No observer would bet a plugged nickel on a Broncos team that lumbered, puffing and wheezing, into the NFL season without so much as a weight lifted or a wind sprint.
Yet that same person well might haul his favorite hunting dog out for the start of bird season, barely more than three weeks away, with the same lack of preparation.
“Don’t pull your dog off the couch and take him hunting,” said Dale Merritt, who, with wife Brenda, operates Bearpoint Kennel near Larkspur. “Taking an overweight, unconditioned dog out into the field is the worst thing you can do.”
The Merritts will conduct seminars at this coming January’s International Sportsmen’s Exposition in Denver, and their Labrador retrievers regularly win titles in regional field trials.
They say it’s not too late to start a physical training program to get Fido ready for the season, at least to get the heart pumping and restore some basic muscle tone. While it won’t take much to retrieve doves at the Sept. 1 opener, the physical demand will increase considerably if the target is mountain grouse.
“A dog that sits in air conditioning all day just isn’t ready to get out and work in the heat,” Brenda said of a situation that contributed to the death of several dogs during the South Dakota pheasant season three years ago.
While acknowledging that neither man nor beast likes to exercise in summer’s heat, Brenda offers the perfect solution, which is tossing bumpers into a pond.
“Swimming is great exercise because it’s low impact and there’s no trouble with overheating.”
The preparation problem deepens if your pooch has transformed into a real chowhound.
“Don’t overfeed your dog during the offseason,” Brenda said of what becomes a telling problem in getting a family dog ready for battle. The Merritts, who rep Black Gold dog food, place a premium both on proper nutrition and strictly measured portions.
For the Labrador retrievers they nourish, the regimen always is the same: three cups in the evening, just one in the morning. The reason?
“What most people don’t understand is that it takes four hours for a dog to digest food. We feed a bit in the morning to take the hunger edge off,” said Dale, who advises against even the smallest treat during the day. “That just starts the digestive process all over again.”
While preseason training serves to reduce the risk of injury or death, there’s a separate performance element to the equation.
“I wonder why people spend so much time the first day of the season screaming at their dogs,” Dale said. “They need to give them pre-hunt refreshers.”
He particularly recommends a session at a shooting preserve before the start of pheasant season, an occasion that demands both keen instinct and stern discipline.
“My pet peeve is the guy who brings a dog out for opening day without the proper preparation and then it’s the dog’s fault when something goes wrong,” he said.
Merritt’s subject was hunting dogs, but one would hope that Mike Shanahan and his Broncos might be listening.
Staff writer Charlie Meyers can be reached at 303-954-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com.
