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Good Sleddog Nutrition
WHAT SHOULD WE LOOK FOR, then, if we want to assure adequate nutrition for our working sleddogs? And how should the various nutritional components of a complete sleddog diet be handled to ensure that the dogs get maximum benefit from their food? These are critical questions for the sleddog driver and owner! We can't go into an exhaustive discussion of canine nutrition here, but we can certainly hit the high spots.
CARBOHYDRATES- These elements
of the canine diet provide energy, but they are not as critical to
canines as they are to human athletes! In particular the 'carbohydrate
loading' tactics used by athletes prior to competition simply do not
work for sleddogs, because sleddogs derive the bulk of their energy
from fat metabolism. Some canine high competition diets reduce the
carbohydrate content to a very low level, but to eliminate them
completely would invite nutritional problems. Those who do not take
their dogs to maximum levels of competitive stress usually base their
canine rations on carbohydrates due to economic considerations. It is
easier to formulate an adequate diet for recreational or excursion
sleddogs using a cereal base, as cereals provide good bulk, store
well, are accepted adequately by dogs and are easy to handle.
Avoid filler carbohydrate ingredients
of low nutritive value such as beet pulp, cellulose flour,
wheat or rice bran, etc. It's important that all carbohydrate
ingredients be cooked as fully as possible to make them
easily assimilated by dogs. Corn, rice, and barley are more assimilable
by dogs than wheat, which can be implicated in allergies. Oatmeal is
a traditional ingredient that is still useful. Cereal grains are best given
long wet cooking for dogs; sleddogs won't complain that their rice is
too mushy!
PROTEINS - Protein in the canine diet
has to come primarily from animal sources. Don't try to force your
sleddogs to be vegetarians because you believe in that or think it's
politically correct. Sleddogs are typically fairly close to the primitive
dog type and are directly descended from wolves, who are unarguably
carnivores. Canine nutritionists whose grant money comes from
multinational corporations try to sell the proposition that the dog is
basically an omnivore. We think that basically he is a carnivore who
likes to vary his diet with vegetable food sources, and has been
encouraged by humankind to depend on these sources, not for his
own interests, but to suit our own convenience.
Meat, then, is the basic protein
source for sleddogs; fish is an alternative. Both are of
maximum nutritional value to the dogs in their raw, fresh form, but
the natural, raw fresh forms of both meat and fish are subject to
serious problems in terms of access, handling, freshness, and possible
contamination with infectious organisms. Some of the best and most
economic meat sources are also quite dangerous these days. Poultry
is subject to Salmonella contamination; hamburger is
dangerous for E. coli and several other infectious bacteria.
Fish frequently carries a variety of tapeworm species. The meat of
wild game species such as moose, deer, beaver, caribou, and sheep
is very attractive to sleddogs, but is dangerous for a variety of
organisms, the most hazardous of which is the hydatid tapeworm
Echinococcus; relatively harmless to the dog, it is frequently
fatal when passed on to human beings). Bear and seal meat (as well
as domestic pork) can carry trichinosis. For these reasons, a
responsible dog driver has no option but to cook meat and fish
thoroughly before feeding these protein sources, even though
cooking may reduce the nutritional value somewhat due to destruction
of enzymes and structural changes in amino and fatty acids. The
health risks of feeding raw meat and fish outweigh the nutritional
rewards. An exception can probably be made in the case of fresh
muscle meat from noncommercial sources. Organ meats can be of
high nutritional value, but can also cause spectacular digestive upsets
if they are only slightly 'off.'
Every working sleddog should get
some meat daily; this is especially important for growing youngsters.
Bulk turkey skin and chicken skin are often available from
meat packing plants and can sometimes be ordered in frozen blocks
through supermarket meat departments. These are wonderful protein
sources and usually constitute a good supplementary fat source as
well; they are affordable, easy to prepare, and waste-free. They must
be well-cooked to kill bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli and
Campylobacter. But BEWARE the cheap frozen blocks of meat
sometimes offered through local mushers, particularly chicken -- these
often are quite low-grade, containing a lot of waste, and may be
potent sources of infection from the above mentioned bacteria. It is
difficult to make overall suggestions, because every area tends to
have different possible sources of meat for dog feeding. When we
lived in northern Spain, for example, we could buy ageing sheep 'on
the hoof' from local shepherds cheaply; it was a lot of work to
slaughter and butcher them, but wonderful for the dogs (sleddogs
go crazy over sheep meat). When we lived in Saskatchewan there
was such a surplus of horses that we occasionally obtained cheap
horses (still worse a job than the sheep); one horse carcass can
provide a mountain of dog meat for a hungry kennel. Sleddog owners
should try not to be hesitant or squeamish about buying live animals
as meat sources. Chances are that you will do a more humane job
of putting the animal down than would be the case at an abbatoir
(mostly because you won't cause the poor beast nearly so much
fear), and you can be pretty sure that meat you butcher yourself
doesn't get contaminated in some way, provided the animal is in
good health and drug free when you get it. (Never give dogs meat
from animals that have been 'put down' with sodium pentothal or
similar injections, nor from animals that have died under anaesthesia.)
