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Feeding fish to sled dogs.

Posted By: Gary Benson

Feeding fish to sled dogs. - 03/14/19 03:50 PM

On all the TV shows, the Alaskan guys catch salmon, dry them, and feed it to their dogs. It appears to be cooked, but what about the bones?
Posted By: newhouse114

Re: Feeding fish to sled dogs. - 03/14/19 04:13 PM

Doesn't bother them. I usually fed salmon just raw and frozen.
Posted By: bfisch

Re: Feeding fish to sled dogs. - 03/14/19 05:34 PM

When cooking fresh fish the only fish bones to be worried about are the teeth from salmon and pike and such. Most people I know take the head off. When drying the fish before cooking the backbone is removed as well.
Posted By: 2dogs

Re: Feeding fish to sled dogs. - 03/14/19 06:34 PM

I like to freeze it first to kill parasites. Otherwise I will boil it. Everything except jaw, gills, and tail. Usually he gets the parts people throw out. I freeze my salmon whole without any cuts. Gives a great product, better than any other way I have tried. That is for my bird dog. He is healthy as can be and no messy piles of dog crap all over the yard like with commercial food.
Posted By: yukon254

Re: Feeding fish to sled dogs. - 03/14/19 09:36 PM

I fed salmon to my team for years, both raw and cooked with rice. They did really well on it and like others have said bones are not a problem. Something I never could understand though is that sled dogs loved the fish but the dogs we have now ( KBDs) wont touch them.
Posted By: watarrat

Re: Feeding fish to sled dogs. - 03/15/19 01:54 AM

Originally Posted by yukon254
I fed salmon to my team for years, both raw and cooked with rice. They did really well on it and like others have said bones are not a problem. Something I never could understand though is that sled dogs loved the fish but the dogs we have now ( KBDs) wont touch them.

Our pure KBD is not a fan of fish but his son 1/8 Makenzie River Husky weighs 1/2 again as much and will eat most anything. When my wife had a big team we had a sheep cancellation and I asked her if she needed me to do anything,,,, next thing you know I was putting up 1000 fish for the dogs, Whew,,,,,,
Posted By: waggler

Re: Feeding fish to sled dogs. - 03/15/19 02:33 AM

Just a word of warning to people living in the lower 48. Don't feed your dogs raw salmon the parasite Nanophyetus salmincola will kill your dog.
The parasite is generally found in salmon coming from rivers south of the Skagit River in Washington State. Friends of mine who have had their dogs contract "Salmon Poisoning" treat it with tetracycline and can save the dog if it's not let go too long.

I don't know if this parasite made it's way into the Great Lakes salmon or not, but it wouldn't surprise me.
Posted By: Pete in Frbks

Re: Feeding fish to sled dogs. - 03/15/19 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by bfisch
When cooking fresh fish the only fish bones to be worried about are the teeth from salmon and pike and such. Most people I know take the head off. When drying the fish before cooking the backbone is removed as well.


Sled dogs have iron stomachs! But who would waste a perfectly good dried salmon head on a sled dog? When you could tie it to a pole and catch 2 or 3 marten with it....?!!!!!

Pete
Posted By: yukon254

Re: Feeding fish to sled dogs. - 03/15/19 04:04 PM

Originally Posted by Pete in Frbks
Originally Posted by bfisch
When cooking fresh fish the only fish bones to be worried about are the teeth from salmon and pike and such. Most people I know take the head off. When drying the fish before cooking the backbone is removed as well.


Sled dogs have iron stomachs! But who would waste a perfectly good dried salmon head on a sled dog? When you could tie it to a pole and catch 2 or 3 marten with it....?!!!!!

Pete


Been wanting to try that for some time Pete. When I bought my current line I found a 45 gallon drum filled with smoked pike fillets. The fellow I bought it from was obviously using it for bait, and he put up a lot of fur each year. Had a real smoky smell. Its illegal here to use edible meat or fish but a guy could use dried/ smoked fish scraps I guess.
Posted By: Pete in Frbks

Re: Feeding fish to sled dogs. - 03/16/19 03:35 PM

Lots of trappers use fish heads successfully for lynx/wolverine bait in cubbys too.

I once saw a photograph of a shrew caught in the jaws of a #4 Victor Jump. It appeared that he had climbed the tree, gone out on the branch, shimmied down the wire and took up residence IN the fish head! When he had it all eaten up, I guess he tried to get back up the wire, slipped, and fell down, hitting exactly on the pan of the trap.

When the trap went off, it launched the shrew back up..... just as the jaws closed! Hate It when that happens!

Pete
Posted By: bfisch

Re: Feeding fish to sled dogs. - 03/16/19 08:12 PM

Sure fish heads are great bait for fur bearers, but there is no need for a thousand or more to be kept by mushers to use as trapping bait. Many end up back in the river and then they are bait for whitefish and pike to end up in the net or on the rod. If you want fish heads for bait, just stop by in June, July, or August. I'm sure the mushers would be happy to get rid of some of the stink so they don't have to haul it away.


Originally Posted by Pete in Frbks


Sled dogs have iron stomachs! But who would waste a perfectly good dried salmon head on a sled dog? When you could tie it to a pole and catch 2 or 3 marten with it....?!!!!!

Pete


Teeth from pike or dog salmon will tear up your dog.
Posted By: white17

Re: Feeding fish to sled dogs. - 03/17/19 03:46 PM

It always amazed me how I could cook whole salmon and fill a dog's dish with the slop and they would eat every morsel and drop of juice.............except the rib bones.There would be maybe a hundred rib bones all licked clean in the bottom of the dish!
Posted By: 2dogs

Re: Feeding fish to sled dogs. - 03/17/19 09:05 PM

True on the rib bones. From where I sit now I can see them perfectly clean on my porch where I feed the
dog.
Posted By: Stan Z

Re: Feeding fish to sled dogs. - 03/21/19 04:07 AM

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Average was 1000 dried fish with heads on and 1000 whole soured (rotten) fish a year for 45 years now and never a bone problem ever that I know of. Sure the dogs got a jab once in a while just like people do but no dog ever got hurt from it. None of it was cooked except for about 3 months of the summer when it was cooked heads, backbones and all. The whole fish is for in town and the dry stuff for traveling/trapline where sled weight is a factor. Don't need to cook any of it as it's all broken down from the drying process or souring and easy to digest. The sprint racers that do feed alot of fish (not many do these days as it not a high energy enough food) like to catch their fish later in fall just before freeze up and not sour it and cook it with added meats and supplements. Trappers don't have time to cook in the day so like the really soured stuff that is essentially "cooked" already.
Posted By: g smith

Re: Feeding fish to sled dogs. - 03/22/19 02:18 AM

Interesting thread ,thank you .amazing what gasoline has changed !
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