What can you feed a hunting dog? Feeding hunting dogs

The dog still remains a predator fed by its feet, despite the fact that it became a domestic animal and went through numerous stages of development that made it completely different from its ancestor - the wolf; Still, the best food for a dog is raw meat, raw bones, and raw fish.

If a dog is fed in the same way as a person, then not only will it not die, but will be in good condition; however, when fed raw meat and fish, the dog will develop a different fold that will provide significantly greater strength and endurance when hunting. This position has been proven completely. Raw food should be given to the puppy from the fifth week. It should be especially emphasized that soups made from rice, other cereals and milk, which are commonly used for complementary feeding, not only do not provide any benefit, but are even harmful. Unfortunately, even among dog handlers who conduct serious breeding work, the opinion is so deeply rooted that puppies should be given soups and boiled gruel as their first complementary foods, that it is difficult for me to explain the incorrectness of this position.

If you leave no more than 4 puppies with a well-fed, completely healthy bitch, then she will be able to feed them until 8 or 9 weeks, and until the 6th week such puppies will refuse complementary feeding.

If you leave 6 puppies or even more, then already in the 3rd week they will begin to greedily absorb thin soups, and only a layman will admire their “early development” and huge swollen bellies.

Puppies raised on soup feeding are susceptible to diseases and helminths, of which tapeworm is especially harmful, stunting growth and causing rickets, with its characteristic changes in bone structure. In short, the puppy will turn out to be a runt.

Puppies grow up completely differently; for the first 5 weeks of their life, their mother fed them to satiety herself, and after 5 weeks they were fed raw meat, raw fish, raw oatmeal, bone meal, and raw eggs. Even in appearance, such puppies differ sharply from puppies raised on soups and cow's milk.

The wolf, jackal and dingo begin to feed their puppies at 5 - 6 weeks of age with meat, which they regurgitate for this purpose. So, meat is the healthiest thing for a dog puppy, but it must be thoroughly chopped.

For most readers it will be very surprising and even wild that I am protesting precisely against complementary feeding with milk, and, most importantly, against complementary feeding with milk alone and nothing else, which causes poor condition of the puppy. The fact is that very few people have experienced other types of feeding, as close as possible to feeding a puppy in natural conditions.

Imitating feeding in natural conditions, a puppy at 5 weeks of age should be given raw chopped meat.

Numerous experiments carried out by me have proven that puppies grow up underdeveloped, with rachitic changes in the bone structure due to the lack of substances contained in raw bones in their body. It turned out to be very beneficial to add raw bone meal to the food of a 5-month-old puppy.

We give 5-month-old terriers (i.e. small dogs) 3 times a day fresh bone meal, for each meal - a little flour on the end of a knife; puppies from medium-sized dogs - 3 times a day, a teaspoon with the top, and especially strong puppies from large hunting dogs - a tablespoon 3 times a day.

Adding a raw egg to food turns the flour into a paste that is more convenient to eat, and there is no need to talk about the benefits of the egg itself. By adding small quantities of grated cheese of all sorts to food 3 times a day, it was possible to achieve brilliant results when raising particularly weak litters. And in general, when cheese is added to food, puppies always eat very willingly, with great pleasure.

If, on the basis of several decades of experience, I strongly protest against feeding puppies with milk, then I strongly recommend that dog breeders see for themselves the good results that feeding cheese gives. Fairy tales that cheese can ruin one’s sense of smell should not be believed by any serious dog breeder.

An adult dog should be fed in the same way as a young dog, the only difference is the portion size. For an adult dog, expensive feeding of pure proteins, which are absolutely necessary for a puppy, can be replaced with other complementary foods, of course, not completely, but by more than half. But this food must also be raw, for example, raw oatmeal or raw oatmeal. Everyone knows the facts that beautiful puppies grew up in the village because they ate with the pigs, i.e. Everything is raw, mostly cereals.

Your dog's food should include raw carrots, lettuce, spinach and vegetables in general, raw of course.

Bread and potatoes cannot bring any benefit to a predator like a dog; rice too, a dog can only digest it if it is boiled; all these are just fillers, which make the stomach swell and bloat, and also add fat, which is completely unnecessary for the dog.

