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FEEDING CODE FEEDING YOUR SLED DOG WHAT SHOULD WE LOOK FOR if we want to assure adequate nutrition for our working sled dogs? And how should the various nutritional components of a complete sled dog diet be handled to ensure that the dogs get maximum benefit from their food? These are critical questions for the musher and owner! We can't go into an exhaustive discussion of canine nutrition here, but we can certainly hit the high spots. Overview
Just
like a human athlete, a sled dog's diet affects the dog�s
ability to compete. The quest is to provide sled dogs with
enough calories and the right type of calories has resulted in
tremendous growth in knowledge about the canine diet. Fats and protein are the most important sources of energy for a sled dog. The ratio of fat and protein varies depending on the distance to be run and the time spent running, however, certain minimum requirements have been determined. A typical sled dog diet consists of 32% protein, 53% fat and 15% carbohydrates. Fats provide the dog with quick energy. They are highly digestible and very dense in calories. Protein helps a dog handle the physical demands of racing and is required in greater amounts as physical activity increases. Dog mushers rarely rely on dry dog kibble alone to supply their dogs nutritional needs. A top quality dry dog food is critical to the diet but it is usually supplemented by ground chicken, fish, liver or other meat products. Finally, it is not enough to provide quality food unless the dogs are supplied with clean water. Water is the most important part of a dog's diet. 1. PROTEINS Protein in the canine diet has to come primarily from animal sources. Meat is the basic protein source for sled dogs; fish is an alternative. Due to infectious organisms, meat and fish have to be cooked. The health risks of feeding raw meat and fish outweigh the nutritional rewards. Every working sled dog should get some meat daily. Turkey and chicken are a wonderful protein sources and usually constitute a good supplementary fat source as well; they are affordable, easy to prepare, and waste-free. They must be well-cooked to kill bacteria. It is difficult to make overall suggestions, because every area tends to have different possible sources of meat for dog feeding. It's important to ask around, investigate, and try to find local meat sources for your sled dogs. Meat is an indispensable part of their diet; it's worth going to a lot of trouble to give it to them. You can't just hand them a dishful of dry nuggets and claim you have given your sled dogs all they require! Be sure you give plenty of water to help your dogs assimilate these concentrated protein sources. 2. FATS The fat component of the sled dog diet is critically important and often given inadequate attention. Your dogs should have both fats and oils in their diet. Corn and sunflower oils are easy to add (in small quantities) to any form of canine diet and are good sources of omega-6 and other essential fatty acids. Fish oil can and should be added to each dog's dish at feeding time in providing omega-3 fatty acids. Be careful of feeding fish oils high in vitamin A for example cod and halibut liver oils, as it is easy to cause toxicity. Some dogs seem to need more fish oil than others. The amount of fat in sled dogs' diet should go up and down depending on whether it's summer or winter, cold or hot, working hard or working little. They need the least fat when it's hot summer and they aren't working. They need the most in winter when the weather turns to hard cold or when they are working hard. You must constantly monitor the dogs' fat needs and adjust the amount you feed according to circumstances and the individual animal's physical condition. That is one good reason why just feeding an out-of-the-bag kibble ration will not do. Teams at middle distance events 'crash and burn' because the driver got his fat feeding wrong one way or the other. Too little, and dogs burn out before the event is over; too much, and they get overweight. 3. CARBOHYDRATES These elements of the canine diet provide energy, but they are not as critical to canines, because sled dogs derive the bulk of their energy from fat metabolism. To eliminate carbohydrates completely would invite nutritional problems. It is easier to formulate an adequate diet for recreational or excursion sled dogs using a cereal base, as cereals provide good bulk, store well, are accepted adequately by dogs and are easy to handle. It's important that all carbohydrate ingredients be cooked as fully as possible to make them easily assimilated by dogs. Corn, rice, and barley are more digestible for dogs than wheat, which can be implicated in allergies. Oatmeal is a traditional ingredient that is still useful. Cereal grains are best given long wet cooking for dogs; sled dogs won't complain that their rice is too mushy! 4. VITAMIN AND MINERAL SUPPLEMENTS This is a tricky nutritional category; there's still a lot of disagreement about the specific needs of dogs. For example, many vets are convinced that dogs have no need whatever of supplemental Vitamin C, yet it has become common practice in sled dog circles to include this vitamin in mushing dogs' supplementation programme, based on positive experience. In general, it is best to use a high quality complete canine vitamin/mineral supplement; some products intended for working dogs also contain amino acids and digestive enzymes, which is all to the good. Even the 'complete' supplement may itself require supplementation, though, as levels of some vitamins may be inadequate for sled dogs. Some popular supplements provide as little as 2 I.U. of Vitamin E per dog per day, for example! You may routinely supplement with added Vitamin C (500mg ascorbic acid or better still, sodium ascorbate) and Vitamin E (400 I.U.) along with the "complete" supplement; you can double these values for old dogs and add 25,000 mg. of Beta Carotene as well -- your oldsters need all the antioxidant protection they can get! Vitamin E is critical protection for highly stressed working animals, as is the mineral selenium; without adequate levels of these, sled dogs are subject to sudden death from degenerative muscle and nerve disorders. 5. WATER Think this has little to do with nutrition? Well, it's the foundation of life, that's all. Working sled dogs usually need more water than they usually get! The colder it is, and the dryer, the more water they need, even if you must go to great lengths to provide it and to persuade them they need it. Sled dogs are disinclined to drink plain water in really cold weather. In order to keep them well hydrated, you must heat their water and 'bait' it heavily with something they like, such as chicken broth with bits of meat in it, or a big cupful of meat meal in the bucket, tomato paste, or whatever it takes to convince your sled dogs that the water is a 'goody'. Dogs particularly need their water an hour or two after a heavy protein meal; if you observe them closely, you'll find that's usually when they get thirsty. In summertime when it's hot, it's vital that sled dogs have clean, fresh, cool water available all the time. In the winter, you should try to get warm baited water to them twice daily. Never neglect water; it's a vital part of sled dog nutrition. Without it, the other nutritional components can't do what they should for your dogs. GEE, THAT DOG LOOKS THIN? Frequently remarks are made at events that the dogs seem thin. Indeed, compared to a house dog who may get out for a walk or short run a couple times a week, sled dogs are thin. Although sled dogs consume more calories than an average human, they also burn those calories working out in training. Like human runners, the intake of calories and exercise result in a slim, athletic physique. Mushers monitor the weight of their dogs, feeding them accordingly. If the dogs gain too much weight, they risk overheating, disease and injury. If they are too thin they lose stamina. Mushers balance these considerations and maintain their dogs at a healthy weight for each particular dog. CONCLUSIONIN GENERAL IT TAKE PAINS to provide a low-volume, high-quality diet for Sled dogs. Supermarket dog food is out. National brands, even, are out. High-quality mushers' dried meal foods or working dog foods are quite good when properly supplemented with added meat, fat, and vitamins. But in the end, If that sounds like too much work, maybe you'd be happier on a Quad Bike. There's nothing so important as nutrition. It's basic to canine health and to keeping sled dogs working happily and efficiently. *Feeding Options : Daily Guide prior to an event (*only a guideline)
Feeding & caring for your sled dog effectively in maintaining his health, remains your prime responsibility.
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