We are taking Molly our working (but pet) cocker on holiday to Northumberland next week.  We will be walking every day, and OH is delighted that she is now old enough to do "proper" walks (don't know how I'm going to keep up with them both: he is 6'6" and has massive strides which means that I have to do two steps to each of his one with my little basset-dog legs, lol.  Molly is even faster).  Last time we took her on holiday she lost losts of weight from all the walking and looked almost skeletal (she is very lean anyway).  How much should we increase her daily food ration by, and should we bring snacks for her on the walk (I know some wc people who give their dogs Mars bars when they're flagging)?  Trouble is, she can't just walk on a walk: has to run back and forth like a lunatic right through a 13 mile walk.  She ends up covering about 3-4 times the ground we do!  Any ideas to avoid us being asked by passers-by at the end of the week whether she gets fed?  She is on Burns Lamb and Rice btw, and has Nutro treats a couple of times a day.  Thanks folks.

We take our dogs on holiday and because they generally get a lot more exercise than at home I put the dogs onto a working food rather than their normal diet.  EG:  I use Supadog Sensitive at home and on holiday I use Supadog Active.  So you could try using your own brand of food but the one for active dogs.

Lynn

Thanks for that suggestion weims.  Will pick up a bag of Burns active before we leave.

Do you give breakfast?  I would maybe give her some first thing - give her time to digest it before you take her out though.

Which part of Northumberland?  We live in Northumberland and if you've never been here, I can give you some good dog walking places.  Either reply here or go into my profile, and you will see my email address.

Helen

She does have breakfast, and we currently feed her twice the recommended amount of Burns, otherwise she just loses weight.  We are staying in a cottage in Embleton.  Any suggestions for walks would be very welcome as it's my first visit: I went and bought the OS maps today and we have a book of walks, but they don't indicate which ones are dog friendly (Molly would not be impressed if we had to have her on the lead for too much of the walk!).  Thanks!

There is a fantastic beach at Warkworth which you should defnitely visit.  There is a signpost to the beach just before you get to the bridge which goes over the river.  It's a steep hill and you eventually come to a picnic site/car park and the beach is about 300 yards from there.  You're not too far from the cheviots (which is where we live) - gorgeous walking country.  I think there are walks from Ingram which isn't too far from Alnwick.  It should be on your OS map.  It is sheep country though.

There is a website dedicated to walking in Northumberland.  They have leaflets full of walks around the area.  Ifyou do a search for Shepherds Walks, you will find the website.

Kielder Forest is absolutely fantastic for dog walking but you are on the wrong side really and it will take you a couple of hours to get to it.  It's huuuuge and there are miles and miles of forest tracks.

Hope this helps and have a great holiday. 

I might be tempted to do what someone suggested and give her working food for a week.

Helen

Thanks for that info Helen, the website looks great.  Think we will head out to the Keilder Forest even if it is a bit of a drive.  Just hoping that the gales that are forecast for the weekend don't extend into next week...

Keilder is gorgeous to take the dogs :)

My OH is from Newcastle, so whenever we go up there, we take the dogs to Keilder, and Holly Island for a swim :D

My dog gets too excited when he's away though, and harldley eats. Im hoping that now he's on Barf and enjoying it alot more, he will eat more whilst away! *Crosses fingers* :p

we have just got back from the isle of wight and the dogs are shattered. All i did was offer 1/3rd more food. Buster has a knack of telling us if hes still hungary and they will leave what they dont want. Yes he has lost a little weight but walking more than 3 hours a day will. Just wish my figure went down like theirs :D