Saturday, Mar. 29, 2008

Start training your bird dog now

By Kevin McCullen

Your hunting partner may be in need of its own spring training.

Bird dogs should be physically prepared for hunting season long before the first point or retrieve of the fall, according to local trainers.

“What too often happens is old Six-Pack sits on the couch from now until September. Dogs are athletes, and if they don’t get any activity, like all athletes, they get out of shape,” said Steve Kirk of Benton City, who has trained retrievers for years.

Kirk and his wife, Julie, who owns Penny Creek Kennels, and Larry Thurman of Whine Country Kennels in Benton City recommend regular exercise for hunting dogs and proper nutrition throughout the offseason.

The period between now and the opening of upland and waterfowl seasons in September and October is pivotal in ensuring a dog is fit and ready for the rigors of the hunt.

“If you don’t get them out, come hunting season, it’s like asking a sprinter to run a race without doing any warmups,” Steve Kirk said. “They are like any athlete. They get out and the adrenalin starts flowing, and they get ramped up. That’s when injuries happen.”

Local veterinarians see the outcome. Dr. Kathy Batdorf of Vista Veterinary Hospital in Kennewick said she sees two types of dogs: those that are always in shape, and those that aren’t.

During hunting season, she treats overweight dogs that are hobbling, or with cuts and lacerations. “They have so much heart that they won’t quit until they are exhausted,” she said.

Here are some tips on nutrition and exercise from local trainers:

Nutrition

Local trainers advise owners to feed their dogs a quality food.

Thurman, who breeds and raises Weimaraners and German shorthair pointers, also is adamant about feeding his dogs twice daily.

Julie Kirk also recommends owners carefully read labels for ingredients in dog food. If advertising on a bag touts that the main ingredient is chicken, “and if it is not in the first five things listed on the label, it does not have chicken,” she said.

Certain breeds also put on weight more easily than others, and some breeds self-regulate their eating.

So the amount of food given at feeding times should in part take into account a dog’s activity level and metabolism.

“It’s very individualized,” Julie Kirk said.

Advice on feeding older dogs also varies. Some veterinarians recommend senior-formulated food, but some trainers say it may not make an appreciable difference.

“My own older dogs get a dog food that is palatable to them,” Julie Kirk said.

She also has a time-tested way to determine if a dog is overweight: Feeling along its spine and down its rib cage.

“I want to feel padding at the top of the spine. I don’t want to feel padding at the lower end of the rib cage,” she said.

And Thurman reminds owners to ensure a dog’s water bowl is kept full, and to carry plenty of water in the field and in a vehicle.

He carts two 5-gallon water buckets with him when out with his dogs. “The biggest thing dogs need, particularly this time of year, is water,” he said.

Exercise

Thurman says owners should take their dogs out a minimum of once a week during the offseason, and preferably more often.

Thurman, who specializes in training pointing dogs, also enters his own dogs in hunt trials to keep them fit and sharp year-round.

The exercise routine can include a hike, a run, a walk or letting the dog off-leash to run if you’re in an area where you can.

Retrievers also should be allowed to swim. Steve Kirk recommends tailoring a dog’s exercise routine to the amount of hunting it will do in the fall.

A hunter who plans to be out often will demand more of his dog. “If you hunt two, three times a season, old Six-Pack won’t have to be in the same kind of shape as if you go out two, three times a week,” he said.

Thurman also relies on a fundamental rule for all dog owners. “An older dog will hunt as hard as you want, and they will let you know when it’s time to slow down,” Thurman said. “The biggest thing is to know your dog. You’ve got to be able to read your dog to know when he’s tired.”

— Kevin McCullen: 582-1535; kmccullen@tricityherald.com

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