Every opening day, California bird guide and gun-dog trainer Louie Tavares watches overweight and out-of-practice pointers hit the field.
“Lots of guys don’t think to work their dogs ahead of time, and they run out of gas on the first few hunts.” Tavares swears by the following diet, exercise, and steadiness routine to get a gun dog in shape for the fall opener.
Diet Like a lot of other gun-dog trainers, Tavares says he feeds his dogs cheaper food during the off-season.
More protein means more energy in the uplands.
It helps muscle development and can boost your dog’s immune system.
“Any more and you’ll tire the dog out, especially at the beginning.” Stay mindful of the late summer weather, as it’s easy to overheat an out-of-shape dog.
“Even if the dog doesn’t like water, if he’s hot and tired and panting he’s more than willing to jump in.” 3.
Steadiness To check his dogs’ steadiness, Tavares takes them on a preseason test run.
“When the dog hits the bird, hold him tight and give him the whoa command until he’s steady,” he says.
“If he breaks point, grab him by the collar, put him back in the same spot, and keep on the whoa command until he’s steady.” Five seconds is long enough for a puppy.
Perfect Form: During training sessions, an adult dog should hold a point for one minute
Every opening day, California bird guide and gun-dog trainer Louie Tavares watches overweight and out-of-practice pointers hit the field. “It’s the biggest problem I see, all September long,” Tavares says. “Lots of guys don’t think to work their dogs ahead of time, and they run out of gas on the first few hunts.” Tavares swears by the following diet, exercise, and steadiness routine to get a gun dog in shape for the fall opener.
1. Diet
Like a lot of other gun-dog trainers, Tavares says he feeds his dogs cheaper food during the off-season. “But a month before opening day, I upgrade to high-protein chow,” he adds. More protein means more energy in the uplands. It helps…
