How many hours per day do you hunt your dog

[GreenNDark Timber]

I know the answer will vary depending on several factors including temperature, terrain and overall conditioning of the dog but I'm curious on average how many hours per day people hunt their dogs before letting them rest.

I have a 1-1/2 yr old Drahthaar and he's my only dog so I don't have the option of rotating dogs. I'm a minimum of a 3-4 hour drive to the places I hunt so most of my hunts are 3-4 day trips. I want to get the most out of time on a trip but I also don't want to burn my dog out early in a hunt.

Assuming a hypothetical situation where the terrain is relatively flat, daytime high temps are upper 50s - low 60s and dog is in excellent condition how long are you hunting your dog daily?

 

[bracer40]

When my current Brittany was younger, I’d keep him to half a day. But he usually put in 15-20 miles to my 5-7 miles based on the Garmin gps tracker. The following day (Sundays) we’d usually do half that.

 

[RSather528]

Yellow lab for pheasants after ~2.5 days (6 -7 hours day actually hunting) chasing pheasants he is pretty beat. Early season heat takes its toll faster. First day he is amped driving from spot to spot, second day he power naps between spots, after that more hesitant to hop out.

Cooler temps helps him out a bit but I can’t go 3 full days with him as the only dog. More upland dedicated breeds might be able to get a bit more time.

 

[DJB]

When my two Draths were in their prime (3 to 9 yrs old) I would hunt them together and they each would put on about 25 miles a day. We would hunt 5 days in a row and they were going as hard on day 5 as day 1. This was in SD hunting pheasants in Nov Dec. We would hunt a half a dozen spots in a day so they had some down time when we moved to a different slough. Days we limited out early we still ran them just so they were tired at night. Now that they are 9 and 11 I split their time in the field and they put on about half the miles. They still are going pretty strong on day 5.

 

[rideold]

It depends on how far she runs away from me....oh, you meant hunt my dog....not hunt FOR my dog HA

 

[WRO]

I stick to a couple hours with my setters but they run a bit Harder than most of the dogs mentioned here. I typically stop them 40-50 miles on the day.

One game changer has been feeding my dogs satin balls prior and after every hunt on multi day trips. Most food suck for recovery, I'm trying to stuff 2000 calories a day plus in them. Can't do that with dry dog food.

Best Satin Balls for Dogs Recipe - Spoiled Hounds

Satin Balls are a high-calorie and high-fat food for dogs. Get the easy recipe to make the best homemade meatballs for dogs to gain weight.

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[TSAMP]

I generally hunt my pudelpointer for 3 days at a time all day. I average 12-14 miles. No GPS on the dog. 5 year old dog.

I see his drive drop off after two days, but only when we pass through unproductive areas. The moment we get into birds he is fresh as a daisy.

The individual dogs own stamina and conditioning is more relative here than one breed vs another, before we get into all that jazz.

Mine is a large Pudel. I keep him in prime shape in off season but he can be around 75lbs which is a lot of bird dog.

 

[manitou1]

We used to run ours (three of us, six dogs total) 7-8 hours a day in cool weather on a 5-day trip. We did keep them hydrated and gave them breaks throughout the day. We also gave them peanut butter on bread to keep their calories up. They definitely slept well at night!
On bright, sunny days and temps above 50, I would take them out of the game for an hour or two breaks. Over heating a dog is not good... and a scary situation. Always monitor them. If they are loosing their motivation and hanging close to you, get them hydrated, cooled down and rested ASAP. If they start losing balance or walking unstable it is critical and you have little time to get them cooled down and rested. I had a dog overheat on an OOS hunt... we were miles from the truck, the sun came out and it heated up quickly. Also had one overheat during a summer training run. They don't know when to quit if they have a strong prey drive. YOU have to bench them and make the call for them. If you are down to one layer of clothes and are feeling warm you can bet your pup is cooking while putting in 5x the energy with a fur coat on!
The key is to get them in shape BEFORE the season. Run them frequently with a 20' lead dragging behind.
Much like us, they get "soft" during the off season.

 

[aaronoto]

I’ll run mine all day for 2-3 days, but by day 3 she’s pretty gassed. I don’t like hunting birds until the weather really gets cold though, don’t have to worry about snakes or overheating at that point. She‘s not a warm weather dog though, and I’ve got a 4 hour drive to get into bird country as well, so as tempting as early chukar season is, I usually hold off as I know I won’t be able to get as much out of her.

 

[Jagger0502]

I have a DD as well and in most cases he will out hunt me. If I skip the hotter part of the day and hunt early and late and rest in the middle of the day we can cover a lot of ground. You will want to think of 4 factors to get the most out of him. Off season conditioning, right food, hydration and recovery. Some dogs and/owners just don’t want to do all 4 and it will limit them when the season comes. My last dog would come back often for a sip of water, I have hunted with others that will refuse to take a drink and they end up dehydrated, overheated or wiped out early. Figure out how to keep him interested in drinking often thru the day. I carry an ultralight bowl for my current dog, he makes a mess drinking from a bottle and gets more water in him with the bowl. If hitting it hard day after day he will need additional supplements and fats to keep his energy up. If we break mid day I will give him a small feeding high in fats as long as we have 2+ hours before we hunt again that day. Conditioning is a tough regiment to keep up with but if you want him to hunt all day on a trip he needs to condition for it. If you don’t have the time - find a neighborhood kid to run him for you or if your lucky, a neighbor that likes to run on the daily and offer your dog as a running partner. (If he is good on a leash), my first dog liked to run on the treadmill which was awesome, my current dog won’t touch it- Add in some good sleep at night and a few breaks thru the day and you will have a hunting machine.