It goes without saying that adding a small amount of cooked rice or cooked chopped vegetables to your dog's raw food will be beneficial for satiating your dog.

However, you cannot give your dog 8/10 of the entire meal of boiled rice, and 2/10 of raw meat and fish; it should be the other way around: 8/10 of raw meat and fish, and 2/10 of rice.

When feeding a dog, you must follow the basic rule: so that the dog is not left for a single day without raw meat, fish and bone meal. Puppies should add small portions of bee honey to their food. Puppies the size of a spaniel should be given a teaspoon of honey 3 times a day, puppies from larger dogs should be given a tablespoon 3 times a day.

Dogs that hunt a lot or are being trained for testing should be fed honey regularly for several weeks before this intense period, and they should also have increased portions of meat and fish. Dogs without movement, living in rooms, need to be fed significantly less.

I will indicate the dosage of complementary food for puppies 5 - 8 weeks old from dogs the size of a dachshund: in addition to mother's milk, 3 times a day, a tablespoon of raw complementary food. By 7 - 9 weeks, complementary feeding should be gradually increased to 2 - 3 tablespoons 3 times a day. Puppies from dogs the size of a spaniel - double or triple the portion indicated, puppies from large hunting dogs - 4 - 6 times more.

Puppies and young dogs fed on such a diet have better inclinations for training, hunting and breeding work.

Only after reaching one and a half to two years of age can you add leftovers from your lunch to your dog’s food, for example bread, potatoes (but only heavily chopped), other boiled vegetables, boiled rice and other cereals.

It is very useful for an adult dog with good teeth to give raw bones in quantities depending on the size of the dog and how much it runs and how much movement it has. If a dog does not have enough exercise, then it does not digest bones well, and there are cases when very hard feces are formed and the dog dies from constipation.

In order to raise a puppy well, in addition to proper feeding, three conditions are necessary: ​​sunlight, movement and the absence of helminths, especially tapeworms.

Science has long proven that with the best feeding, rich in vitamins, but in the absence of exposure to sunlight and the correct change of day and night on the young body, the puppy grows up with rickets in the bones, is stunted, the nervous system becomes ill, and a tendency to hair disease appears. and skin, helminths and dwarf growth appear, while the brothers and sisters of this puppy, kept on the same diet, but receiving sunlight in sufficient quantities, grow up completely normal and healthy. This applies to puppies that are raised in corridors with artificial lighting, in dark closets, sheds, basements, without sufficient exercise and exercise, without sunlight.

For the most part, this applies to large cities, where such mutilated puppies, taken from their mother too early, while their body has not yet developed immunity against plague, helminths, etc., are sold, and often at a particularly high price.

Until 14 weeks (3.5 months), the puppy’s movement cannot be limited; he must run and frolic as much as he wants.

In puppies, as in children, food should be followed by a short game, then sleep. Any restriction of movement is harmful; It is harmful to carry a small chip on a bundle, especially along asphalt city streets, and even over long distances; The puppy must frolic, it cannot be dragged on a leash. Overexertion of a puppy's body, which is not yet strong and is just developing, causes painful changes in the weakest organs, can retard growth, end growth ahead of time (the dog will have an infantile type of constitution, underdeveloped), and will increase susceptibility to diseases, especially plague and helminths. Let me emphasize once again that tapeworm most often occurs in puppies if they are taken away from their mother early.

It is recommended to keep the dog outdoors, in a kennel, starting from puppyhood. The booth must have double walls, a double floor, bedding, and a fence that protects from drafts, wind, and side flows of rain. The booth must be placed in a large enclosure made of iron rods, buried at least 0.5 m into the ground. The soil inside the enclosure must be cemented to a width of 1 m from the fence, with soil and grass left in the middle. For greater guarantee, you can make a roof of metal mesh around the fence. There are cases that during the mating season, dogs jump over very high fences (right from the roof of the booth), or climb over them. For the winter you need to put more straw in the hut. The dog will love such dwellings if the owner can often and for a long time take the dog out of there, give it plenty of time to run around and exercise with it.

