll out for a profit at the expense of your dog. I you add up the analysis at the bottom of that link it only equals 60%. I open to correction but I reckon the other 40 percent is cheap carbs of which a dog needs FA. Most bags have more than 50% carbs.

It cost me exactly the same to feed them now as it did when they were on 35 euro/15kg bag of dry food. She's still only a pup(10 months) now so I cant really say how many hours i'm gettin but she doesn't burn out the door like a nutcase anymore when we're going for a walk. She's definitely more alert at the start of a bit of training now too. Took her on a two hour walk last week and she was still pullin on the lead when I put her on it at the end.

The cold pressing means it's cooked at less than 75deg. I put up the link as a poster asked me what I was using. I won't be feeding a Barf or a Barf related diet as I haven't the time to prepare it. I have tried most dog foods and this is the best imo, I can only go on the evidence that I have. My local Vet has seen such a change in my dogs when were shooting that he is looking into stocking it. All I know is that it suits me!

berettaman

I have a 3.5 yr old red setter, bred by the cousin... Same basic diet as blackstairs boy gives his..The engine in this dog incredible. He gets a break in midday but would easily do 2 .5 hrs morning and again in the evening and the next morning he's barking to go at it again. Fitter than me ( and most dogs around) that's for sure..

Shoot2kill

Springers are currently doing 5hrs a day. I reckon they would do a bit more but by that time by feet do be welded to the wellies so its me that gives up!

But in saying that, at the start of the season they were doing no where near it, 3hrs max... I can only presume that their fitness levels have increased and also a revised diet there about 5 weeks ago has helped alot.