Lyle Steinman On Performance

After hanging up the phone with Lyle Steinman only one word comes to mind. Passion. This dog man extudes it. Lyle's passion for breeding, training, and handling world class labrador retreivers is clearly evident. It resonates in his voice and sends a crystal clear message that luck has nothing to do with it. Hardwork, dedication, and loving what you do truly does equals success.

Lyle's accomplishments
(a.k.a. his dog man rap sheet)...

• Lyle Steinman has over 1400 AKC Master Passes and over 100 + AKC Master (MH) titled dogs
• He has qualified a record 76 dogs at the AKC Master National event.
• He has 9 dogs in the Master National Hall of Fame (New AKC title MNH ) and 17 dogs that have passed two Master Nationals to his credit.
• On September 18, 2010 he broke an AKC record for AKC Master passes in one weekend, passing 23/24 dogs at the Northwest Missouri Retriever Clubs hunt test.
• Has 12 first place Super Reteiver Series wins (including the 2007 & 2009 Crown Championships).
• Won the SRS Crown Championship in 2007 with River (2007 SRSC SRS HRCH Big Two Hearted River II MNH HOF QAA) and in 2009 with Jack (2009 SRSC 3 X SRS Fargo’s Gulf Coast Jack-Son MH QAA).
• Is the only SRS handler to ever win 1st , 2nd & 3rd place in the same event(SRS Record) and the only handler to ever have 9 dogs qualified for the top 12 at one time.
• Has put more dogs in the Top 5(41 in the Finals/ 56 in Semis) than any other handler in Super Retriever Series history.
• Qualified 4 dogs for the 2008 Crown Championship and qualified 7 dogs for the 2009 & 2010 Crown Championship (SRS Records).
• At the 2009 Super Retriever Series Crown Championship Lyle became the only handler to put three dogs in the finals. Lyle finished the 2009 SRS Crown Championship with first (Jack), second (Rebi), third (Coot), fifth (River) and sixth with (Pasha).
• Lyle’s career winnings now are over $190,000 in cash and prizes.

With a resume like that it is obvious that Lyle knows a thing or two about canine performance. I was recently fortunate to personally interview him regarding his labrador's nutrition and conditioning regiments. Lyle holds court every day at Castile Creek Kennels in Stewartsville, Missouri

When asked what brand of food he feed his labs, Lyle believes the core of his dogs performance rests solely on foods by Country Vet. Lyle has been feeding Country Vet  for close to five years. He uses their "Natural Dog Fuel" 32/20 mix to feed all his working dogs and could not say enough about its overall quality. He is a proponent of a "corn, soy, and wheat free diet" and sees Country Vet's Dog Fuel as truly a hidden gem in the vast world of large dog food manufacturers. Ingredient consistency and overall attention to formula integrity is what Lyle is most impressed about Country Vet. He is confident knowing every bag he opens for his dogs is going to be the same high quality ingredients and the exact replica of the previous bags contents. Before using Country Vet, Lyle used a larger, more well known national brand but was unhappy with their ingredient quality inconsistency which lead to adverse effects on his dogs performance. This concern arises from  larger "megamanufacturers" sourcing their ingredients from a very vast list of suppliers on the open market. Which is cause for concern for formula quality integrity. In a nutshell, if one run of the food "ingredient A" comes from a supplier with a high quality standards and the next month a different supplier who can also deliver "ingredient A" but might have lower quality control comes to market a little cheaper, they get the purchase order, etc. This is one of the biggest reasons that some dogs do very well on a certain brand/formula of food for long periods of time and then out of now where they have adverse reactions to it. Food manufacturers are NOT legally obligated to advertise this ingredient supplier change. Since switching to Country Vet it is plain to see the performance of Lyle's dogs are indeed tough to beat...and very consistent at winning big in the professional trial circuit!

When I asked Lyle about skin and coat health in conjunction with feeding Country Vet he had this to say, "My black labs look they have Armour All sprayed on them!"  I can personally atest to seeing Lyle's squadron of black labs and can verify to that statement being a dead on accurate assessment of their coat quality!

According to the Country Vet's website :
"Dog Fuel is the full spectrum natural feed source for so many people that demand a little better, a little more. We're proud to be able to provide you with choices in your pet foods. Dog Fuel is just that...another choice. So, what is so special about Dog Fuel? Great question...here's the quick answer: Dog Fuel contains all Natural Ingredients; Dog Fuel is formulated for all of your pet's life stages making it a good choice for life; Dog Fuel contains No Corn, No Soy, No Wheat,  Dog Fuel has within it nutraceutical ingredients...read about them below; Dog Fuel is an excellent source of high quality protein."

Country Vet Natural Dog Fuel (32/20)Ingredients:
Chicken Meal, Oat Meal, Pearled Barley, Brown Rice, Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherois), Pork Meal, Beet Pulp, Grain Sorghum, Poultry Liver Digest, Dried Egg, Flax Seeds, Canola Seeds, Fish Meal, Dried Brewers Yeast, Salt, L-Carnitine, Potassium Chloride, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Enterococcus Faocium, Choline Chloride, Calcium Propionate, Chicory Root, Clucosamine Hydrochloride, Dried Lecithin, Chondroltin Sulfate, Sodium Bentonite, Ferrous Sulfate, Calcium Carbonate, Zinc Methionine Complex, Zinc Oxide, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacinamide, Copper Lysine Complex, Copper Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Maganese Methianine Complex, Maganous Oxide, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothonate, Biotin, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Menadione Sodium Bisulfate Complex (Source of Vitamin K Activity), Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Cobalt Glucoheptonate and Cobalt Carbonate.