A sufficiently playful puppy will happily return to his kennel, where he will find food and a comfortable, completely protected place to rest. When a young dog or puppy begins to be accustomed to being kept in an enclosure, it, of course, howls or whines. It is necessary to immediately stop this by shouting: “Ugh!” (impossible), while simultaneously throwing a handful of coarse shot at the dog, since a dog howling in an enclosure is an extremely unpleasant phenomenon for those around him.

Usually, the following objections are raised against keeping in an enclosure: being locked up, without movement, the dog will not develop physically; due to little communication with the owner, it will not develop mentally, and will also dirty the rooms.

These objections will be valid only if the owner considers keeping a dog in an enclosure not from the point of view of providing the dog with healthy rest and fresh air at a time when he himself is busy and cannot work with the dog, but from the point of view of his own convenience and laziness - lock the dog in an enclosure and no worries, just feed it, don’t take it out for walks, don’t work with it, but take it hunting when the season comes.

A real dog breeder, who puts his soul into training and training a dog, devotes all his free time to the dog, always takes it with him for walks, makes it run next to his bicycle, and for the time he spends at home, takes the dog to the room so that there the dog knew how to behave well.

I have an unheated room and a veranda where I am with the dogs, and their bedding is a horse blanket placed on the floor. But the dogs always spend the night and hours of my absence in the enclosure, in winter and summer, in any weather. Such hardening - the habit of rain, cold, wind, dampness, with excellent feeding, allows you to raise a cheerful, hardy, disease-resistant hunting dog that works great hunting at any time of the year, goes into the water in late autumn and winter.

Franz Granderath "Raising, raising, training and training a hunting dog"

The dog is by nature a carnivore, which tends to feed primarily on meat. However, in the process of domestication, these animals adapted to living near humans and became omnivores.

Sled dogs in the Arctic are fed meat of sea animals and fish throughout almost the entire year. An unspoiled mongrel is content with the remnants of the master's table and the fact that he manages to snatch poultry, pigs and other animals from the feeders. A bad owner's dog hangs out near garbage dumps and eats sewage. The spoiled lap dogs of city dwellers often live on sweets alone, even getting used to drinks such as coffee and cocoa, and the greyhound of an Arab nomad, when there is no meat food in his tent, makes do with a handful of dried dates.

But all these deviations from the norm in the diet of our four-legged friends adversely affect their health and performance. A hunting dog, which expends a colossal amount of energy on the hunt, needs sufficient and nutritious nutrition.

An adult dog is usually fed twice a day - morning and evening. If you have to leave it alone in the house for the whole day without going for a walk, then it is better to feed it once, after the owner, having come home from work, takes the dog out to fulfill its natural needs. Some people, under such a forced regime, give the dog after a morning walk only a small, higher-calorie, but low-volume part of the daily diet, and give the main feeding in the evening.

The amount of food a dog can eat varies dramatically for a number of reasons. A well-bred and well-fed dog of medium height (for example, a hound) eats

For one feeding, 1.5-2 liters of food of normal creamy consistency. An emaciated runt, raised on potatoes and bran, manages to eat a bucket of semi-liquid food in one sitting. And, bloated from what he has eaten, he remains hungry, since the feeling of appetite is created not only when the stomach is empty, but also when there is a lack of nutrients in the blood and tissues of the body.

An animal can experience starvation with any amount of food eaten if it lacks essential elements, such as proteins, vitamins or minerals. The consequence of such partial underfeeding is the dog’s weakness, a decrease in its working qualities, metabolic disorders, and excessive or perverted appetite. In the latter case, the dog greedily eats garbage, various unclean things and not at all edible objects. Incorrect feeding has a particularly bad effect on young growing animals, on producers and on the offspring obtained from such underfed dogs.

A complete diet should include a sufficient amount of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals and trace elements.

