Identifying Internal Parasitic Worms

As owners of hunting dogs we knowingly put our faithful four legged partners in harm’s way. Whether it’s a boggy marsh or thorny field, the very environment we hunt exposes our dogs to a myriad of potential parasitic problems. It is up to us as conscious owners to become highly educated to identify symptoms and fulfill the proper treatment to ensure our dogs are the healthiest they can be. There is never a substitute for the years of training from a skilled veterinarian. If you suspect any of the following, I recommend seeing your vet as soon as possible. Yes, there a tons of great over-the-counter products produced to subdue parasitic worms but without a vet’s sign off, a self diagnosis can do more harm than good to your dog.

Roundworms: are the most common internal parasite found in dogs. They are general long and resemble spaghetti. They are often coughed up or seen in the stool. However, a positive diagnosis will require a stool examination by a vet. Dogs acquire roundworms through contact with soil containing roundworm eggs or by ingesting fecal matter from other dog with roundworms.

Tapeworms: live in the dog’s small intestine. There are generally two types of tapeworm that can infect a dog, and fleas carry the most common type. Hunting dogs who eat wildlife infested with tapeworms or fleas can also infect themselves. Tapeworms are made up of segments that resemble grains of rice that can grow to over 30 inches long! It is usually possible to see segments in stool. Again, a positive diagnosis will require a stool exam by a vet.

Hookworms: are common in warm, humid climates, but exist all over North America. They are transmitted through chance skin penetration by the immature larvae or through ingestion of contaminated feces. The worms latch onto the intestinal wall using rows of “teeth”. Their bodies are less than an inch long with a bend or “hook” in the front. Hookworms are difficult to see in your dogs stool but if you do suspect them, take a sample into your vet immediately.

Whipworms: are the hardest to detect at times because the number of eggs shed are low and they are shed in waves. Adult whipworms look like pieces of thread with one end enlarged. They develop when a dog swallows whipworm eggs passed from an infected dog. Direct symptoms may include diarrhea, anemia, and dehydration. Once again, if you suspect ANY type of intestinal worm infestation it is best to take a fecal sample into your vet immediately.

Heartworms: are deadly to dogs but can be easily prevented. Heartworm is transmitted by mosquitoes and is more common in warm, humid areas. Heartworms resemble spaghetti and live in the pulmonary arteries of the heart. Only a vet can diagnose heartworm correctly and administer a monthly or daily medication to eradicate them. Dogs should be tested annually or at minimum every two years. All dogs must be on a monthly heartworm preventative such as Heartguard or Sentinel. These are vet prescription only drugs.

General Symptoms of Parasitic Worms:
Bloating, Vomiting, Diarrhea, Dull Coat, Decreased Energy.




Early season or warm climate hunts add to the probability of encountering parasitic issues.



Ringworm: is NOT AN INTERNAL PARASITIC WORM. I wanted to add it here just to clarify this myth. It is fungal skin infection that lives in hair follicles, causing the hair to break off. It is most common to see the disease on the head, ears, tail and front paws. The disease looks like a circle on the dog's skin with raised edges. It looks like the hair has been removed in a circle or patch with a pale spot at the center. Common ringworm in dogs symptoms include crusty skin, scaling and some redness. Odd shapes usually mean that multiple lesions joined together. Take your dog into the vet immediately as ringworm can be very discomforting (itchy) for your dog and can be passed to you and other humans upon direct contact.

Even if your dog does not show any of these symptoms I recommend having their stool examined by a vet at least twice a year. I general have my dogs checked as part of their “prehunting “ season check up and then again shortly following the season when they go in for their “posthunting” follow up wellness exam. When taking a fecal sample it is imperative NOT to allow your dogs stool to touch the ground. Contaminated soil could come into contact with your dog’s actual healthy feces and result in a false positive test. An inside out sterile baggy, quick timing, and a cooperative dog are needed to make this happen! As you have read, it is imperative to keep your dog away from eating or just being around decaying dog feces . It is critical to clean up your yard daily from fecal matter and dispose of it properly. Keep a watchful eye on your dog if he visits public places such as dog parks or even, worse high traffic bird hunting spot parking lots! Most gun dogs realize they are “about to start working” when you unload them and they see your gun and gear. They will inherently look for a close place for them to “lighten their own load” before they begin to work!

