The essentials
- Preventative care can make a world of difference — Keeping your hunting dog up to date on vaccines and flea, tick, and heartworm medication can save their life.
- Don’t just dive in and hope for the best — Hunting dogs need a special diet and conditioning to build endurance and muscle and prevent injuries.
- Take safety precautions — Have a vet on speed dial, do a body scan post-hunt, and take rest days to ensure your dog is safe and remains in tip-top shape.
Your hunting dog is an asset to both your hunting expedition and family — they make the sport more exhilarating and provide a loyalty and partnership that is unmatched. Having this job also means these dogs require special care to remain happy and healthy. Read on to learn how to help ensure the success and longevity of your hunting partner and loyal furry companion.
Be prepared for emergencies
Even when all necessary precautions are taken, accidents happen. Hunting generally takes place in more isolated areas, which also means your dog is more likely to experience a snake bite, gunshot wound, attack from a wild animal, or heatstroke. Knowing basic pet first aid will allow you to provide care until you can get your dog to the vet, and having the closest emergency vet office on speed dial can save valuable time and potentially save your dog’s life.
Stay up to date on preventative healthcare
Hunting dogs spend as much or more time outside than other dogs. This also means they’re exposed more often to ticks, mosquitoes, untreated water, and other dogs than they would be otherwise. Though it can seem like annual vaccinations and semi-annual heartworm and flea and tick preventatives are unnecessary, a sign that they’re effective is the lack of fleas, ticks, and positive heartworm diagnoses.
Vaccinations. Vaccinations are given on a set schedule, generally annually or every three years for adult dogs. The core vaccines protect against various illnesses that your dog can catch from their environment or other dogs. Pet parents with hunting dogs may opt to add on vaccines that specifically target leptospirosis and Lyme disease since their pups will be exposed more often to environments where they are prevalent.
Flea and tick preventatives. These medications can be given orally or on the skin, and prevent many ailments like Lyme disease and itchy skin, hair loss, anemia, and intestinal parasites that can be caused by flea bites.
Heartworm preventatives. Mosquito bites can be painful and itchy, but all it takes is one bite from an infected mosquito for your dog to acquire heartworms — which grow inside your dog and can damage their heart, lungs, and arteries and even lead to death if left untreated. Treatment for heartworms is also extensive and expensive, so keeping up with your dog’s monthly heartworm preventative will not only save you time and money in the long run, it may save your dog’s life.
Do a body scan after the hunt
Hunts typically take place in areas that are wooded and have tall grass or thick brush. Since your dog’s job is to dive paws first into that undergrowth, they will likely bring back some sneaky hitchhikers that can make your pup uncomfortable. After the hunt, check your pup for ticks, burrs, pebbles, and any cuts or abrasions. While you’ll want to do a whole-body scan, focus in between your pup’s toes, under their chest and belly, and in their ears.
If you notice ticks, burrs, or pebbles stuck in your dog’s paws or fur, carefully remove them with tweezers. To care for cuts and abrasions, start by gently washing them out with soap and water and patting them dry. If a cut is more severe, call your vet immediately. Some wounds may require stitches or antibiotics to heal properly. You may also notice that your dog’s paw pads become dry or cracked from all of the running around. This is easily remedied by rubbing a paw moisturizer or paw butter into their paw pads — don’t use human lotion for this!
Encounters with wild animals can be cause for a vet visit. If your dog gets attacked by a porcupine, you’ll need a vet and either strong sedation or general anesthesia for them to pull the quills out. Snake bites are another encounter that would warrant a trip to a vet. Even if you know that the snake who bit your dog was nonvenomous, their bites are still painful and can become infected. Better to air on the side of caution though, as venomous snake bites can cause death within a few hours.
Be smart with their diet
A dog’s diet should be specialized based on their metabolism, size, and activity level. This is particularly important for sporting or hunting dogs — running around in the woods for hours at a time requires strong bones and muscles and a lot of energy! While your dog will need more calories to maintain their energy, not all performance foods are created equal.
According to Dr. Joseph Washlag, Professor of clinical nutrition and sports medicine and performance at Cornell, most hunting dogs fall into a ‘medium-activity’ category. “Post-exercise carbohydrate repletion during competition is important,” says Wakshlag. These dogs need more fat and caloric density, especially building up to competitions or events.”
However, dogs who don’t work for long periods and instead work in short stints such as arena hunters and herders or tracking dogs, can be fed more like ‘sprinters.’ Such dogs rely more on carbohydrates than fats and should have smaller meals the day before the event and carbohydrates post-activity.
