It was the middle of December two years ago.
The White Blur and I were to enjoy a couple days of pheasant hunting in Blue Earth and Brown counties. At lunchtime the first day, I looked down and saw something I hoped never to see: a big, new cut on my dog’s chest.
I’ll spare the details, but suffice to say no responsible dog owner would ignore something like that and hope for the best. My dad and I began to call around to see which vet in the area would treat it.
Calls to Mankato, North Mankato, Janesville, and Mapleton yielded nothing. Finally, Kind Veterinary Clinic in St. Peter said they could fit us in if we “hurry up and get there.”
I was grateful to have gotten him taken care of that day. Otherwise, everyone said we should head to one of the emergency vets in the Twin Cities. That was alarming, because if the injury had been worse and we’d been refused by everyone, it could have ended badly.
In the two hunting seasons since, I’ve lost a bit of sleep over the possibility of an encore performance. Especially because the places we go to hunt birds are normally pretty far removed from population centers (and animal clinics). Emergency care is often half a state away.
Prevention of unplanned vet visits, therefore, has taken a higher priority. That’s why I was eager to attend a seminar at Pheasant Fest last weekend titled, “How to Keep Your Dog Out of the Veterinary Clinic.”
Dr. RuthAnn Lobos, senior veterinarian at Purina, was a veritable fire hose of information. Her seminar ranged from nutrition, to dental health, to hunt-day habits, to the off-season — all in under 30 minutes.
I followed up with her this week to ask some lingering questions. The one most top of mind pertained to the difficulty in getting my dog treated on an urgent basis. I asked if vets are generally in shorter supply, and why it seems they’re less available for emergency services.
Dr. Lobos said my observations weren’t off base, and that there are a couple things at play. First, there are becoming fewer and fewer rural veterinary practices (something I’d suspected from my travels). Second, she said that more vets are pulling away from on-call services, a trend she’s seen during her time in practice.
So, with less opportunity to access clinics in far-flung places (or even at home), we need to maximize prevention measures in order to maximize our hunting time.
For hunting days, Dr. Lobos gave great advice in her seminar. She said there are three key things we need to give our dogs on hunting days: a warm-up, a cool-down, and a recovery meal.
Not unlike humans, dogs need to warm up before major exertion. They shouldn’t go from curled up in the crate to galloping at full speed. Let them stretch and run around a little, and drink water at the tailgate. A relative of mine will do a few rounds of fetch with his dog.
After the hunt, allow more of the same. The dog will probably drink even more water. Let it wander around and cool down a bit before loading back into the crate.
Then, within 30 minutes, feed a small portion of food. It’s important for muscle recovery and replenishing nutrients. Later on, you can give the dog the rest of its normal portion.
In fact, that end-of-day meal is also a big deal when it comes to keeping the dog healthy. If you’re not feeding once a day, at the end of the day during times of active hunting, you probably should.
Likely the most pressing reason is because a dog with food in its stomach when it runs is at risk for Gastric Dilation-Volvulus (GDV), or “bloat.” With the weight of food, the stomach can swing around and become twisted, which can quickly become life threatening. The body type of many of our sporting breeds also predisposes them to GDV, so it’s something to take seriously.
In addition to avoiding GDV, our dogs just plain perform better when they run on an empty stomach. It sounds counterintuitive, but it’s true.
“There is great research that shows dogs have the best endurance when they have an empty GI tract,” explained Dr. Lobos. Instead of trying to digest food, their bodies adjust by drawing on their fat stores.
What’s more, they don’t need to allocate unneeded blood flow to their digestive tract, which allows it to better power muscles and the cardiovascular system.
Beyond hunting-season-specific measures, Dr. Lobos spent a bit of time on nutrition. Mostly, it was to encourage us to keep our dogs in ideal body condition by feeding them the right amount. If they’re heavier than ideal, dial back on the amount.
What’s ideal? A four or five on those nine-point body condition charts you’ve probably seen at the vet’s office (they’re easy to conjure with a web search, too). Lobos said being overweight is “probably the biggest contributor to injury,” so it’s worth taking seriously.
The last major recommendation Lobos gave was to make two trips to the vet each year. The reason is because the off-season is a great time to make sure there are no latent injuries or other problems that will wreak havoc later on. That allows time to address them and heal before gearing up for the fall.
My hard-charging knucklehead is scheduled for his spring checkup a couple weeks from now. With some luck, they’ll tell me he’s still in good condition and fully able to hunt.
If only they could tell me how to keep him away from barbed wire and other sharp things, I could sleep better at night.
Roy Heilman is a Minnesota outdoorsman, writer, and feral dog wrangler. Keep up with his adventures at neveragoosechase.com.