As always please do not hesitate to ask questions or comment on this post. My direct email is northupland@yahoo.com or drop a message in the comment box below. The days are clicking by and some of you are already headlong into your bird hunting season. For those like me and my pointer Dewey, we are counting the hours here in Wisconsin until October 16th at high noon!

Best of luck out there. –Mark

Recharge & Recover

For bird hunters and our canine comrades it is only weeks from opening day here in Wisconsin. We wait impatiently in eager anticipation. The last of our conditioning workouts and preseason field scouting trips are now wrapping up. Gear and guns have been checked and double checked. Our dog(s) are fit and ready to rumble. Forgotten in all our preparation is putting a plan in place to properly recover and recharge your gun dog after the hunt. Just like all athletes, hard charging dogs require additional nutrients to properly recover there bodies after long periods of physical exertion.

 RETRIEVE Health® is a new company specializing in sporting dog nutritional supplements. They offer a full line of quality products focused specifically on canine physical recovery before and after the hunt and are now offered at your local Gander Mountain store(click Gander link on right to order now)

According to their website, "What makes RETRIEVE Health® special from the rest of the animal health industry is that we take a unique, holistic approach to canine health. We believe with proper lifelong nutrition, exercise, and preventive care your dog has a chance to live up to the age of 20. We address the needs of each life stage. It starts as a puppy by supplying the needed vitamins and minerals often missing in processed dog food, continues with simple natural nutrition, exercise and recovery tips and ends with old dogs and our ability to naturally control pain and give this special animal a high quality of life. From this point on we are asking you to look at your dog as the world-class athlete he or she naturally are and treat them accordingly. Would a world-class athlete be asked to run 2 miles and after the event be given a bowl of water and then placed in a small cage where he or she could not stand up? Would we wait until the end of the day to give this person nutrients? Of course not, then why do we do this to the canine athlete?"

I am a firm proponent of properly hydrating your dog both before,during, and after the hunt. RETRIEVE Health® offers a rehydrate type powder form water additive. According to their website,  "RETRIEVE Hydration is fortified with electrolytes, speeding up the absorption of fluids and vital nutrients while effectively rehydrating tissues. Fluids are generally the most overlooked nutrient in a dog’s diet. Lack of adequate fluids and electrolyte consumption can cause kidney failure in dogs which can lead to long term damage or even death. RETRIEVE Hydration contains macro nutrients vital for full body repair. Essential amino acids and oxygen enhancers help maintain the highest metabolic efficiency.  

Another RETRIEVE Health® product that I highly recommend is their TRI-NUTRITION treat bars. According to their website, "TRI-NUTRITION ENERGY bars are a perfect balance of premium whey protein isolates, complex carbohydrates, and monounsaturated fats providing both immediate and timed released energy for working dogs. A precise blend of pharmaceutical grade vitamins and minerals including glucosamine and oxygen enhancers insures not only peak performance during activities but quick recovery after activities. Simply nothing like it, simply world class."

TRI-NUTRITION bars are all made with quality ingredients! Plus, No CORN, WHEAT, SOY, or GLUTEN! These are truly power bars for your hard working gun dog to munch on. I recommend feeding them before and after the hunt.

