Good posts. I always enjoy these.

Once upon a long time ago I worked straight nights. After work I weighed the dog. I worked the dogs in the AM, fed a fatty, broth-like supplemented solution. I slept the day away and weighed the dog in the evening. His weight would determine the amount of food trying to target his working weight for the next day.

Way back then we used dex or fluid pills to pull off water closer to the end. They can work if they are given precisely on time every day.

Straight nights turned to rotating 12 hour shift works, working both days and nights. It is a real challenge to do dogs on this schedule because there is no routine for the dog, or pretty much his routine is not having a routine. Being creative with rest days to line up what he needs with how I worked is always a struggle.

I got away from dex and fluid type pills after that as I could not time out their effectiveness on my schedule.

On the 12 hour night shifts it was similar to working straight nights I just flip flopped. I worked and fed the supplement in the morning and the main feeding happened about 8 hours later. It took a little while to dial in again. On 12 hour days I worked the dog in the evenings and fed a regular feeding. This throws the dog off a little so the next day is a rest day. The week I am on days he gets 1/2 the work and twice the rest. This is not ideal so I plan the keep around this week being early on and again late in the keep.

As how this pertains to recovery, I found the dogs do really well coming off a hard day with an extra days rest. With all the fuel and the extra rest the dog is busting at the seams on the next work day.

Based on my schedule I can peak the dog (wherever he is in his conditioning at that time) each week. I can load, and get up to and touching the over loaded line and feel comfortable knowing there is an extra day of rest built in for the next day.

On straight nights there were occasions when I would go to the dog and he did not meet me ripping and roaring to go. It is easy to type on here to give him a days rest but in the moment it is easier to put a little more on him. Sometimes that little more is too much. On the shift schedule I am forced to rest him an extra day about 4 times during 8 weeks of work.

EWO