Keys to high performance of Sled Dogs
Health Management
Genetic Selection
Control of stress
Good training program
High level of motivation
Nutrition Program
Good equipment
Nutrition. A KEY POINT FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE OF DOGS AND PREVENTION OF DISEASES
Health Management
Control of intestinal parasites, proper vaccinations, general health status of the kennels.
Genetic Selection
Consider the hereditary nature of the different skills for the job.
Stress control
Sled dogs are subject to high levels of stress due to training or competition, as well as transport and mental concentration. The increased level of stress has a direct influence on the nutritional requirements of dogs. These animals need to consume high quality protein with high levels of essential amino acids (Grandjean, 1996), which also helps prevent the development of stress-related anemia (Kronfel, 1983).
Stress affects digestion alters gastric emptying, decreasing intestinal transit, reducing the absorption of electrolytes and modifying intestinal permeability. Some animals have gastrointestinal problems related to stress, such as dietary sensitivity or idiopathic colitis, shown with the symptoms of low quality stools or diarrhea. These dogs need to eat a diet of high quality and highly digestible as Advance Performance.
Stress can also cause medical problems such as gastric ulcers, diarrhea, stress, stress fractures, chronic problems in the joints, muscles and tendons and increases susceptibility to pneumonia.
Good training program
The training load should be progressive and permanent in time, taking into account the energy metabolism of animals in the nutrition plan. You must take into account periods of training, competition and recovery.
The training increases bone mass and muscle, the renewal of red blood cells, heart size, maximum oxygen consumption, the use of fat for energy and performance (Hill, 2004). The training also reduces heart rate, lactic acid production, formation of free radicals and pro-oxidants may reduce the risk of injury. The benefits of training can be improved through the modification of diet.
High level of motivation
The dogs have to be happy and avoid overtraining. By motivating the musher has to get the dog to have fun in the competition.
Good equipment
Harness, sled, boots.
Nutrition Program When to eat?
The food should be divided into two doses and in installments: ¼ ration three hours before the race and the remaining ¾ hour after the race. This pattern helps to prevent diarrhea due to stress and the functioning of the stomach.
What are the goals to feed sled dogs?
- 1 Provide high quality nutrition to achieve adequate levels of protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals necessary for the maintenance, exercise, thermoregulation and stress.
- 2 Proper weight maintenance dog
- 3 Maintaining good hydration status
- 4 Factor in preventing gastrointestinal problems during exercise
Nutrition Program Energy
The energy needs of the dog consists of the sum of the energy for the maintenance of body systems when the animal is at rest and not eat (basal metabolic rate BMR), but the energy used for food (dietary thermogenesis), but the energy needed to keep warm in a cold environment (cold-induced thermogenesis), but the energy used for exercise (Grandjean and Paragon, 1992 and 1993).
Thus, a 20kg dog needs between 1000-1200 kcal ME / day for maintenance, and a 1300-1400 kcal ME / day for a workout of 5-8km / day or 1700-1800 kcalME / day for 10 workouts -20 km / day (Hill, 1998).
A sled dog of 20 kg in a long distance race (100-200km) consumes approximately 11000 kcal / day (8 times the energy needed for maintenance, or MER), compared with 8000 kcal / day consumed by a cyclist Tour de France (Grandjean, 1991).
At each stage of Pirena, sled dogs consume about 2.5 times the maintenance energy requirements (MER) that are approximately 3500 kcal / d. The musher usually requires 3300 kcal / day. 15% of this energy is required for thermoregulation.
The outside temperature has a direct influence on the energy requirements of sled dogs. For example, a dog at a temperature of 0 º C 1.4 x MER needs, while at -10 º C needs increase to 1.6 x MER (MacNamara, 1972).
Each musher knows his/her dog, so to calculate how much energy each dog needs and must take into account the individual variations of each, the intensity of effort and the duration of this.
Nutrition Program Fat
Fat is the most important energy source for cells of the body (ATP: adenosine triphosphate) by aerobic oxidation, achieving 70% to 90% of the energy supplied. The rest is provided by carbohydrates (Reynolds, 1996).
Normally during Pirena sled dogs use aerobic metabolism which uses only fat and oxygen for energy. High-fat diets improve the ability to burn fat for energy by the mitochondria. In addition, a high-fat diet increases the amount of oxygen available from the muscles, improving endurance race (Kronfeld, 1973). As fat stores are almost limitless, if you get the muscle uses fat as fuel, glycogen stores (which sell out in 2 hours of exercise) remain unused, which gets more stamina for longer.
It is recommended that at least 25% of dietary fat is medium chain and short, as they are absorbed faster and they are less deposited as body fat (Grandjean and Paragon, 1992).
Nutrition Program Digestibility
The diet must contain high quality ingredients and highly digestible. One of the main reasons is that exercise reduces the gastrointestinal transit time. Besides the food has to be highly palatable to achieve an optimal intake of energy and nutrients, which often have little time to eat between periods of exercise. If the dogs consume food with low digestibility they would need to eat more to reach the minimum of energy and other nutrients, which would be counterproductive to performance.
Nutrition Program Protein
From the 30 minutes of running, the dog uses the protein to make glucose to serve as an energy source (Hill, 2004), so that the sled dogs that compete for more than 30 minutes need a higher intake of protein diet for optimal performance. Advance Performance has a high level of high quality protein, digestibility and a high degree of assimilation.
Nutrition Program Salts
During the year there is no excessive loss of salts, while losses of sodium and potassium in the saliva and urine are small. Advance Performance therefore contains adequate levels of sodium, chloride and potassium. Contrary to what many mushers think, the addition of salts in water is unnecessary and not recommended.
Nutrition Program Minerals and vitamins
Advance Performance is specially designed to meet the needs of vitamins and minerals such as iron, copper, zinc and calcium and vitamins A, D and E, and water soluble vitamins B group, so that supplementation is not necessary.
Nutrition Program Antioxidants
In normal physiological processes of oxidation reactions and the generation of pro-oxidant molecules (free radicals) can cause damage to polyunsaturated fatty acids that are part of the cell walls and alter the proteins and DNA (genetic material). During the year, an increase of free radicals reduces the concentration of antioxidants in the blood. Hence the need for supplementation with vitamin E (35 IU vitamin E / kg body weight) and vitamin C (35 mg / kg body weight). Advance Performance is supplemented with vitamins E and C help to neutralize free radicals.
Nutrition Program Water
Water is as important as food in dog racing, and should be available at all times. The body temperature increases more in dehydrated animals, while free access to water reduces hyperthermia and therefore increases the resistance in the race (Hill, 2004). The average water requirements during exercise increase with the level of energy expended in about 1ml per kcal. (Grandjean, 1996)
In addition to proper nutrition it is essential that before the competition a veterinarian gives the consent if the sled dog is eligible to compete, performing a clinical examination of the cardiopulmonary system, skeletal muscle and leg problems in dogs.