Take a look at their ingredient listing and I am sure you will agree these are high quality, holistic treats formulated specifically for working dogs...Organic Agave Syrup, Whey Protein Blend (Whey Protein Isolates, Whey Protein Concentrate, Whey Protein Hydrolysate), Organic Peanut Butter, Peanuts, Whey Protein Crisps (Whey Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Concentrate, Tapioca Starch, Calcium Carbonate), Glucosamine HCI, Natural Flavors, Sea Salt, Guar Gum, Golden Root Extract. Vitamineral Blend: Dicalcium Phosphate, Magnesium Oxide, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamine E Succinate, Ferrous Fumarate, Niacin, Beta-carotene, Zinc Oxide, Copper Gluconate, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Carbonate, Pyridoxin HCI, Thiamine HCI, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Cyanocobalamin, Biotin, I-Glutathione, Potassium Iodide, Sodium Selenate, Sodium Molybdate, Chromium Chloride....Wow! That is one power packed energy bar for your trusty gun dog!

Although RETRIEVE Health® is a relatively new company,  I am now a huge fan. I think they actually get it! By exposing more sporting dog owners to the benefits of a true, holistic, premium nutritional approach to our dogs health it will not only benefit them more in the field but their overall quality of life. I urge each of you to try their products on your dogs this hunting season. I suspect you will notice a performance difference

A Sleeping Dog Doesn’t Lie

After a tough day of retrieving ducks through a mucky marsh or charging the thorny upland country on pheasant patrol, there is only two things on your gun dog’s mind. Eat and then sleep; and nothing comes between their post hunt priorities! Shortly after chomping down a bowl of high octane food your faithful four legged hunting companion is looking for a soft bed to call home and drift off to dream about other day of hunting birds. -Which to both owner and dog will hopefully be tomorrow morning!

Avery Outdoors, a long time manufacturer of quality hunting supplies, has recently answered a call that up until now has gone unreturned. They are now offering a high quality dog bed made specifically for gun dog’s and their owners.

Just like us hunting humans, your canine bird finder deserves a quality night’s sleep. A comfortable bed and a quiet sanctuary is all they ask. It is up to you to provide the later while Avery has your dog covered on the initial request. Gander Mountain, our countries leader in outdoor recreational products, now offers Avery’s Sporting Dog Bed at an unbeatable price. For just $39.99 your best gun dog can sleep in the lap of canine luxury. The best part is this premium constructed dog bed is that it's totally waterproof, quick drying, and stain resistant. Avery has developed what they call their "Duramax" cover material that is tough, rugged, yet soft and comfy. Better yet it is 30"x40" inches so any large breed dog can stretch out and catch some comfortable zzzz's.   Rest assured, your trusty Labrador can come straight in from the blind, eat his dinner, and plop right down without any clean up concerns. When time allows(between hunts of course) you can pull the cover off and hose it down, hang it on the line to dry and it will be clean, dry, and ready for your dog to crash on long before you fire the last blast of the late afternoon hunt. Plus, this bed features a very cool silhouetted artwork design that will  accent any hunting lodge or man cave!

Your best four legged hunting partner deserves a nice, warm, comfortable place to rest his eyes between hunts. Just like humans, a dogs body must have time to recover and the more comfortable his sleeping surrounding...the more recharged they are for another day afield. Avery Outdoors has provided such a bed. If you end up puchasing one, I bet your gun dog will love you for it and I guarantee you’ll love how much he or she returns the favor in the field or marsh! To order this bed please click on the Gander logo on right menu bar.

Best of Luck Out There. -Mark

True Performance

As gun dog owners I believe we all strive for the same collective results. A dog that works hard and covers a lot of ground. A dog that is well trained and highly motivated. A dog that is fit and physical. A dog that truly loves to hunt for us and share the thrill. At the end of the day when the last feather floats to the ground, our gun dogs are truly our most faithful and trusted companions. But what are we doing to return their hard work, devotion and commitment? Better yet, what are we doing to make our good dogs great?