The source of protein in a dog’s diet is meat, fish, cottage cheese and other dairy products. It is recommended to feed valuable breeding dogs, as well as sick ones, eggs. The most complete, easily digestible protein is found in fresh, raw, unfrozen meat. The same should be said about fish. But the nutritional value of fish is lower and, replacing meat with it, the amount should be approximately doubled. Boiled meat and fish are not as nutritious as raw ones. But nevertheless, part of the meat diet must be given boiled for sanitary and preventive reasons, and also because dogs eat porridge and vegetables in broth with chopped pieces of meat (fish) better.

Salted meat and fish are given only in boiled form, and before cooking they are soaked in a large amount of water and changed several times. But soaking does not remove all the salt. Some of it chemically binds to salty foods, enters the dog’s body with them and is subsequently excreted in the urine. Therefore, long-term feeding of dogs with salty foods is undesirable, and this food is harmful for young animals and puppy dogs.

Many dogs greedily eat spoiled, rotten meat and fish. Adult healthy dogs that move a lot, have a good appetite and normal acidity of gastric juices, digest such a “treat” without harm if they eat it on an empty stomach. But, after swallowing a piece of stale meat on a full stomach, the same dog can get indigestion. In this case, its gastric juice will be diluted with previously eaten food and will not be able to neutralize the putrefactive bacteria of the spoiled product.

Puppies, whose secretion and, apparently, acidity of digestive juices are less than adults, can even be poisoned by stale meat and fish. There was a case in the Moscow Zoo when even wolf cubs died from stale meat, although in nature adult wolves feed on carrion without any harm to health.

Meat and fish are fed to dogs in pieces, and not in the form of minced meat. The pieces are completely digested in the stomach, while the minced meat partially passes into the intestines semi-digested, causing indigestion.

Usually, dogs are given cheap varieties of meat from various animals: beef, lamb, horse meat, sea animal meat, whale, etc. Only very fatty meat is not recommended, especially pork, which has a laxative effect. Pork, even if it is not fatty, can only be given boiled, since it more often than the meat of other animals contains trichinae and tapeworms.

I Dogs should not be fed raw entrails of hares, squirrels and other game animals. Such feeding does not serve as a stimulator of hunting passion, and worms are transmitted to dogs.

Dogs usually get fats of animal origin along with meat products. They can be given to dogs living in the house only in very limited quantities, since excess fat causes stomach upset, disrupts liver activity and is simply not needed if the dog lives in a warm place and does not expend a lot of energy. It is useful to increase the amount of fat during periods of intensive use of the dog during hunting or in cold weather if it lives in a kennel.

However, even in these cases, you need to carefully monitor the dogs’ digestion, reducing the portion of fats at the slightest stomach upset.

Fats are absorbed better when the dog receives them mixed with other foods (porridge, vegetables).

Dairy products - milk, cottage cheese, curdled milk, skim milk and others - contain high-value protein, easily digestible fats, a complex of vitamins and minerals. All of these foods, of course fresh, non-peroxided, are recommended for dogs of all ages, for pregnant bitches and stud dogs. Fresh milk, so that it curdles better and is absorbed in the stomach, is best given with porridge, bread and other food.

Eggs are useful to feed when raising valuable young animals, as well as to sick animals and breeding dogs. They are better digested when mixed with other foods or in the form of omelettes. When giving raw eggs, it is good to mix one egg with half a glass of milk.

It is most convenient to cook cereals in the form of a thick porridge in water. Before feeding, they are diluted to the desired consistency with milk or broth with pieces of meat (fish) chopped into it. You can not cook the rolled oatmeal, but simply pour boiling broth or milk over it. If you have to replace the cereal part of the diet with bread products, it is better to give crackers from cheap varieties of wheat bread.

Plant foods - vegetables, herbs, fruits and root vegetables - serve primarily as a source of vitamins in dog nutrition. Vegetables and fruits are best fed to dogs raw. Considering that dogs do not chew food, and plant cells are covered with a cellulose shell that is not dissolved by dogs’ digestive juices, it is better to give raw vegetables by grating them or passing them through a meat grinder. If the dog is reluctant to eat them in their pure form, pureed vegetables are mixed with other foods.

Boiled root vegetables, in particular potatoes, are quite poorly digestible by dogs. They should be added to the food in small quantities, mashed into a puree.