Mushers who live near fur farms can often buy surplus mink feed or
fox feed made up from chopped meat right on the farm.
It's important to ask around, investigate, and
try to find local meat sources for your sleddogs. Meat is an
indispensable part of their diet; it's worth going to a lot of trouble to
give it to them. You can't just hand them a dishful of dry nuggets
(as we saw many self-styled mushers doing in Europe) and claim
you have given your sleddogs all they require! (Some of our 'colegas'
in Spain thought Isa was crazy, up to her elbows in sheep blood
every two or three days, when she could have just given her sleddogs
a nice clean dish of Royal Canin with no work and no mess!)
Meat meal, poultry meal, and fish
meal offer economical and effective means to increase protein feeding
levels when unlimited fresh meat is hard to obtain, as is the case for
us here in the Yukon. These should be of good quality,
needless to say. It may be necessary to deal directly with a
rendering plant unless you have a good farmers' co-operative or
similar feed store in your area, because you won't get this kind of
stuff from your supermarket. These dry meals need no cooking; they
can be added directly to any kind of ration. Be sure you give plenty
of water to help your dogs assimilate these concentrated protein
sources.
FATS - The fat component of the
sleddog diet is critically important and often given inadequate
attention. Your dogs should have both fats and oils in their diet.
Corn and sunflower oils are easy to add
(in small quantities) to any form of canine diet and are good sources
of omega-6 and other essential fatty acids. Fish oil can and
should be added to each dog's dish at feeding time; this provides
omega-3 fatty acids; be careful of feeding fish oils high in vitamin
A to excess (cod and halibut liver oils, for example) as it is easy to
cause toxicity from too much vitamin A. Some dogs seem to need
more fish oil than others. We find our Russians have a high need for
fish oil in winter.
Poultry fats (chicken, turkey) are excellent
fats for dogs, though they spoil quickly and easily. In general, the
lower melting-point fat sources seem to be the
ones most easily assimilated and most quickly available for energy
metabolism. This is not to say that your dogs can't use beef tallow
or even lard if those are what is available. Avoid synthetic
hydrogenated cooking fats, so-called "feeding fat" from renderers that
may contain spent deep=frying oils, and avoid any fat that has been
overheated, especially as the waste fats sometimes available from
restaurants and fast food places. Overheated or rancid fats are not
bio-available to dogs' metabolism and can cause serious health
problems.
The amount of fat in sleddogs' diet
should go up and down depending on whether it's summer or winter,
cold or hot, working hard or working little. They need the least fat
when it's hot summer and they aren't working. They need the most
in winter when the weather turns to hard cold or when they are
working hard. You must constantly monitor the dogs' fat
needs and adjust the amount you feed according to circumstances
and the individual animal's physical condition. (That is one good
reason why just feeding an out-of-the-bag kibble ration will not do.)
Teams at middle distance races 'crash and burn' because
the driver got his fat feeding wrong one way or the other. Too
little, and dogs burn out before the race is over; too much, and they
get overweight. Vigilance and sensitivity are important.
VITAMIN AND MINERAL SUPPLEMENTS -
This is a tricky nutritional category; there's still a lot of disagreement
about the specific needs of dogs. For example, many vets are
convinced that dogs have no need whatever of supplemental Vitamin
C, yet it has become common practice in sleddog racing circles to
include this vitamin in racing dogs' supplementation programme,
based on positive experience.
In general, it is best to use a high quality
complete canine vitamin/mineral supplement; some products
intended for working dogs also contain amino acids and digestive
enzymes, which is all to the good. Even the 'complete' supplement
may itself require supplementation, though, as levels of some
vitamins may be inadequate for sleddogs. Some popular supplements
provide as little as 2 I.U. of Vitamin E per dog per day, for example!
At Seppala Kennels we routinely supplement
with added Vitamin C (500mg ascorbic acid or better still, sodium
ascorbate) and Vitamin E (400 I.U.) along with the "complete"
supplement; we double these values for old dogs and add 25,000 mg.
of Beta Carotene as well -- your oldsters need all the antioxidant
protection they can get! Vitamin E is critical protection for
highly stressed working animals, as is the mineral selenium; without
adequate levels of these, sleddogs are subject to sudden death from
degenerative muscle and nerve disorders.