Like all living organisms, it starts and ends with nutrition. Food is the fuel that steams our dogs engine and stokes the fire within. Without quality food your dog will never reach his or her full potential in the marsh, woods, or field. These days more and more manufacturers are focusing on producing high quality dog foods. Unfortunately, there are still those owners who believe dog food found at a grocery store is just as good. This simple is not the case. Canines specifically produced and trained to hunt are animal athletes. With any athlete, the quality of their diet dictates their overall performance on the field of play. Over the past year many of my blog posts have hopefully shed some light of the positive and negatives effect of both proper and improper nutrition. Fall is upon us and most hunting seasons across this country are only days away from opening. Unfortunately, for a dog to fully adjust to a food change it can take 4-6 weeks to see any results in the field. But it is never to late to switch from an inexpensive "grocery store" brand to a premium food. If this is your first visit to my blog I urge you to read past posts titled,  Pocket Guide For Dog Food Consumers, The Holistic Gun Dog, and Performance Dog Foods for a more in depth look.

But you may ask, what makes a dog food low or high quality? Great question but one you can answer for yourself very quickly by following these helpful red and green flags. Here is my blue collar round up on things to watch for...

Red flags for low quality dog foods contain:

• ANY Grain source as #1 ingredient
• High amounts corn, soy, and/or wheat grain sources in ingredients overall/any combination
• Grain Gluten in ANY form(low grade protein source)
• Unspecified mystery "Meat" ingredients such as Meat Meal, Meat By-product, etc
• Synthetic preservetives such as, BHT(Butylated Hydroxyanisole), BHA(Butylated Hydroxytoluene), Propylene Glycol, Ethoxyquin
• Food coloring agents aka; color #whatever 

Green flags for high quality dog foods contain:

• Whole meat or whole meat meal proteins such as chicken, duck, beef, bison, fish, lamb, etc as the first ingredient
• Low overall grain ingredient content and gluten free
• At least 2 meat type proteins in top 5 ingredients(including meat protein meals which are a very high source of quality protein)
• Natural preserved with mixed tocopherols(vitamin E)
• Powerful antioxidents such as blueberries, cranberries, etc
• Contain Prebiotics and/or Probiotics aka; Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecium



Nothing better than seeing a well fueled, hard charging dog having fun hunting birds!

  The above mentioned red or green flags are a great way to quickly establish whether or not a dog food is grocery or premium. But be advised, some manufactures who are considered "premium" producers slip red flags into there formula's to cut costs. Do NOT be fooled. Do your due diligence and read the label in it's entirety. Do not be fooled by the disclaimer on every bag of food in this country: Approved by AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for all life stages. The AAFCO has in most nutritionists opinion regulate and allow a very low level(base minimum) of acceptance on what they consider a food "formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the the minimum nutrients in dog food". In other words, all dog food for sale in America must reach these low standards before they can even be allowed to bring the product to market. Yep, even Ol' Roy met AAFCO approval so that is not saying much!

I hope this brief round up helps you make a more educated decision when shopping for your gun dogs next bag of food. There are some really wonderful manufacturers out there doing the right thing for our dogs. I don't guarantee many things but I will guarantee this; switching your dog to a high quality diet will vastly improve their performance in the field and in the home. Don't be scared away from the higher prices. If the health and wellbeing of your fourlegged hunting partner is important to you, price should not be the first concern.

Best of luck out there. -Mark



What is Gluten?

Gluten. It's one of those mysterious food ingredients some manufacturers use but very few folks can completely explain. In short, if you see gluten on an ingredients list it is an immediate red flag of a formula containing a low absorption protein. Worse yet, gluten(in any form) could negatively effect the long term health of your four legged hunting companion.  

The blue collar definition of gluten is basically the elastic part of  wheat, corn, or other types of grain that feels thick and starchy. Through a series of processing, grain is "spun out" to seperate the gluten from other grain matter. Many dogs(as well as humans) are sensitive to the resulting gluten. Because of it's gummy texture, gluten can be difficult to digest for most dogs. Gluten is commonly used as a binder or thickener for of human consumables. Just like humans, some canines can also suffer from celiac disease as direct relation from ingesting gluten containing food. For those effected by gluten in any form it can be toxic thus creating a negative and harmful reaction within the digestive tract.

