use of supliments

[Darren]

one of my articles in todays Countrymans Weekly

The use of supplements

Most owners of working and racing dogs get obsessive about what they feed their dogs and to some lesser degree about the addition of supplements to their charges diets! I always look to the greyhound industry to see what is moving and what is falling flat on its face as this is a multi million pound industry that could not survive on hearsay and wives tales as the money spent on pups , rearing , training , foods etc demands results or people both fail and go out of business.

Most commercial greyhound foods are all most people need for a bit of general mooching and or ferreting however some of this is an extortionate price, but one or two companies realise less is more and that on the whole greyhound racing is a working mans sport, (not too many kings or sheiks involved in this sport) and perhaps some of the fancy big name companies should take a leaf out of the books of both Gain and Redmills, two companies both from Ireland the international hotbed of greyhound racing and producers of specialist sporting feeds, who both sell 15kgs for under twelve pounds, and many many open race winners and group winners are reared and fed on these feeds , and these feeds have all the correct supplements in and are more than enough for your average lurcher man and or working whippet owner.
What people do need to realise however is that neither a good racing food or the use of supplements are a short cut , infact in most cases the use of them actually requires more work on your part as you need to give the dog more exercise and work so that its body can utilise all the extra that you are now putting into it, not to do so could lead to all sorts of problems such as hyper activity , fidgeting , hair loss, vast quantities of faeces and or diarohea amongst other things , you need to get off your bum and pound the streets with your dog.
What do supplements do ?Well basically the type we in the field (and of course the show ring if we are honest)would use would be to add serious muscle thickness, definition, as well as power and stamina and obviously aid recovery, but in all honesty can be used by those looking to promote or produce a healthier overall dog and for the benefit of the summer shows one that looks like it could perform , whether or not it actually does or not despite its owners claims.We all know that you can get specific supplements for a specific task or purchase a blended preparation and that they are made up of varing degrees of vitamins and minerals, but what do they do? Here is a very interesting list of vitamins and their uses in a simplified and easy to understand that I found some time ago when browsing holistic sites on the internet.

Vitamin A for disease resistance and growth

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) for energy utilization
and nervous system

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) for healthy skin and coat

Vitamin B6 promotes appetite and protein utilisation

Vitamin B12 for prevention of infections and stress

Vitamin C for prevention of infections and stress

Vitamin D3 for development and bone growth

Vitamin E for the reproduction system, muscles and nerves

Vitamin K for the blood

Biotin for the liver, kidneys, skin, hair and paws
Calcium for bone and teeth development

Choline Chloride for the nervous system and liver

Cobalt assists fat and carbohydrate utilization

Copper for coat colour and blood cell formation

Fibre essential for digestive function

Iodine assists thyroid function

Iron for the prevention of anaemia

Manganese for joint and enzyme function

Nicotinic acid nutrient utilization

Oil provides energy
Pantothenic Acid carbohydrates and oils utilisation

Phosphorous promotes bone and teeth development

Protein for muscle development

Salt assists appetite and body fluid balance

Selenium helps in dealing with stress

Zinc promotes healthy skin and appetite

Obviously the above is in very simplistic form but it is the best description that I have seen for quite some time in giving us all an idea as to what they (vitamins and minerals )actually do for the dog instead of listening to all the old wives tales or second guessing.
Creatine is another popular supplement nowadays and it is found naturally in ours and our dogs bodies made by the liver from arginine , methionine and glycine then approximately ninety five percent of the resulting creatine is stored in the muscles. A very simplistic way of explain what creatine does is this , its main function is to provide the muscles with more energy and more energy means that the muscle can contract harder and longer but also means that the muscle is under more stress so the creatine also hydrates the muscle massively and improves protein synthesis (turn the proteins into muscle tissue ).Because of this the use of creatine allows an explosion of energy in about a three second burst and also allows the body to push itself harder and longer.Incidently creatine will not work if the body is not hydrated enough, the cleaner the water the better so for your dog I would give cold boiled water or filtered water, or ideally cold boiled filtered water.
I would not dream of telling you what supplements to use the choice is yours and there are many excellent preperations out there, but what I would say is visit the greyhound supply sites, but please remember if you do not exercise your dogs enough then you are just wasting your money.

[theoldgit]

NICE TO SEE YOU HERE WITH MORE INPUT THAT WILL BENIFIT FORUM USERS.................WELL DONE PAL

[dannyboy]

Thanks for taking the time to write that out for us....i looked into creatine once, but have forgotten most of what i learned, I can remember that there was a perticular type of creatine that a lot prefered because the dog digested it easier(i think) would ypo mind giving us your thoughts on whhat type you would choose to give? Many Thanks Dan.

[Darren]

so long as you buy PURE Creatine Monohydrate then you are ok

[dannyboy]

Cheers would you mind sharing the amount given, and when, in relation to exersise to give?
Many thanks Dan.

[Darren]

two camps , one before the other after

quantities
loading =2g per 10kg for 5 days
1g per 10kgs for the next 5 days
0.6g for the next 5 days
then 0.4g for the rest of the period

[dannyboy]

Thank you...much appreciated!

[mickey]

i have bin considering this http://www.greyhoundsuperstore.co.uk/di ... %2DScience


do u think it would be any better then your normal human stuff mate

[Darren]

steve who owns the superstore was encouraging me to use this (4th one down)
http://www.greyhoundsuperstore.co.uk/di ... t%3E%3C%2F

here is some more details and I have requested the full details

http://www.stargreyhoundproducts.com/pa ... e_pro.html

[mickey]

I seen that on the store at ur show do u think it would work well a long side weight pull training ??

[ Post made via Android ]