Greens - lettuce, dill, celery and young nettles - are added raw, finely chopped, to the finished food. Before gardening, nettles are steamed with hot food to neutralize its stinging fibers.

Boiled pumpkin occupies a special place among plant foods. Most dogs are more willing to eat food with this additive. In addition, pumpkin has an anthelmintic effect.

During the cooking process, many vitamins are destroyed, especially during prolonged cooking in open boilers. Therefore, you need to try to ensure that your dog receives raw meat, fish, dairy products and vegetables as often as possible, preferably daily.

Grated carrots should be given to your dog in combination with a small amount of animal and vegetable fat. In this case, the carotene contained in carrots is more fully converted into vitamin A.

It is useful to accustom your puppy to raw vegetables, fruits, berries and meat from an early age, and then you need to give them regularly so that the dog does not get weaned from these healthy foods.

With this feeding, there is no need to resort to giving vitamins and other supplements. At one time, livestock breeders around the world were very keen on giving artificial vitamins, minerals and trace elements. However, studies in recent years have shown that excessive doses of vitamins and glycerophosphate cause profound metabolic disorders, tissue degeneration, and abnormal development. Excessive use of bone meal spoils digestion. Therefore, vitamins and other substances produced for medical purposes can be given only as directed by a veterinarian and in strictly limited quantities.

The main source of minerals in a dog's diet is raw pet bones. They need to be given little by little to avoid intestinal blockage, constipation and other disorders, preferably soft, cartilaginous ones. Excess hard bones given to adult dogs prematurely destroys their teeth. Dogs should not be given poultry bones. When chewed, they always break into sharp pieces, which can cause intestinal perforation.

Recently, our pets’ diet has been replenished with a significant range of canned and granulated food, the use of which eliminates the need to specially prepare food for dogs. In retail, these feeds are sold, of course, at a large markup. But when a club or other association of dog breeders purchases a large batch of food in bulk from an importer, it costs no more than a set of products purchased to prepare complete dog food at home.

Author during 1993-1998. feeds her pets only dry granular food and canned food "Pedigree PAL", the dogs eat it well and are in excellent shape. The company produces food in several versions: “Pedigree Formula Junior” - for puppies aged from one to 5 months, it is also suitable for feeding small breed bitches; "Pedigree Formula Junior Plus" - for feeding puppies aged 6 to 18 months; “Pedigree Formula Activity Plus” is for feeding dogs with increased physical activity (for example, for hunting dogs during hunting or training, competitions), this food is also suitable for feeding large breed female puppies. We feed our old “pensioner” dog simple Pedigree granules and add Pedigree Mixer vegetable granules. There is also a “Pedigree Formula Premium Menu” - to maintain the optimal shape of adult dogs living without much physical activity, it is also suitable for feeding old dogs.

These feeds (formulas) differ in the percentage of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, as well as different sets of vitamins and microelements. Their compositions are selected to ensure the full development and well-being of dogs in accordance with age, living conditions and workloads.

Dry granulated food "Pedigri" is convenient because it contains everything necessary for complete feeding of dogs and requires a minimum of effort in purchasing and preparing food. The food stores well, it does not require refrigerators, the preparation is simple: pour a handful of food into the dog’s bowl and make sure there is plenty of drinking water.

Adult dogs raised on other foods must be introduced to this food gradually (as with any new food). If you raise a puppy on this type of food, then as an adult the dog feels great, receiving only this type of food.

To satisfy young dogs in “chewing activity,” the same company produces toys made from special materials. Our young dog has left the furniture and shoes alone and is already happily playing with the Pedigri toy, chewing on it without causing any damage to the latter.

Pelleted food from Alpha Dog and Purina, also available in several formulas, goes on sale.

Some domestic enterprises are also beginning to master the production of granulated feed. But in terms of price and quality, they are still inferior to the products of reputable foreign companies. By-products are in short supply on the domestic market and are expensive, so the compositions of domestic animal feed are overloaded with bone meal and bran.

– this is the first thing that requires special attention from owners of hunting dogs. This circumstance is due to the fact that dogs of hunting breeds consume a huge amount of energy while hunting, so their food should be rich in carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals.

