Proper Care for Your Hunting Dog During Hot Weather By Gary Howey
Well it’s that time of the year again, the time between summer heat and cool fall weather when many of the hunting seasons are opening up.
Last weekend, which was uncomfortably warm, we were out on the Grasslands south of Pierre hunting grouse.
It was down right hot as we covered a lot of ground trying to film a show and get a shot at a grouse or prairie chicken.
Half way through the walk, I had warmed up way beyond being comfortable and my dog Mo Jo had to be a whole lot warmer as he covered twice the ground that I had and did it while wearing a fur coat.
This time of the year, when hunters really need to be aware of how quickly a hunting dog can overheat.
Since dogs don’t sweat, the only way they can cool off is by panting, which isn’t a real effective way to disperse excess body heat.
Most hunting dogs love to hunt and will run until their wheels fall off, literally running until they drop from heat exhaustion.
A few years ago near Winner, S.D. hunters lost over dozen dogs from heat exhaustion.
I know what you’re thinking, how can anyone run a dog that hard, well it’s really not that simple as hunting dogs are trained to hunt and they’ll do it until the bitter end.
You can put water in front of one and if there’s something to hunt, he’ll hunt instead of drinking water.
This is why it’s vitally important to make sure your dog is hydrated, getting plenty of water and resting on a regular basis.
When I’m hunting during periods of hot weather, I always carry a squirt bottle of water in my hunting vest.
As we hunt, I’ll stop pretty regularly and give my dog a shot of water, which helps to keep him hydrated.
To help the dog cool off more quickly, I add Country Vet High Octane Dog Fuel to the water as it contains protein, carbohydrates and electrolytes that also help to reduce muscle fatigue.
I also like to sprinkle it over his dry dog food when I feed him before and after a hunt to help him recuperate more quickly after I’ve run him hard. This helps when we head back out the next day, as he’s not quite a stiff and a lot less tired.
Since dogs lap their water, it’s not the best way to get water to the dog, but it’s a whole lot better than no water at all.
Recently, I started carry a collapsible water dish in my hunting vest, which is made from Cordura with a flexible plastic line allowing my dog to drink as much as he needs when ever we stop to take a break.
In many of the areas we hunt there are stock dams or water tanks, when we’re near them, we always give our dogs a chance to slosh around in the water and drink their fill.
It’s a good idea to take your dog to the vet and have him checked over, checking for any problems the dog might have and making sure that your dogs vaccinations are all up to date.
Just to be on the safe side, I’ll take Mo Jo into the Cedar County Vet Clinic and have Erin or Ben check him over before pheasant season, that way, I won’t need to worry about him once we hit the field.
There are many states that you might be hunting in that require that hunting dog’s vaccinations, rabies etc. be up to date before you bring them into the state.
If your hunting dog is like mine, he’s more of a friend than a pet, so I don’t want to take any chances when it comes to hunting when it’s unseasonably warm out, so I’m going to take every precaution to make sure that we both have a safe and enjoyable hunting season.