The refuel bar is Maltodextrin which does work and really well. However, unless your dog is involved in extreme activity, like sledding, skijouring or horseback hunt trials you don't need it.

If you do really want something like this, Glycocharge is the one to use.

 

No I don't, I never have needed it, even when I did have hard working herding dogs working cattle all day.

I am wondering why you say that someone doesn't need a performance food or supplement unless they are doing something demanding? Some dogs are just hard keepers.

 

Eek with super high energy dogs....could you imagine what it would be like? I dunno, I have No use for it... even if I was doing majorly strenuous activities..

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Agreed, I was just wondering what others might have thought of something like this lol, I am not too impressed with the prime bar because it has metidone in it :/

 

I saw some dog power bars in the petshop the other day (don't know if they were the same as these or not) and man were they EXPENSIVE! No thanks... Eggs, high-fat ground beef, and chunks of plain ol fat work best with my dogs, is much cheaper, and healthier.

 

the heck would most people need that for? lol! that's the last thing i need...

 

Why would anyone want to give their dog a bar of sugar? I'd much rather give him some chicken or other protein for energy than a sweetner.

 

The idea is to replace muscle glycogen. There is tons of research on this. It takes too long otherwise. This is meant for dogs that have several days of activity. Protein and fat doesn't do it fast enough. The first bar is kind of useless, but the maltodextrin bar is probably pretty good if you are doing something hard over several days. You can buy maltodextrin powder a lot cheaper.

If you want to argue with established research, be my guest. It wouldn't surprise me.

 

I know lol, I just make my own "energy bars" I guess you could call them, called satin balls or "fat balls" that works really good for us lol.

I honestly don't know why anyone would pay for somejongblikenthisbwhen they could make their own for half the price lol

 

I just think. maybe this could get my basset hound to walk more then 2 blocks without getting tired ^_^

 

Haha I just think, whats the only other more way Ammy could be more cracked out? I can't imagine her being more than she is now haha.

 

I can't even imagine. If this worked Jasper would be....unstoppable. With 6 hours strenuous exercise a day he still is up for anything. I shutter even to think about it.

In all reality I wouldn't feed it but I know many people who would. Lots of sports dog people swear by Pro Plan. And they would feed anything from them. I'd rather add meats, eggs, etc to my dogs foods.

 

Yeah a lot of working dog people (including a lot of ACD working dog people ) would stake their paychecks on pro plan and even I have fed it before when I couldn't afford anything else. It's not a terrible food per say and if I had to then I would because they have a grain free. That's what the shelter fed Josefina and she really didn't eat it.

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=20...a3YKoDA&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=maltodextrin muscle glycogen dogs&f=false

 

Four soy products.. menadione sodium bisulfite complex in the first bar.

I rather just give a good diet, salmon oil and joint supplements seems to work well for Saya and she gets a lot of outdoor time since I'm outdoors a lot.

Coarse she is no high exercise dog, but if I needed something like this I'm sure there is better brands out there.

 

I would be interested to read what the dog food advisor would say about them, but I am not sure if they would review them because they aren't technically a dog food.

 

I am pretty sure the head of clinical nutrition at Cornell published a study on maltodextrin. I think you would agree that is a better source than a dentist.

I wouldn't buy those bars either, you can buy the powder at any vitamin or sports training store and there are many products available from musher supply websites.

 

For a quick boost of energy for a dog that either does really hard work or maybe has a health condition where his blood sugar drops, the basic ingredients in the second bar make sense. For extra calories in the diet overall though, no.

It is kinda of like when I was running long distance I would carry gummy bears (the cheap version of the power gels) and those really gave that little energy boost needed after 8 or 10 miles. Same with those energy goop packets, they're not much different then eating some honey and drinking gatorade. But then to actually refuel later in the day after I'd cooled down, I needed a mix of protein, carbs and fat.

 

The second bar is not for what you just stated. It is a post-exercise supplement. Trainers have been using maltodextrin for years and years after a hard day to rebuild muscle glycogen. It doubles or triples the recovery rate. My older son is a nationally ranked 200 meter and 400 meter high school runner and will take gel packs about 15 minutes before competing and always takes maltodextrin powder when he gets home because many times he has another meet soon after. During Christmas week he had three meets in one week at the Armory in NYC running 6 or 7 events.

The stuff works.....protein and fat do not replenish muscle glycogen like maltodextrin does.

You treat exercise induced hypoglycemia with pure sugar, Karo syrup is what most people have in their kits.

 

If I was still training sled dogs...maybe
But now with Manna "kill me now"
Manna doesn't need more energy, most pet dogs (not all but most) don't need the energy, they'll just drive owners crazy.

 

Oh, absolutely not. My days are spent trying to tire out my dogs. I can't imagine giving them an energy bar. >.<

 

Strenuous exercise involves muscle damage, and some substances minimise the damage or speed up the recovery. For dogs who regularly exercise hard, this is a good idea, as is having regular days off so their body can recover.

It's not really about giving them more energy to keep going for longer (although is some cases I can see how that would be a good idea, like for events that last several days and is physically demanding), but about minimising damage to the body and replenishing muscles as quickly as possible so they can get stronger.

Of course you can build muscle without supplements, but it will likely take longer and if the dog gets sore, the soreness will last longer.

I don't see the point of giving an (overpriced) energy bar to a dog, but supplements for a dog who works hard are a good idea.