If a hunter wants to conduct a high-quality and successful hunt with his pet, then he should study the topic food for hunting dog in all details to know how much, how and in what quantity to give food to the dog.

Many novice hunters believe that they can feed their dogs food that they themselves eat, but this is a big misconception. A dog's body is different from a human's and therefore requires a special diet.

What is the most suitable food for a hunting dog?

You just need to buy complete dog food, which is sold in specialized stores. This is what people say who have no time to cook food for their dog, because they are very busy with their everyday problems.

No dry food from the store can replace a dog’s nutritious food, which is prepared with love by the owner. For such food you need quite a lot of different products, which we will talk about now.

Meat is the basis of a hunting dog’s diet, so it must be constantly available. What kind of meat can you feed your dog? There is no doubt that fatty meat is contraindicated, so your pet should not eat pork.

Mostly chicken or beef is cooked. Raw meat contains more nutrients than cooked meat, but in most cases it is better to cook it.

A dog definitely needs porridge, so the choice of cereals should also be taken seriously, because there are cereals that are harmful to the animal. For example, barley groats clog the intestines, so it is better to give such groats very rarely or avoid them altogether.

Oatmeal is very easily digestible and should be put in first place among cereals for dogs, but it is worth remembering that some dogs get very fat from it.

Rice and buckwheat are also well absorbed by the dog’s body, but you shouldn’t feed them a lot separately, but it’s better to mix them together fifty-fifty.

Dairy products in the form of cottage cheese and milk are also needed for the full functioning of the animal, which are given two or three times over seven days along with raw eggs.

Vegetables and greens are rich in fiber and are given to the dog in the form of chopped pieces. This is how they are better absorbed by the body. If vegetables are finely chopped, they do not have time to fully release all the nutrients.

Quite often they feed the dog carrots and cucumbers, tomatoes and celery, parsley, zucchini, and pumpkin. This is a set of products of plant origin that fills the body with the necessary vitamins.

There are many factors that influence the amount of food for a hunting dog and the frequency of its consumption. For example, for puppies, food should be prepared and given up to 6 times a day until they are 4-5 months old.

When they turn 6 months old, food should be given 4 times a day, but after a year the feeding regime goes up to two or three times a day. Don't add too much food. The best option is when the dog experiences slight hunger after finishing its meal.

The amount of food for a dog is absolutely individual, but we can still talk about average values ​​that are typical for medium-sized breeds.

For example, a serving for a medium-sized dog between 1 and 6 months of age is 0.35 to 1.0 liters of boiled formula. With each month of maturation, 250-300 g of food is added.

From 6 to 12 months, the increase in food is from 1.0 to 3.0 liters of the mixture, that is, 500 g are added every month. All these indicators are averaged, so pay attention to your dog, how he reacts to an increase in portions.

It is possible that these standards will be too high for your dog. There is a general rule that allows you to calculate approximately the amount of food per day for a dog.

For a dog under 6 months of age, you should take 6-7% of body weight, after 6 months you should take 3-3.5%. The resulting volume of food must be divided by 50% so that one half is meat, and the other is porridge, dairy products and vegetables combined.

Dogs, by their origin and anatomical and physiological characteristics, are carnivorous animals. In the process of taming and domestication, people accustomed them to plant foods along with meat. However, a diet of feeding only one plant food will be incomplete, since the proteins found in plant foods are absorbed by dogs less well than the proteins in foods of animal origin.

To properly feed dogs, like other animals, their food must contain proteins, carbohydrates, fats, mineral salts, and vitamins.

Feeding an adult dog

The average daily feeding requirement for an adult dog per 1 kg of live weight should be as follows: proteins 4-5g, carbohydrates 12-15g, fats 2-3g. The diet of hunting dogs must also be sufficiently high in calories. Caloric content is calculated based on live weight. The larger the dog, the fewer calories are required per 1 kg of live weight.

