Walk into my kennel in the dead of a fierce
northern winter at feeding time you might think you'd stepped
into the middle of a by gone pork production operation.
More than half a century ago, farmers slopped hogs to prepare
them for the table. The " slop " swilled by the pigs
was composed largely of whey and corn, whey being the liquid
residue from cheese-making process.
It's been even longer since the "Little Miss Muffet sat
on a tuffet, eating her curds and whey" and, with "
waste not, want not " being a along abandoned philosophy.
Today not even swine is swill whey. While we'll find whey listed
as an ingredient in some dog foods, and it has been consumed
by both humans and hogs, obtaining it in liquid form is difficult,
it stinks and handling is messy.
What's more, if you live in a cold climate and your dogs are
kenneled outside, you won't need whey to slop your dogs; if I
can convince you that feeding a gun dog a soup consisting of
a plain water and commercial dog food is not only desirable but
may be vital to your dogs well-being in extreme cold weather.
In cold weather states and Canada, given a dry, draft-free "nest"
most gun dog breeds can, without too much discomfort, keep themselves
snug when kept outside in dog houses or unheated kennels. If
they are going to suffer, it will be |
from in adequate intake of water. Dogs
can dehydrated in the dead of winter well as in the heat of summer.
Sportsmen who live in the north are all too familiar with the
difficulties in keeping water readily available to "outside
dogs". With widespread use of bagged commercial food, fed
dry, water becomes an even more important requirement when a
dog must compensate for the low amount of liquid present in commercial
dog food pellets by drinking more water.
This is no problem for house dogs or those housed in heated kennels.
But when water buckets and pans freeze solid during "cold
spells" and containers replaced because the ice expanding
or the pounding they take to break ice out of them, keeping water
available to an outside dog is a costly nuisance.
But it must be done. Available are several electric set-ups that
will prevent water buckets from freezing. They work, they're
safe and they're recommended. But a lot of owners, too many perhaps,
don't want to spend the time and money rigging up these heaters.
So a lot of them try to give fresh water at least twice a day.
Others find it too much bother or don't think of it arguing that
dogs can get by on snow, like wild creatures must.
Most dogs will supplement their liquid intake with snow. But
rarely is that adequate and snow can |
cause internal upsets. Furthermore, since
they are confined, dogs do not have access to " fresh snow
" nor can they find springs, seeps and open creeks that
wild animals seek out year around.
So, if you lived "up North" I'm suggesting that you
do not only do what I say but what I do; slop dogs in the winter
to insure they get adequate moisture in their digestive systems.
It costs nothing in takes very little more time than it takes
to scoop dog food out of the bag and put it in the feeding dish.
You float the extruded dog pellets in water. You don't add water
and wait for it to soak up the food or stir it around until it
becomes moist; as we did in the old days when all dry dog food
came in meal form, and moisture was required to make it palatable
but it stuck to the feed dish and what a dog didn't clean up
turned sour.
Dry dog food's, come a long way baby! It's become popular because
it's not only nutritious. It is reasonably priced and it is convenient
to feed. It is a good buy because on a per feeding basis, "wet
weight" out of the bag is low (about 12%) and "free"
water is added. It is convenient because, when available, the
dog adds his own water; dry pellets in the feed pan don't stick
and spoil, which is both economical in convenient.
In the wintertime, just dump a measured scoop to your dog's favorite
commercial rationed in the feed dish, pour water over it until
it floats the dog food pellets and put it down for your dog eat.
Your dog may sound like a hog, but there's a near guarantee that
he'll inhale this soup, you've assured that he's getting some
of the moisture he must have and he will defecate fewer, firmer
stools. |
