Here's three simple tips for the show ring and dog food sales crowd:
- If you want a motivated dog, withhold food from it for 36 hours. I guarantee the dog will follow you and not lie down bored out of its mind as you see here.
- If you don't want the dog to take an enormous poop in the middle of the ring, don't feed the dog for 36 hours before your scheduled show time, and make sure the dog has been walked and had a chance to loosen things up as well.
- If you want your dog to eat the dog food you are hawking on national TV, make sure you have complete control of the dog for at least 36 hours before "the big TV feed," and withhold food so that the dog is hungry and eager to wolf down whatever bag of crap it is you are putting in front of it.
Go ahead and give the dog all the water they want, but no food.
If you think a dog or a human will drop dead from hunger if it is not fed every 24-hours, you need to stay out of the show ring and dog food sales business altogether, as you have no idea what you are doing. Dogs were designed by God to do fine missing food for several days at a time. Do you want to do this all the time? Of course not. But will your dog do better if it misses food altogether one day a week? Yep. And so will you.
2 comments:
For what it's worthw I've owned "regular" dogs (mutts and herding dogs) and several different giant breeds, and with the giant breed dogs, they aren't always motivated by treats the way regular dogs typically are even with a fast of more than a day. In fact, it is common for them to eat a lot for a day and then be "off their food" for a few days. Some are just not that food motivated compared with more average-sized dogs. Quite a few giant breed owner-handlers don't bother with treats in the ring because the dogs are not interested in eating when anything else is happening, even if they've skipped 2 meals and are being offered high value treats. Some are highly emotional with food and if not content (haven't had exercise or attention first) won't eat even if it means they lose considerable weight over time, past a healthy leanness. That being said, in my opinion the surest way to get most giant breed dogs to perform in the show ring is 1. Exercise your dog well so they have some endurance (show dogs often have too much fat and too little muscle as you know). 2. Practice being in stimulating environments so your dog doesn't find it fatiguing. 3. Practice the ring patterns, behavior, etc. so the dog knows how to be on task.
I'll agree for the most part except for performance sports or those requiring a lot of mental work. Brain needs glucose to function at its best and sharpest, and while a dog truly won't suffer if it's fasted, it certainly may not perform at its best when bait isn't available or allowed in that particular ring.
An Obedience trial run-through with a properly-conditioned and well-trained dog on an empty stomach made for lots of breaks so it could vomit small piles of bile. A half-ration and antacid made for a MUCH better performance the next time with no vomit, and proper airing habits made for no inappropriate stooling. It's been my practice ever since. I'm not worried about hypoglycemia by any means, but there is a noticeable difference in how the dog works, concentrates and focuses on an empty stomach vs fed.
I also no longer fast my dogs prior to surgery, as there are many new studies looking at acid reflux from an empty stomach that can occur during anesthesia and the stress of hospitalization. A 1/4 ration is appropriate and I always have the antinausea injection given (some of the preanesthetic opioids induce vomiting, and Cerenia prevents that as well). People aren't often told about not fasting because of the misinterpretation that usually occurs ("But Doc said he could eat, so I gave him his full meal and a few treats too!") and it's still the standard practice to fast, so I guess it's not going to change anytime soon.
Fasting isn't going to fix a fat-dog issue because the furmommy/petparent culture will just increase the amount of the next meal to make up for what was previously skipped. That's even IF they can skip a meal, because Bowser is just SUCH a beggar, so PERSISTENT about getting his morning meal and snackie-poo, and they just can't STAND to see him suffer without! Best to just feed right to begin with and you've addressed this multiple times in some great writings :)
Post a Comment