Well said. When talking sled dogs and fat it is somewhat understood these dogs will be burning the fat. Knocking out a hundred sometimes a hundred plus miles a day will burn a calorie or two, whether it be derived from fat or protein or whatever. I feed a lot of fat when the dogs are working, as much as 40%-45% of their meal. That amount is still 40% of the meal if the meal is 2lbs. or 4lbs. (just for numbers sake). If the dog is over then the total volume is reduced to bring him back down to where I think he needs to be.


What I have found, and this is not from a double blind, scientifically backed nutritional study, but the key to feeding higher percentages of fat during a keep is to start feeding higher percentages 8-10 weeks out. Just last week I started upping the fat content in my dogs' diets because in 8-10 weeks the weather will drop here and the dogs will get more active. When I first started feeding higher fat contents and immediately upping the work load I didn't see any difference and then in time, the latter part of the keeps the dogs seemed to 'come around'. With more research and some more practical/first hand experience it is better to get them on the diet way earlier than I once thought.

Agreed. High fat diets to a dog that is doing nothing is a recipe for a fat dog. That same dog would get fat if he was on a high carb diet or a high protein diet, maybe he fattens at different rates, but he fattens just the same. I am still on a 40% or so clip of fat in the diet, and if the weight is off the total volume of the meal is reduced, not just one part of it. EWO