The KENAI Pre-Season Protocol

The KENAI Field Guides · No. 1

The Pre-Season Protocol

Six weeks to opening day. The dog that hunts well in October was built in August and September — not with anything fancy, with a plan, run daily, written down. This is the one we run. Save it, check the boxes.

Six weeks out — the honest assessment

☐ Weigh the dog and write it down — you'll weigh again at two weeks.
☐ Hands over every inch: pads, nails, ears, teeth, coat. Note anything the vet should see before it's opener week.
☐ Book the pre-season vet visit now — vaccinations current, heartworm covered; ask about rattlesnake vaccine where it matters.
☐ Pull last season's notes. What broke down — steadiness, range, water entries? That list is your six-week curriculum.
☐ If a joint supplement is part of your routine, settle the routine now, not opening week — best when nothing about the daily rhythm is new in October.

Five weeks out — the conditioning ramp

☐ Start where the dog is, not where the season needs him. Twenty minutes of real work, mornings only while the heat holds.
☐ Roading, swimming, or long walks on real ground beat the flat neighborhood loop — feet need gravel, stubble, and side-hills.
☐ HEAT LAW: work before the sun owns the day, water in the truck and in the field. A wide, ladle-shaped tongue and a dog seeking shade means you're done — not almost done.
☐ Yard work daily: here, heel, whoa or sit, kennel. Five crisp minutes beats thirty sloppy ones.

Four weeks out — the field comes back

☐ Stretch sessions past thirty minutes, still watching heat.
☐ Reintroduce the work that failed last season — one problem at a time, set up so the dog succeeds, then raised until it's real.
☐ Re-run your gunfire progression from distance, paired with birds and retrieves — never test it cold on opening morning.
☐ Launcher or wing-clipped birds if you have them. A dog nine months from his last live bird deserves the refresher before the stakes are real.

Three weeks out — gear week

☐ E-collar and GPS: charge cycles, contact points, fit. Update firmware now — never the night before.
☐ Vest, whistle, lead, water bowls, first-aid kit: vet wrap, hemostats, saline, eye rinse, and the vet's after-hours number in your phone.
☐ Boots and chaps for you — a limping handler ruins as many hunts as a limping dog.
☐ Truck kit: crate bedding, spare water, towels, tailgate first-aid.
☐ Scout with intent: where does the season actually open for you? Plan the ground on the couch and save it offline before you're standing on it with no bars.

Two weeks out — sharp and honest

☐ Weigh the dog again. Compare to week six. Adjust rations to the work, not the bag's suggestion.
☐ Sessions now look like hunts: full length, real cover, gunfire where legal, water work if your season includes it.
☐ Steadiness proofing: birds, distractions, another dog if you can borrow one. Opening day is not where you discover the answer.
☐ Licenses, stamps, tags — yours and your partners'. HIP registration where required.

One week out — taper

☐ Light work only — short, happy, confidence-building. The conditioning is banked or it isn't; this week can only injure it.
☐ Pack the truck two days early. Walk your checklist physically.
☐ Check the weather like it matters — wind, front timing, and morning temps decide where the birds are and how long the scent holds.
☐ Sleep. Both of you.

Opening morning

☐ Water before, water during, water after.
☐ The first hour belongs to the dog — let the summer's work show up before you ask for anything heroic.
☐ Write the day down while the tailgate's still warm. Every mile, every find, every honest note — that's how next August's list writes itself.

The weather half of this protocol — the fronts, the wind, the scent — is what the KENAI app reads for you, daily, as one number.

KENAI GunDog · Born in America, built in Utah