Each dog's caloric needs vary depending on the physical work performed and temperature conditions. With moderate work and average conditions, the following is required: for dogs weighing 10 kg - about 1200 large calories, for dogs weighing 20 kg - 1700, 30 kg - about 2300 large calories. When keeping a dog outdoors in winter, it is necessary to increase the supply of fats, and if there is a lot of physical work - carbohydrates and proteins.

In the diets of puppies, young animals, whelps and lactating bitches, proteins, mineral salts and vitamins are especially important, the absence or insufficiency of which causes growth retardation and deviations from normal development.

Table 8. Approximate daily diet for medium-sized hunting dogs.

Age months.	Norm of products, g.
	Meat products or fish.	Cereals and flour.	Vegetables and root vegetables.		Animal fat.		Bone flour.
Over a year old.

The dog's diet should be varied

It should not contain hot seasonings and spices that negatively affect the sense of smell: garlic, pepper, mustard, vinegar, etc. Food for dogs, especially if there are two of them, must be prepared specially.

The main dog foods are as follows:

Meat and meat waste from agricultural and wild animals, as well as fish, are the most important part of the diet and the main source of proteins. They are most valuable when fresh. When salted, these products are less nutritious and should be thoroughly soaked; When fresh, they are fed partly boiled and partly raw. Dogs should not be fed pork.

Dairy products for dogs

Dairy products: milk, cottage cheese, skim milk, buttermilk - a very valuable nutritious food, especially for puppies, whelps and lactating bitches.

Cereals and flour products are the main source of carbohydrates. These products are fed in a well-cooked form, and are especially croup. Bread is an important food.

Root vegetables for dogs

Root vegetables, vegetables, herbs (potatoes, carrots, cabbage, beet tops, young nettles) are also included in the diet of hunting dogs. Potatoes are rich in carbohydrates, greens are rich in vitamins. Potatoes are fed boiled, vegetables and herbs - partly boiled, partly (necessarily) raw in finely chopped form.

Vegetables and greens are especially important for puppies, whelping dogs and lactating bitches. Hunting dogs need mineral supplements: bones, meat and bone meal, bone meal, fish bone meal, ground chalk, shell meal and the so-called “precipitate” - specially made feed bone meal.

An essential element of a dog's diet

A valuable and necessary element of a dog’s diet is animal fats rich in vitamins, including fish, sea animals, and whale fats. Fats should not be rancid.

It is necessary that the diet includes all types of nutrients (Tables 8 and 9). Mechanical replacement of some feeds with others without taking into account their nutritional value leads to a violation of the correct feeding. As a rule, dog food is best prepared in the form of a thick soup or semi-liquid porridge, thinner and colder in summer, thicker and warmer in winter.

The feed temperature should be no higher than 35-37°. You should not give sour or frozen food. Dogs, especially puppies, should not be allowed to eat too much right away. Dishes with uneaten food must be taken out and washed before giving new food.

Hunting dogs must be either in factory (show) or working condition.

Factory condition, in which dogs should be during the breeding season and at the exhibition, is characterized by sufficient, but not excessive fatness and a general energetic, cheerful state.

Factory condition is achieved with a diet rich in proteins, vitamins and mineral salts, as well as constant, but not tiring physical training. Working condition, which dogs must be in when they are used for hunting, is characterized by lower fatness than factory condition. In all cases, the dog should not be emaciated or obese.

Table 9. Approximate feeding regimen for medium-sized hunting dogs.

Age months.	How many times a day should you feed your dog?	Volume of one serving of boiled food, l.	Volume of daily portion of boiled food, l.
Over a year old.

Puppy and lactating bitches

For whelping and lactating bitches, from the moment of mating and for 2 months after birth, 200 g of meat, 100 g of cereal, 0.5-1 liter of milk are added. When using the above example diet, it is necessary to take into account some breed physiological characteristics. For example, huskies require less food compared to other breeds, and hounds require more.

There is also a difference in this regard between different breeds of cops. It is necessary to regularly water the dog with not warm, but not very cold water. When kept outdoors in winter, water can be replaced with clean, soft snow. Treating a dog requires special veterinary knowledge. If your dog becomes ill, you should quickly contact a veterinarian or paramedic.

