Sled Dog Tours
Feeding Sled Dogs
Nutrition • Hydration• Energy
Did you know that sled dogs are the greatest, ultra marathoners on the planet and that they metabolize their energy so uniquely, it is unlike any other mammal in the world?
Sled dogs are super athletes and in order for us to provide the necessary calories to our pack, we have to feed them multiple times in a day! Although our sled dogs are not racing, they burn their fats/proteins the same way as described in this video.
Did you know that sled dogs are the greatest, ultra marathoners on the planet and that they metabolize their energy so uniquely, it is unlike any other mammal in the world?
Sled dogs are super athletes and in order for us to provide the necessary calories to our pack, we have to feed them multiple times in a day! Although our sled dogs are not racing, they burn their fats/proteins the same way as described in this video.
Like people, each member of our pack is unique. Unique in breed, work ethic, body condition and body type. These 4 components all determine the personalized feeding schedule for each husky hero. In order to maintain a healthy pack, we must be flexible and anticipate any changes our dogs experience such as temperature, trail conditions and an increase in work. Having this foresight allows us to tweak their meals and ensure their diet reflects their current working schedules and environment.
Each member of our pack has two bowl holders attached to their houses for easy access to their food and water without spilling. These holders are also placed at the optimal height allowing food and water to travel into the dog’s stomach without consuming too much air. All our feed is prepared at our feed station and members of our team deliver each husky hero their custom meals.
Snowy Owl Sled Dog Tours™ has created a feed board concept which lists each pack member, their feeding schedule and portions. Another important component to our feeding program is not just how much each dog eats, but also what they are consuming.
Like people, each member of our pack is unique. Unique in breed, work ethic, body condition and body type. These 4 components all determine the personalized feeding schedule for each husky hero. In order to maintain a healthy pack, we must be flexible and anticipate any changes our dogs experience such as temperature, trail conditions and an increase in work. Having this foresight allows us to tweak their meals and ensure their diet reflects their current working schedules and environment.
Each member of our pack has two bowl holders attached to their houses for easy access to their food and water without spilling. These holders are also placed at the optimal height allowing food and water to travel into the dog’s stomach without consuming too much air. All our feed is prepared at our feed station and members of our team deliver each husky hero their custom meals.
Snowy Owl Sled Dog Tours™ has created a feed board concept which lists each pack member, their feeding schedule and portions. Another important component to our feeding program is not just how much each dog eats, but also what they are consuming.
Feed
Here is a list of ingredients we use for our pack’s feeding program:
- Red Paw – Power Edge 32k kibble for our working pack
- Red Paw – Power Edge 26k kibble for our senior pack
- Revive nutritional supplement – added to our dogs daily soups to help replenish their electrolytes and glycogen
- Cubed bison/buffalo meat snacks
- Weekly eggs added to their meals
- Taste of the Wild – canned Canine Formula (High Prairie, Pacific Stream, Sierra Mountain, Southwest Canyon, Wetlands )
Our pack burns upwards to 12,000 calories per working day and each husky hero consumes approximately 6lbs of food per day!
Winter and Late Autumn Hydration
Hydration over the colder months can be challenging since water freezes. We must be very flexible in our watering schedule to ensure we are providing our pack with enough water but also the correct temperature of water. Each dog must drink 12 cups (3 Liters) or more per day to stay well hydrated.
Like people, when dogs drink something chilly, their body must use energy to warm up the liquid. Since dogs burn their fat reserve first, all opportunities to ensure our pack is not needlessly burning calories is taken. Therefore, we use hot water for all our pack’s hydration over the colder months. Since our dog sledding site is located 30 minutes from our kennel, how we hydrate our pack in the kennel vs. how we hydrate them on site differs.
Kennel Hydration in Temperatures -10C to +10C and warmer:
- Fresh hot water is given to all dogs at home
- Kennel team checks water multiple times throughout the day – they ensure the water doesn’t freeze and that each dog still has plenty of fresh water to enjoy.
Kennel Hydration in Temperatures -11C to -20C:
- Hydrating soups (3 cup portion of hot water mixed with kibble and canned food) are offered once in the morning and again in the afternoon (post free run).
- During free run, buckets of hot water are place throughout the kennel for our pack to drink as they please.
- After supper and right before bedtime our team serves each dog hot clear water before bed.
Kennel Hydration in Temperatures -21C to -30C and colder:
- Hydrating soups (3 cup portion of hot water mixed with kibble and canned food) are offered once in the morning and again in the afternoon (post free run) and one more time in the evening an hour before supper.
- During free run, buckets of hot water are place throughout the kennel for our pack to drink as they please.
- After supper and right before bedtime our team serves each dog hot clear water before bed.
On-Site Hydration:
- Hot water is prepped at our kennel into 5-gallon thermoses
- Hydrating soups (3 cup portion of hot water mixed with kibble, canned food and Revive supplement) are offered after every tour.
Winter and Late Autumn Hydration
Hydration over the colder months can be challenging since water freezes. We must be very flexible in our watering schedule to ensure we are providing our pack with enough water but also the correct temperature of water. Each dog must drink 12 cups (3 Liters) or more per day to stay well hydrated.
Like people, when dogs drink something chilly, their body must use energy to warm up the liquid. Since dogs burn their fat reserve first, all opportunities to ensure our pack is not needlessly burning calories is taken. Therefore, we use hot water for all our pack’s hydration over the colder months. Since our dog sledding site is located 30 minutes from our kennel, how we hydrate our pack in the kennel vs. how we hydrate them on site differs.
Kennel Hydration in Temperatures -10C to +10C and warmer:
- Fresh hot water is given to all dogs at home
- Kennel team checks water multiple times throughout the day – they ensure the water doesn’t freeze and that each dog still has plenty of fresh water to enjoy.
Kennel Hydration in Temperatures -11C to -20C:
- Hydrating soups (3 cup portion of hot water mixed with kibble and canned food) are offered once in the morning and again in the afternoon (post free run).
- During free run, buckets of hot water are place throughout the kennel for our pack to drink as they please.
- After supper and right before bedtime our team serves each dog hot clear water before bed.
Kennel Hydration in Temperatures -21C to -30C and colder:
- Hydrating soups (3 cup portion of hot water mixed with kibble and canned food) are offered once in the morning and again in the afternoon (post free run) and one more time in the evening an hour before supper.
- During free run, buckets of hot water are place throughout the kennel for our pack to drink as they please.
- After supper and right before bedtime our team serves each dog hot clear water before bed.
On-Site Hydration:
- Hot water is prepped at our kennel into 5-gallon thermoses
- Hydrating soups (3 cup portion of hot water mixed with kibble, canned food and Revive supplement) are offered after every tour.
Feed
Here is a list of ingredients we use for our pack’s feeding program:
- Red Paw – Power Edge 32k kibble for our working pack
- Red Paw – Power Edge 26k kibble for our senior pack
- Weekly pork neck bones
- Frozen raw treats
- Weekly eggs added to their meals
- Taste of the Wild – canned Canine Formula (High Prairie, Pacific Stream, Sierra Mountain, Southwest Canyon, Wetlands)
Summer, Spring and Early Autumn Hydration
Our dogs have full access to water which is checked and refreshed 4 times daily to ensure that they have plenty of clean water.
