NUTRITION OF RACING AND WORKING DOGS .1. ENERGY-METABOLISM OF DOGS

Strenuous work and competition induce organic and psychologic stress in dogs. When nutritional requirements for working and racing dogs are being assessed, the practitioner should take into account not only the specific energy requirements from muscular activity but also the nutritional needs created by organic and psychologic stress. An understanding of how energy is metabolized during exercise and the various sources of energy for muscle work as well as an understanding of the factors that influence nutritional requirements are preludes to a discussion of practical feeding guidelines. In Part I of this three-part presentation, the three distinct but interrelated processes by which adenosine triphosphate is generated for muscle contraction (the phosphagen system; the anaerobic conversion of glucose and/or glycogen to lactate; and the oxidation of free fatty acids, glucose and/or glycogen, and amino acids) are discussed.