Keeping my bird dogs in good physical condition is something that I am very passionate about.
First of all they simple love to get out and run. The way I see it is that they should get every opportunity to do that as possible. A dog’s life is relatively short, so I appreciate the idea of giving them the best life possible while they are on this earth. Dogs love to run, so let them run.
Second, it is good for their generally health, for obvious reasons. Studies have shown that an in shape dog that is slightly under weight will on average out live a slightly over weight dog by two years. Two years is a significant percentage of a dog’s life.
Third, I hunt a lot and I want my dogs to get to hunt and enjoy every day that we are in the field. You can not take a dog of the couch and expect him to be able to effectively hunt hard for you for any amount of time. Would you try running a marathon without any training? If I go on a week long hunting trip I want each of my dogs to be able to easily hunt 5 of those 7 days, and that is very realistic. Not only can they run over 20 miles a day for days on end, but they can do it without being sore or getting injured. This makes hunting a lot more fun for everyone.
This time of year I do what I consider maintenance conditioning. I run the dogs about four days a week. This consists of physically taking them on long trail runs, taking them on mountain bike rides, hunting pen raised birds, and doing retrieving exercises with them. For me these are all fun things that I enjoy doing, so it is easy for it to be a priority. As the weather gets hot I will run them 6 days a week but instead of running them for an hour at a time as I do now I will cut that time back to about ½ hour a session because of the heat. I will also swim them as many of those days as possible. Then about a month out from hunting season I will give them a coupe of harder weeks consisting of long runs every day, then tapper the exercise down over the next two weeks so that their bodies are fully recovered and they are in peak condition for the start of bird season. The bottom line is that if you want your dog to hunt like an athlete then you need to treat your dog like an athlete.
I make sure to always have water available for my dogs, and I am very careful in temperatures over 60 degrees. I have learned over the years that 60 degrees is the magic number. Anything under that and I generally do not have to worry about them over heating, though I am always paying attention. Anything over 60 degrees, even if it only a degree or two and I can almost immediately tell the difference in their body language. I give them water much more frequently, shorten the length of exercise, and pay close attention to their body language. Every year people kill their hunting dogs by hunting in the heat without water and without paying attention to their dog’s body language, and honestly I think that it is incredibly sad.
A few things that I personally look for that are obvious sign of overheating that can lead to heat stroke are these; First, I watch the dogs tongue. When a dogs tongue is hanging out of the side of its mouth with no control it is because it has lost muscle control of its tongue and that is one of the first signs that it is over heating. Keep in mind that there is a difference between a panting dog and a dog that’s tongue has lost muscle control. You will have to be the one to understand the difference with your dog. Second, if a dog is looking for shade and wants to lie down out of the sun it is doing that for a reason, because it is obviously too hot. Third, I will watch how it is standing, walking, or running. If it looks dizzy, is stumbling, is not running in a straight line, looks wobbly, or looks confused then the situation is most likely very serious and you need to get that dog cooled down, right now. Water and shade are the quickest and easiest ways to do it in the field. If you can physically get you dog into water then do so.
So, whatever kind of dog you own, hunting dog or not, take a little time out of your day and let them run. They will love you for it.

Jay