Choosing the right food for your pup can be confusing when there are so many options on the market, especially because they won’t need the same nutrition when they’re not working, as they do when they are. Your vet can help you choose a food that will meet your dog’s needs.
Preparation is key
Like human athletes, hunting dogs need appropriate conditioning prior to the hunting season. This builds up stamina, strength, and prevents your dog from becoming injured during the hunt. It will also increase your dog’s ability to succeed at their job. Since most hunting takes place in the fall and winter, summer conditioning should focus on nutrition, environment, and physical activity. As your dog is more active, they’ll begin to lose weight, which is your cue to alter their food to cater to the calories they’re burning.
While you should focus on conditioning in the early morning or evening hours to avoid the heat of the day, make sure to keep your pup hydrated throughout the day. Many websites will recommend using an electrolyte mix for your dog, but these can actually upset your dog’s stomach. Because dogs don’t sweat like humans do, research has shown that moderate activity, as seen in hunting dogs, does not lead to an electrolyte imbalance.
Since your dog has spent the late winter and early spring resting, it’s important not to expect your dog to jump right back into a full hunt. Easing into physical work will help reduce the likelihood of injury or illness in your hunting dog, as well as increase their success and limit your frustration.
Training sessions should begin with 5-10 minutes of work and build from there. Multiple short increments of training throughout the day are more effective than burning your dog out in one long stint. Swimming is a great way to build your dog’s muscles and endurance while keeping your pup cool in the summer and remaining gentle on its joints.
Keep in mind that since many hunting dogs love the sport, they’ll lack the inability to self-regulate, making it your job to keep the sessions short and protect your dog from themselves.
Avoid water residue
Chasing after a target may require your dog to dive into the local watering hole. Creek and swamp water is fraught with bacteria, fungi, and parasites which can hurt your dog both if left on their skin or ingested. At best, these ailments are uncomfortable while at worst, they can be life-threatening.
To minimize risk, make sure to rinse your dog in clean water after the hunt and then dry them thoroughly. When drying your dog, make sure to get all dark crevices, including their ears. Many hunting breeds, particularly hounds, have long floppy ears that trap water, making for an excellent spot for bacteria to flourish and cause ear infections.
It’s always important to do whatever you can to prevent your dog from drinking the creek water. Have fresh water for your dog to drink so that they don’t feel as tempted to lap it up from the creek — for some dogs it won’t prevent them from doing so, but it will help. If your dog is notorious for drinking whatever water they can access, avoiding hunting in areas with waterways might be worth it.
Take a rest day
As your dog’s advocate, it’s your job to push pause to prevent your pup from overdoing it. Hunting for days on end can lead to over-exhaustion, illness, and injury, which can put your sport on hold for a longer period of time or indefinitely. Taking a rest day after a long hunt will allow your dog to recuperate, build muscle, and come back better than ever for the next round.
If you notice your dog is limping or struggling to run or jump as usual, take additional time off and talk to your vet. It’s normal for joint issues to pop up as dogs of any breed get older, and since your dog may not opt to slow down on their own, you may have to do it for them.
While owning a hunting dog comes with special care and a little more work, you gain so much more than a tool that will allow you to catch more. You have a teammate and partner who will have a love of the sport equal to or greater than your own.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make my hunting dog happy?
The best way to make your hunting dog happy is to provide them with the outlet they crave and reward hard work. You’ll also keep them happy by helping them to remain healthy.
What do hunting dogs like to play with?
What your dog likes to play with will depend on your dog as an individual. However, we recommend separating ‘playing toys’ from ‘training toys’ to prevent them from carrying over undesired behaviors into the field.
How often should you feed a hunting dog?
There are varying beliefs on when to feed a hunting dog. Some people believe that you should feed once a day in the evening, others believe twice a day. Regardless of which school of thought, on the morning of a hunt, make sure to either feed a small breakfast at least two hours before the hunt or feed a big dinner the night before and skip breakfast.
Should hunting dogs be kept outside?
Dogs, regardless of their job, should not be kept outside 24/7. Keeping your dog inside will protect them from the elements and preserve their health. It will also deepen your bond with your dog both during and outside the hunt when your relationship extends to your everyday life.
How do I utilize my dog’s potential as a hunting dog?
Start by working on your dog’s basic obedience, then begin to expose them to the hunting scene. You can do this by finding a hunting club near you — there you’ll be able to expose your dog to the routine of a hunt, prey animals, and gunshots.