WATER - Think this has little to do with nutrition? Well, it's the foundation of life, that's all. Working sleddogs usually need more water than they usually get! Don't think, "oh, they'll get enough eating snow." The colder it is, and the dryer, the more water they need, even if you must go to great lengths to provide it and to persuade them they need it. Sleddogs are disinclined to drink plain water in really cold weather. In order to keep them well hydrated, you must heat their water and 'bait' it heavily with something they like, such as chicken broth with bits of meat in it, or a big cupful of meat meal in the bucket, tomato paste, or whatever it takes to convince your sleddogs that the water is a 'goody'. Dogs particularly need their water an hour or two after a heavy protein meal; if you observe them closely, you'll find that's usually when they get thirsty. In summertime when it's hot, it's vital that sleddogs have clean, fresh, cool water available all the time. In the winter, you should try to get warm baited water to them twice daily. Dogs get dehydrated on the trail rather easily, especially on long-distance races like the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod. Race vets at long-distance events check every dog for dehydration at every checkpoint; if any dog is found to be seriously dehydrated, that dog must be dropped from the team whether the musher likes it or not. Never neglect water; it's a vital part of sleddog nutrition. Without it, the other nutritional components can't do what they should for your dogs.
Special Requirements of Seppalas
ARE SEPPALA SIBERIAN SLEDDOGS DIFFERENT in their nutritional requirements from other sleddogs? Yes, they certainly are, in several small but significant ways. Based on quite a few years of experience, here are our conclusions concerning their special feeding requirements.
Seppalas usually have small but efficient digestive tracts. They don't manage well on low-grade food fed in large quantities. High quality and low quantity seem to be in order for these dogs. A lot of meat is always appreciated and they make good use of it. We've found that some of our dogs dislike fish and fish meal. We've also found that they go crazy over wild meat of most kinds; apparently they recognise caribou, grouse, moose, rabbit and such as their natural diet! A certain spoiled little broodbitch made it clear that she considered ground squirrels and/or tree squirrels an essential part of her diet while she was raising a litter! She made such a fuss about this that the Boss had to go out two or three times a day with a .22 to satisfy the demand. She ate them whole, fur and all, starting with the head! Apparently she knew what she was doing, because it was an exceptionally healthy litter.
We have found that our first-generation (F1) Russian/Seppala
crossed sleddogs have bigger appetites than our pure Seppala
strain rootstock animals, and seem to need at least half again
as much food. We also find that these Russian crosses mature
very slowly physically. At one year they are very far from having
all their growth and seem quite skinny. Not until they are three
years old do they fully get their growth!
Seppalas are real individuals nutritionally.
You can't get away with feeding every dog exactly the
same. Some dogs will become quite skinny on quantities
that will make others grow obese. Some individuals will have higher
needs for meat or fat. Some will refuse fish or fish meal. (And some
will plague you at the table until you feed them pancakes from your
breakfast plate!)
We would like to caution Seppala owners, particularly those
who may have had some experience with Alaskan huskies, against
what we call "hypernutrition."
Racing drivers are used to concocting high-powered feeding
programmes that give the dog all the concentrated
protein, fat and supplements that their bowels and kidneys will
tolerate. The result can be seen in most "world-class" Alaskans, in
the form of a gross metabolic inefficiency. We found that our one
experimental litter of Alaskan crosses required much greater quantities
of everything than our Markovo Seppalas, and that they did not do
well on the nutritional levels that were satisfactory for the rest of the
kennel. Whether they were working hard or not, they needed much
richer feeding just for maintenance.
That is not a tendency that we would like to
see get established in Seppala Siberian Sleddogs! The original Siberian
dog developed in conditions of subsistence and regular famine. It's
true that he had the advantages of foods such as salmon, seal and
walrus with their high levels of fat and protein; but he seldom had
enough In the Gold Rush, working teams were commonly fed
on "dog mush" (boiled cereals such as cornmeal and oatmeal with
added fat, dog salmon, bacon, meat scraps, ground meat or whatever
was available). At Seppala Kennels we now try to emulate the Gold
Rush diet, providing our dogs with a decent basic subsistence ration
without high-level frills. Racing drivers attempt to squeeze out every
possible increment of performance through nutrition; we deliberately
avoid that. Metabolic efficiency has always been a Seppala hallmark;
they can work better on less than other dogs. We hope that will not
change.
Conclusions
IN GENERAL WE TAKE PAINS to provide a low-volume, high-quality diet for Seppala Siberian Sleddogs. Supermarket dog food is out. National brands, even, are out. High-quality mushers' dried meal foods or working dog foods such as Abady foods are quite good when properly supplemented with added meat, fat, and vitamins. But in the end, at Seppala Kennels we wound up compounding our own dog food both for economic reasons and to ensure that the dogs get everything we think they require, but with nothing in excess; feeding each dog individually. If that sounds like too much work, maybe you'd be happier with a snowmobile. There's nothing so important as nutrition. It's basic to canine health and to keeping sleddogs working happily and efficiently.
