Annie 3 months after having her puppies

Annie had been getting a little pudgy before she was bred to Buster for her first litter of puppies. It certainly didn’t help her post-whelping recovery to be out of shape and overweight to begin with. So now we are trying to get back on track and keep her lean and fit and happy. I admit it is hard sometimes to get out of bed and get the dogs all loaded up to go for a run when it’s not yet light outside or when there’s 12 inches of new snow. But, working dogs need the physical exercise and they need it daily. It makes a big difference in training as well. I had a hunting buddy that would unload his shorthair 3-4 miles from the hunting grounds and make him run alongside the truck. The end result was a focused dog that was settled down and ready to go to work. I have had some of my best and most productive training sessions after our daily runs or a good workout. During the hunting season it isn’t quite as hard to keep the dogs in shape because between hunting and guiding we are at it 3-4 days a week. It’s when the hunting season is over that you really have to buckle down and keep the dogs active.