How to take care of your hounds during a hunting expedition

Hunting hounds are your best partners on any hunting expedition. No matter if you are going behind waterfowl, big game, or even predators, your hounds will be your most reliable ally.

And being such an amazing team, it's mandatory to properly take care of your hairy hunting partners, providing them with the basic safety elements required for their well-being.

In this regard, perhaps the most important thing is to allow other hunters to know that your hounds are hunters too and not another game in the area, avoiding accidental shooting of them.

The most efficient way to achieve this goal is to provide your hounds with an orange vest, just like yours. Regardless of being mandatory, orange vests are a kind of moral obligation with your hounds, after all, you wouldn't be happy to take them back home shot or dead because of a hunting accident.

On the other hand, dogs expend a lot of energy chasing prey, moving constantly

from one place to another, and being ready to follow your orders anytime, so get sure to count on enough food supplies for them.

You don't need a complete bowl of food, in fact, this is not the best choice because of time consumption, scenting, and many other inconveniences. Instead, high-energy, bite-size snacks will keep your hound on the run all along the hunting expedition.

Another thing to keep in mind is the weather. Certainly, dogs were provided by mother nature with an exceptional insulation cover however, in extremely cold weather they will be happy (and safer) with an extra protection layer of manmade insulation.

That's not mandatory for all breeds, in fact, many won't need it, but depending on your hounds' age, energy level, breed, and external weather conditions, sometimes it will be a good idea to dress them properly to keep corporal heat.

Finally, getting lost is a real concern during a hunting expedition, same for humans than for hounds, thus having a GPS collar is a good idea. That way you will be able to track your hounds in case they get lost or too far from you.

Obviously, besides the aforementioned tips, get sure your hunting fellows have their vaccines up to date and are protected against external parasites. This way you and your hounds will enjoy the hunting expedition with minimum collateral damages to their health and well-being.