However, every hunter who has a dog, and especially those involved in breeding or raising them, must know the main signs of the most common diseases of dogs, be able to distinguish a healthy dog ​​from a sick one, provide first aid to the dog and carry out the necessary sanitary and preventive measures.

Approximate feeding schedule:

Up to 1.5 months, a puppy should be fed 6 times a day, from 1.5 to 3 - 5 times, a 3 - 3.5 month old puppy can be switched to a 4-time feeding regimen. And 4.5 - 5 months - for 3 times. From 6-7 months (on the recommendation of European and Israeli specialists) or from 9 months (on the recommendation of Russian ones), a puppy can be fed like an adult dog - 2 times a day - in the morning and in the evening.

We must remember that from the age of 6 months, puppies begin a stage of intensive growth.

For 1 kg of body weight, puppies and young dogs require:

Protein – 9g
Fat – 2.5 g
Starch and sugar – 14g
Fiber – 1.5 g
Calcium – 528 mg
Phosphorus – 440 mg
Vitamin A – 200 IU
Vitamin D – 20 IU
Vitamin E – 2.2 mg

Feed selection:

What to feed the puppy? This difficult question faces every dog ​​breeder. Some choose to feed natural products, others decide to feed the puppy with ready-made food, and others choose a mixed feeding regimen. Each of these methods has staunch supporters and no less staunch opponents, so we do not take the liberty of giving recommendations on choosing one of them. For professional advice, it would be much more correct to contact the specialists of the pet supply store http://puppyshow.ru
If you decide to feed your puppy ready-made dry food, the manufacturer indicates the approximate feeding rate depending on weight and age on the packaging. We added approximately another 15% to the specified norm.
If you decide to feed your puppy natural food, then first of all you should remember

What not to feed puppies and dogs:

Spicy, salty, smoked and fatty foods are harmful to dogs. Fatty, and especially raw (there is a very high risk of helminth infection) pork, is not good for dogs.
The dog should not know what sausages, sausage or ham are. Sausages are poison for dogs. They damage the liver, and the dog runs the risk of dying at a young age.
You cannot feed your dog freshwater fish - it is too bony. Sea fish is healthy, but it is never given raw, as this leads to infection with worms.
Bones should not be given to dogs, as this can cause irreparable damage to the stomach. Firstly, they are not digestible. Secondly, they can cause constipation, intestinal perforation, and volvulus. Chicken bones are especially dangerous because they tend to splinter into sharp pieces and can puncture your pet's stomach and lead to his death! Bones also contribute to the rapid grinding of teeth.
Potatoes, legumes, pasta, products containing refined sugar, white bread, semolina and pearl barley are harmful.
The puppy should not know the taste of sugar and sweets. Sweets spoil your appetite, disrupt digestion, harm your liver, and can even lead to diabetes. In addition, they destroy teeth and have an extremely adverse effect on the eyes, which begin to fester and water.

Please note - chocolate is lethal for dogs!!! It contains theobromine, which gives it a bitter taste. This substance makes the heart beat faster, and it cannot maintain the given rhythm.
The lethal dose is 100 - 150 mg per 1 kg of animal weight. Different types of chocolate contain different amounts of theobromine: in milk it is only 154 mg per 100 grams of product, in bitter it is 1365 mg. Be careful! A bar of dark chocolate can be fatal to your pet!

The food your dog receives should not be hot (straight from the stove) or cold (from the refrigerator). The food should be at room temperature or slightly warmer. The dog needs to be fed at certain hours. Remove food that is not eaten within 15-20 minutes and give it at the next feeding time. Don't offer anything in return, this will teach your puppy not to be picky. Do not allow your dog to beg or allow strangers to give it food.

Treats:

As a reward for training, the puppy is given boiled meat, cheese, raisins and other dried fruits cut into small pieces.
As an anthelmintic, it is useful to give a puppy, and then an adult dog, once a week 1 clove of fresh chopped garlic on a piece of bread with butter.

Water requirement:

The water requirement for an adult dog (under normal conditions) is about 40 ml per 1 kg of body weight per day. In young dogs this need is 2 times higher. Therefore, make sure that your pet’s water bowl is always filled with clean water.