dry him out

what is it ment when someone talks about having the dog dryed out .thanks for your replies

 

In the old days pre 1976 a dogman would have his dog dryed out before the competition. This means the dog isnt "wet" which means he will tend to run hot, bleed and not be able to perform at his peak.

You can physically see that a dog is dryed out. They have a certain look to the coat and skin. There are varying opinions on how "wet" or "dry" a dog should be before a show and everyone does it a lil different. If you do some research on conditioning and keeps it will help you more. There are natural ways to help dry out a dog that with some research you can find.

I DO NOT suggest "drying" a dog out with no experience or anyone to advise you. You can cause serious damage to your dogs organs if he gets too stressed during the show.

 

I've heard of people drying their dogs out before conformation shows, to give the dog more muscular definition. Does anybody here do that who would care to share the pros/cons/reasoning? It's not something I'm interested in doing to my own dogs, but it's kind of a curiosity to me.

 

thanks for the response.No plans to do this just woundering what it was all about.

 

Just bumping. I was wondering if anyone had the answer to my related question.

 

Jeeperino is right, it means to take any excess water off of the dog.

HOWEVER, it does not mean to dehydrate your dog. Many people think they need to hold the water back and not give the dog any or very little fluid. What is important is that the dog has it's proper amount of electrolytes. So, when decideing to "dry a dog out" if your are cutting back on their water be sure when they do get it that they are being given electrolytes! A dehydrated dog will overheat very fast.

To answer your question Bahamutt99, basically what it does is keep your dog cooler and prevents larger amounts of blood loss if you were to use them for hog hunting. It also tightens them up for a cleaner look.

 

I've read some of those real old keeps where they "dried" the dog out. Poor dogs!

Dreamer

 

It take a bit of experince to do it the right way Rull of thumb Pick hide off back if it takes any longer than 3 seconds IMO the dog is very dry. And remember Too dry = WEAK DOG! I never would take them hunting too dry Thats when they go in to shock if the stress there insides. J

 

Absolutely. Armitage in the 30 Years book was critical of conditioners who "tried to prevent a dog from drinking too much water by putting Irish Moss into the dog's water. This would make the water slimy, and smell like water in which frogs and fish have been , and, of course, the dogs would do just as you and I would do -- they would not drink any more than absolutely necessary. The result of this is that the dog is burning up....."

Also, he writes:

"Some old trainers used to cut the fat out of a dog by vomiting him for 2 or 3 days. They did this by taking some turpeth mineral (mercury) mixing it with butter as much as would cover a dime at a dose. They would place this on his tongue and in short order he would start vomiting strings of fat and slime. There is nothing that will thin a human being down faster than vomiting but if you have ever experienced a vomiting spell, you know how weak and sick you were and you felt as if your organs were coming up with it......you can imagine what the poor dog felt like or the good it did him".

I read about race horse jockies also using this stuff to thin down (and get extremely sick doing it) in the Seabiscuit book. Some could hardly get on their horses and some were so weak they fell off. (Great Read, by the way, if you admire the gameness race horses can display).

Dreamer

 

Before a conformation show I give mine white rice

 

What does that do for them? Do you mean instead of food? Like so there's less fat?

 

bahamutt99
it sounds like they are sucking the dog up a bit. no fluids before the show to give that real tight look.

 

For conformation purposes, on a dog properly worked, it will make the animal appear more vascular and muscular by taking extra water out of the body, not stored in the muscles. Taking out the "rounded" look, for sharper muscle defintion.

 

Thanks for the info, folks.

 

If you are showing your dog how long before a show would you start to dry him out for that show.Also whay do you achieve with the white rice. Thanks again Coop

 

I was always told that as the hound is conditioned it will naturally consume less and less water as it nears the peak of condition. Theory being that the body becomes more efficient while in the peak of condition. It works for me.
I'll leave the "moss grass", "vomiting", "white rice", "Mercury", "Butter on a dime" or the "3 count" for the experts.