Off-season conditioning is important for all athletes, including those four-legged athletes who find our game, flush and point it and retrieve it after it has been downed.

And, one of the most important things in all conditioning program is diet. That is especially so for hunting dogs, who must maintain a healthy body during the off season for peak performance during the hunting seasons.According to Dr. Brian Zanghi, a research scientist at the Nestle Research Center of Nestle Purina Petcare, maintaining hardworking dogs with a healthy body condition is critical to their health and performance in the field. He explains that body condition is a way of estimating if a dog is too thin, just right, or over weight, without actually putting the dog on a scale to measure body weight.Zanghi said this is important for two reasons; first, ideal body condition is associated with a healthy proportion of lean tissue - muscle and body fat, and second, most pet owners probably do not have a scale that is ideally suited for dogs. There are simple things that can be learned by regularly monitoring to ensure that a dog is getting the right amount of food to maintain a healthy weight and contribute to overall health."Very simply, the best way to monitor your dog's body condition is to use your eyes and hands to observe subtle changes with your dog, as opposed to trying to get your dog on a scale on a weekly basis to monitor body weight," Zanghi said. "Regularly observing your dog's body condition will assist you in assessing changes to your dog's calorie need as you progress through the season and all year long, and truly, it can be as simple as assessing body condition to make appropriate adjustments to your dog's daily feeding amount."Three key things to observe in an ideal body condition are the "hourglass" shape of the body when viewed from above, with a narrowing at the abdomen. A tuck in the belly when viewed from the side is also a good indicator of ideal body condition and being able to slightly feel the individual ribs, possibly without being able to see the ribs."Of course this last characteristic will be dependent on the coat of the pet, and as you likely pet your dog daily; simply pet down the dog's sides to feel the ribs. Undoubtedly, your dog will enjoy the attention, and you will be assessing your dog's body condition."Nestle Purina has developed a 9-point scoring system to assess a dog's body condition, which is summarized below. An ideal body condition ranges from 4-5, and this system is a bit more advanced and can be another way to have detailed discussions with a veterinarian.It is best to adjust feeding amounts with small increments gradually to minimize significant increases or decreases in food. This will assist in maintaining a stable metabolism and minimize a loss of muscle, which is especially important in the case of trying to reduce body condition score in a dog with excess body weight.A 14-year study led by Nestle Purina scientists demonstrated that maintaining dogs, in this case Labrador retrievers, in lean body condition throughout life extended their healthy years, by 1.8 years for dogs in the study. Dogs fed to maintain a lead body condition were fed 25 percent less than their littermates, who were allowed to consume an adequate amount without being overweight.Ultimately, this study contributed to the current understanding of body condition assessment and healthy body condition, and of the many things learned in this study, most worthy of mentioning is that treatment of certain chronic health conditions was delayed approximately two years in the lean-fed dogs. More specifically, treatment for osteoarthritis was delayed with the reduced feeding portion, and while 43 of the 48 dogs in the study were treated for osteoarthritis, half of the lean-fed dogs were started on an osteoarthritis treatment at 13.3 years old a three-year delay compared to their littermates.Here are the guidelines to determine a dog's body condition score:Too Thin 1. Ribs, lumbar vertebrae, pelvic bones and all bony prominences evident from a distance; no discernible body fat; obvious loss of muscle mass. 2. Ribs, lumbar vertebrae and pelvic bones easily visible; no palpable fat; some evidence of other bony prominence, minimal loss of muscle mass.3. Ribs easily palpated and may be visible with no palpable fat; tops of lumbar vertebrae visible; pelvic bones becoming prominent; obvious waist.Ideal 4. Ribs easily palpable, with minimal fat covering; waist easily noted, viewed from above; abdominal tuck evident. 5. Ribs palpable without excess fat covering; waist observed behind ribs when viewed from above; abdomen tucked up when viewed.Too Heavy 6. Ribs palpable with slight excess fat covering; waist is discernible viewed from above, but is not prominent; abdominal tuck apparent. 7. Ribs palpable with difficulty; heavy fat cover; noticeable fat deposits over lumbar area and base of tail; waist absent or barely visible; abdominal tuck may be present. 8. Ribs not palpable under very heavy fat cover, or palpable only with significant pressure; heavy fat deposits over lumbar area and base of tail; waist absent; no abdominal tuck; obvious abdominal distension may be present. 9. Massive fat deposits over thorax, spine and base of tail; waist and abdominal tuck absent; fat deposits on neck and limbs; obvious abdominal distention.For more information on dog nutrition and determining body condition score, access on the Web at

www.longliveyourdog.com/twoplus/RateYourDog.aspx.