Gaurunteed Analysis
Crude Protein (Min) 32% Crude Fat (Min) 20.0% Crude Fiber (Max) 3.0% Moisture (Max) 10.0% Calcium (Min) 2.0% Phosphorus (Min) 1.3% *Omega 6 Fatty Acids (Min) 3.0%
*Omega 3 Fatty Acids (Min) 0.6% *Glucosamine Nydrochloride (Min) 600 mg/kg *Chondroitin Sulfate (Min) 300 mg/kg L-Carnitine (Min) 200 mg/

Overall, I consider Country Vet Natural Dog Fuel a well managed food that includes quality ingredients in a formula that all working dogs of any age can greatly benefit from. I can easily recommend Country Vet Natural Dog Fuel as a great choice for your gun dog of any breed. Like other formulas free of corn, soy, and wheat, owners can expect much lower stool size. By removing low quality, grain based carbohydrates from your dogs diet his or her digesting system can burn high protein, high fat, and easily digestible carbo/fibers more completely. In my opinion, Country Vet Dog Fuel is definitely a "high octane go juice" for all hard working gun dogs from puppy hood all the way to seniors master hunters. In addition to Natural Dog Fuel, Country Vet offers a variety of other dog food formulas. I urge you to visit their home page to find out more.

After speaking about Country Vet foods, Lyle led the conversion on to food ration(portion size). Like all consummate professional trainers, he adjusts his food rations according to physical activity. Dependant on each dog's daily workout regiment, it ranges from 2 cups all the way up to 6 cups. He was particular to note that "on any given day, work load dictates the feeding of all my dogs"

As the interview continued we discussed conditioning. Lyle is as passionate about proper fitness regiments as he is about nutrition. All of his working dogs receive at minimum 15-30 minutes of roading(ATV harness workouts) a day and sometimes "two a days" depending on their energy output needs. Again, like all quality trainers, Lyle spends considerable time studying what each individual dog needs are and adjusting their condition times accordingly. In addition to road work, every dog goes through a series of 4-8 "marks" a day during trial training. This would equate to roughly 1.5 miles(at maximum) of continuous, high paced running/retreiving per day.  Again, Lyle was quick to point out that Country Vet Dog Fuel is the key to keeping his dogs in top shape with lean muscle mass and powerful frames. Lyle Steinman's Castile Creek Kennel facility rests on 40 arces of realistic waterfowl habitat. It is an impressive display of dog breeding and training professionalism. Castile Creek Kennels not only produces professional trail dogs. Lyle also boards, offers puppy preschool classes, and whelping services.

After our interview ended I walked away feeling very fortunate to have spoken with Lyle candidly about what makes his dogs great.  Without doubt, he is a master of fine details and studies his dogs like a book each and every day. I am gratefully to have met somebody of Lyle's high caliber who is extremely down to earth and very personable.  I clearly understand why he is one of the very best in the business. I thank him tremendously for helping me spread the word about proper gun dog nutrition.

As always, please do not hesitate to post a comment or contact me directly at northupland@yahoo.com with any of your questions or concerns. Thank you for visiting my blog.

Best of luck out there. -Mark  

Images used in this article are courtesy of Castile Creek Kennels and Country Vet Pet Food.

Pre & Post Joint Surgery Tips

I was recently asked this question via email. Hopefully some of my other blog readers dealing with a dog preparing, undergoing, or rehabing from surgery can benefit from some of these helpful tips.

Question: "My Brittany is getting ready to have hip relocation surgery. Do you have any diet recommendations for joint healing?"

Having your faithful hunting companion and best bud go "under the knife" is a stressful situation for both of you!

Response: If your Brit is in good overall health going into the surgery I recommend the dog staying on the same diet. I believe stress from a food change close to surgery could put undue strain on your dogs immune system, which needs to be at full strength to devote to the overall healing process. Even if your current dog food does contain some Glucosamine/Chondroitin. I would add at minimum 750mg per 50lbs of dog per day of a liquid Gluc/MSM/Chon supplement. Nutri Vet makes a great product and the dog gets the most bang for your buck! Liquid supplements are the best bet because dogs digest and metabolize liquids much more completely than pill form supplements. Liquid can be poured over his regular food making it very easy to administer. The natural anti-inflammatory properties of this formula will help dramatically in the healing process and help to lubricate/condition the ligaments and tendons post surgery as well as slow down degenerative issues that will certainly arise in the future.

The biggest post op concern is proper rehabilitation. Take it extremely slow. Even when you think(and the dog acts like) he or she is totally healed they probably are not. Dogs have a way of masking still nagging injuries. It is during this time they are most likely to injure another joint because they are favoring the injury or possibly re-aggravating the surgically repaired joint. The next biggest post op concern is the dog putting on weight following surgery due to inactivity. Be VERY watchful of food ration/portion size and limit treats to those very low in calories. I recommend high protein/low cal treats like pure dried meats(chicken, duck, buffalo) that are packed with nutrients to help in muscle/tendon/ligament development.

Water based physical therapy is low impact and increases the chances of the joint healing correctly. Seek out a clinic that offers it!

I hope these suggestions help. As always, listen to what your vet has to say and follow their advice close. They will have the hands-on experience of seeing exactly what is best for your dog. But always be open to second opinions. Just like human surgery...this is serious business!
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