 

[ianpadron]

I've got a 5 yr old Field Golden that can put in one full 8 hour day and a half day the next before slowing down. If there's a more fit Golden in the West I'm not aware of it.

My 1.5 yr old Brittany on the other hand has posted consecutive 42.2, 37.4, and 38 mile 8 hour days without showing even the slightest glimmer of slowing down. He's been meticulously conditioned since he turned 6 months, and it paid off. 40 pound dog that floats over any terrain, crushes 3-5 cups of Pro Plan Sport a day, and averages 12 miles a day year round.

Like you said, it all depends on the dog. Keep your buddy tuned up in the off season and you might be surprised what a well bred dog can do in the field.

 

[GreenNDark Timber]

Thanks guys. Some really good info. I road my dog with a bike 3-4 days a week and trail run (hills) with him at least a couple days a week so he stays in really good shape.

The longest hunt we did last year was 3 days and he was raring to go on the afternoon of the 3rd just like he was the morning of the 1st. Probably averaged 6-7 hrs per day with a mid day break. I never checked his mileage but mine was typically 6-8. When he hits the fields there’s no quit in him but that’s why I asked the question. I have a few bigger hunts planned this year and I don’t want to run him longer than I should because like manitou said above, it sure doesn’t look like he’ll be the one throwing in the towel.

 

[ianpadron]

Thanks guys. Some really good info. I road my dog with a bike 3-4 days a week and trail run (hills) with him at least a couple days a week so he stays in really good shape.

The longest hunt we did last year was 3 days and he was raring to go on the afternoon of the 3rd just like he was the morning of the 1st. Probably averaged 6-7 hrs per day with a mid day break. I never checked his mileage but mine was typically 6-8. When he hits the fields there’s no quit in him but that’s why I asked the question. I have a few bigger hunts planned this year and I don’t want to run him longer than I should because like manitou said above, it sure doesn’t look like he’ll be the one throwing in the towel.

Sounds like you've got a really fit dog and put in the work when it matters (the offseason).

A good way to track how he's doing in-season (aside from the obvious like: ranging close, red gums/ears, wobbles, etc.) is to keep tabs on his mileage per hour. That's the metric I use to track my Britt mentioned above. If he's holding steady at 4-5 mph all day, I know he's got sufficient gas to keep working. So long as I don't see a drop off in that pace, he gets to keep hunting.

Doesn't matter how much drive a dog has, if they're legitimately over-reaching (physiologically) their capacity for work WILL go down, and quantifiably so, regardless of how much their mind wants to keep looking for birds. Can't remember if I picked that up from somewhere or if its my Exercise Science background, but it's the best metric I've found to keep tabs on them on prolonged trips.

 

[S.Clancy]

I hunt my dog (GSP/Lab mix) all day for 3-4 days. When we get done she sleeps basically for a day.

 

[aaronoto]

I know some people think dog "supplements" are completely unnecessary, but a product like this could help if you're going at it multiple days. I think it's bigger in the sled dog world. The science behind it seems legit. My dog could never stand the taste though.

ANNAMAET GLYCOCHARGE - Annamaet Pet Foods

A canine sports drink designed to aid in the replenishment of muscle glycogen stores following exercise.

annamaet.com

 

[WRO]

My 1.5 yr old Brittany on the other hand has posted consecutive 42.2, 37.4, and 38 mile 8 hour days without showing even the slightest glimmer of slowing down.

My dogs hit those mileage numbers about the 3 hour mark, they're done by 4 hours. But I'm focusing more on trials than endurance..


I'm going to run the k9 pit stop this year. I know some guys running it with good results..

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[ianpadron]

My dogs hit those mileage numbers about the 3 hour mark, they're done by 4 hours. But I'm focusing more on trials than endurance..


I'm going to run the k9 pit stop this year. I know some guys running it with good results..

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Those are some INSANE numbers. What breed dogs are you running? They really hold that pace for 4 hours? What's a dog doing when averaging 18mph haha, can't be much sniffing going on.

 

[WRO]

Those are some INSANE numbers. What breed dogs are you running? They really hold that pace for 4 hours? What's a dog doing when averaging 18mph haha, can't be much sniffing going on.

Setters, (English and gordon) they'll hold 15+ the first hour then fall into a 12 +/- the next couple of hours.

They find birds with the best of them, alot of what my male does is big casts quartering into the wind, then sorts it out when he strikes scent.

They're spent at the 3 hour mark though depending on conditions, done at 90 minutes when it's warm.

 

[RC305]

I find it depends on terrain and temps for me.

 

[JGood]

A dogs nose is severely impared once its tounge starts to hang out of its mouth. A dog can "run" for a LOT longer than it can "hunt." The best bird dogs in the country are asked to compete for 3 hours in pretty open country. It is a bear of a competiton and dogs are roaded every day to prepare for it.

A lot of it depends on the kind of dog you have and how you hunt and the country you hunt in. Big open country is easier than cattail slews.

When we guide, we run flushing dogs for 30 min intervals in thick cover and pointing dogs for 30 min intervals in open country. We run 6 dogs per day and most dogs twice. Dogs typically get rotated so no dog runs more than three days in a row.



Before guiding, I spent a season as a hunting bum and ran one dog (spaniel) almost every day of the season. We would go for 30 min on and 1 hour off. She would hunt 3 days in a row and we would take a full day off on the 4th day. I trialed her in the off season so her pads never got soft and her body stayed in shape. Total work per day was about 4-5 hours. If i pushed her much harder than that id see a dramatic fall off in performance.