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If your hunting partner is an underweight dog, make sure he has the right nutrition he needs to give you the best in the hunt. Hounds are athletes. But sometimes you can have an underweight dog. Her excellent work ethic and ambitious spirit make her the ideal partner for a variety of sporting endeavors.
As with human athletes, the nutritional requirements for active dogs must be tailored to their unique needs. Performance and hunting dogs require higher levels of nutrients and calories than the average house dog due to their high activity levels and the physical demands of hunting and trail riding. It’s not uncommon for hunting dogs to be on the thin side, and often a healthy, athletic hunter can appear like an underweight dog compared to the same dog kept only as a pet. However, it is important to access your dog’s nutritional needs and balance them with the right diet to ensure optimal health and best performance.
Veterinarians use a standardized Body Condition Score (BCS) system to assess a dog’s overall health and ideal weight. The BCS scale ranges from 1-9, with 1 being malnourished and 9 being morbidly obese. As a general rule, the “ideal” range for body condition scores for dogs is between 4 and 5. At this level the dog should have ribs that can be easily felt under the skin but not seen. The dogs should have a waist (a narrowing of their width behind the chest) and a “tucked up” stomach when viewed from the side.
For highly active, high-performing dogs, a BCS of 3 can be considered a healthy weight. These dogs have a high proportion of lean body mass, with ribs that can be easily seen and obviously felt under the skin. The extreme tips of their spine or pelvic bones may be discernible, and they have a waist. Dogs with a body condition score of 1 to 2 are underweight and their diet and/or performance requirements need to be adjusted. In these dogs, the ribs, hips, pelvis and backbone are clearly visible and a loss of muscle mass is evident. Dogs with a Body Condition Score of 3 or less should be evaluated for possible dietary changes to provide the dog with a more balanced, high-calorie diet. Dogs that are well fed but have persistently low levels in the BCS system should see a veterinarian to check for possible underlying medical problems, such as: B. internal parasites that could prevent the pet from absorbing the nutrients from its food.
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