Use of feed additive in the diets of sled dogs at increased physical activity

Sports and applied dog breeding in our country is increasingly developing, which is associated with an increase in the number of cynological sports disciplines. Along with this the issue of training sports animals namely quickly achieving high results is also acute. This issue is not fully reflected in domestic and foreign literature, so the purpose of the studies was to analyze the effect of a post-training feed additive on the physiological state of sled dogs during physical activity. In order to set up the experiment a control and experimental group of Siberian husky dogs was formed. Feeding of dogs with standard feed with an energy concentration of 1017 kcal per day did not provide the animals with energy and nutritional needs.While the tested feed additive Whey (Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100 %) replenished their deficiency. The experimental group of dogs received a post-training feed additive after training in the amount of 65 g/head. The use of this feed additive allowed the experimental group to reduce the time to cover the distance 5 km by 16 seconds. A biochemical blood test after the dogs had run a 5 km distance showed that the recovery processes in the experimental group of animals occurred due to changes in protein metabolism. For example, total protein decreased by 4.3 %, creatinine by 4.3 % (p≤0.05), and urea increased by 10.1 % (p ≤ 0.05). At the same time no differences were found in the respiratory rate and heart rate in the animals of the control and experimental groups. The calculation of economic efficiency showed that the use of the post-training feed additive in the experimental group of dogs was 2.3 times more profi table than in the control group, where this additive was not used.