According to the website http://www.celiacs.com/ in an article by Jefferson Adams noting veterinarian John B. Symes who suggests, "Gluten and other proteins that are added to dog  foods are causing many of the same diseases that they cause in their human counterparts. In human celiacs and gluten-sensitive individuals, gluten can induce both chronic and acute kidney failure. This form of kidney failure is typically called an IgA nephropathy, in which antibodies and immune complexes formed against gluten are deposited in the kidneys, which leads to damage and ultimately failure. Again, this can be chronic leading to persistent blood (microscopic) and protein in the urine or it can be acute." Dr. Symes claims that it is a startling but well-established fact that the lectins of gluten (wheat, barley, rye) dairy products (e.g. casein, lactalbumin) soy, and corn are all capable of inducing serious health issues in those humans who are sensitive to them. He takes this belief even further and states that such foods are actually not healthy for anyone—neither pets nor humans and they just happen to be more harmful to some individuals than others. According to him anyone who consumes or feeds these foods to their pets on a daily basis will encounter resulting health problems—it is only of matter of time.Dr. Symes believes that the onset of a lectin-related disorder—whether it be rheumatoid arthritis, type-one diabetes, lupus, etc.—is usually preceded by another event such as viral or bacterial infection. Vaccines can act as triggers as well. The result of such secondary events is a sudden influx and attachment of these inflammatory proteins to various cells in the body, ushering in what we often refer to as autoimmune disorders. That term implies an immune system that has gone haywire, attacking the body for no reason. According to him, our immune systems, along with those of our pets, never make that kind of mistake. These conditions happen for certain reasons, and these food proteins are often the cause.All one needs to do, according to Dr. Symes, is to study celiac disease to see how all of this works and appreciate the health implications that accompany this extremely common condition. That a similar condition does occur in dogs has become painfully obvious during the past seven years that he has been studying the issue. Dr. Symes states: "The Irish Setter is a breed known to suffer from gluten intolerance, but it is clear that gluten is affecting many other breeds of dogs. And why wouldn't it? It is affecting humans and we have had millennia to adapt to eating wheat. Our pets have only been eating wheat-based pet foods for about 20 years now. The fact is that wheat gluten can and does cause and/or contribute to these conditions. Thus, according to Dr. Symes, gluten should never end up in pet foods. To illustrate his theory Dr. Symes points out that the average American dog lives 12 years, when their wild counterparts, eating a natural diet, can live to be nearly thirty and to forty years respectively. For the cause, we need look no further than what we put in their bowls. Why? The answer, at least in part, is that highly processed foods cannot possibly contain all of the essential nutrients found in fresh meats, fruits and vegetables."

A Pointer holds point. A Lab flushes. Perfect! These two canine athletes run on a gluten free, super premium diet daily!

Furthermore, Corn gluten is a concentrated source of low grade protein that can be substituted for costlier animal protein. In many bargain dry dog foods, corn gluten meal provides a large proportion or the total protein in the food rather than a highly digestible(and more expensive) forms of protein such as meat. If corn gluten is high up on the list of ingredients, chances are it negatively effects the actual advertised protein percentage. This is caused by corn glutens inherent "low biological value" i.e. -digestion and metabolizing this ingredient for dogs results in a lower "intake" or absorption of the actual protein content. Keep in mind, all dog food manufacturers are NOT required to post what the biological value or digestion rate percent of any ingredient really is!

I urge each of you to take a close look at your dog's bag of food and pay closer attention to those ingredients you read but might not understand. That's what I am here for -to help gun dog owners just like you understand the importance of a healthy canine diet. My cost is totally free so please take advantage. If you have a question please drop me a line at northupland@yahoo.com or post a comment below. I will personally respond to every inquiry.

Best of luck out there. -Mark