Outdoor Gear Reviews

WINPRO Performance Supplements Review by Mitch Strobl

 

Growing up, my dad and I spent many days afield hunting upland birds. We had a couple of chocolate labs, and my dad’s best buddy had a beautiful short-hair pointer. As a unit, these pups really had it going. There wasn’t a safe bird in the county (unless my dad was shooting, of course). 

During one of our hunts, I’ll never forget my dad’s buddy saying, “hey now… a bird hunter is only as good as his worst bird dog.” I forget the context of the conversation, but that line stuck out to me. It was clearly Brett’s way of reinforcing the importance of training your dogs. 

Over the years as my affection for bird hunting has matured, I invested in my very own pup. George, my incredibly goofy wire-haired pointing griffon. He hunts everything from upland birds, to ducks, to grasshoppers in the backyard, to snuggles with my wife and baby. Yes, I’m one of those guys that lets his hunting dog sleep in the bed and I’m not ashamed to admit it. In fact, George being the pampered house dog that he is was incredibly relevant during my review of the WINPRO supplements. 

Now, before I jump into the review I’d like to disclaim that I am by no means a knowledgeable dog trainer. I’m simply a guy dedicated to raising a well-mannered dog that can find a bird for me to shoot. I call that out because I’d like to reinforce that this review was done by a regular guy and his pup, nothing more. I’m a busy professional, I live in the city, I have a house dog that hunts, I have little access to training grounds, etc. I find this is a position that more hunters find themselves in then they care to admit. 

Also, many of you reading this will know way more than I do about dogs and that’s okay. The point of the article is not to teach about dog training (clearly). Publishing reviews is not my way of making a living, so as such I have no loyalty to WINPRO. I’m not interested in simply regurgitating what the company uses as catchy marketing lingo. I hope you’ll find that authenticity beneficial to this review. 

I’m going to break my review down into 3 segments, as each produced different results that are worth noting. 

1.) The offseason. 

WINPRO supplements used: Immunity, Training & Recovery. 

Takeaways: WINPRO Immunity definitely helps with gut health. Didn’t see a noticeable difference with Training & Recovery supplement. 

As I stated earlier, I’m by no means a dog training expert. Our offseason routine includes a couple good runs per week for endurance (depending on weather), some dummy retrieves at the local park or pond, and basic obedience. While using WINPRO supplements during the offseason, I can’t say that I saw any performance enhancement from the Training & Recovery supplement, though I believe this was due more to the fact that we don’t really train all that hard during the summer. However, the one thing I did notice was an improvement in George’s stool as a result of the Immunity supplements. I can’t explain why, but George battles with soft or loose stool. We’ve tried all kinds of foods at the vet’s recommendation but honestly, haven’t found the silver bullet. In less than a week, George’s stool assumed a desirable consistency and became fairly regular and predictable. I really appreciated this because I can tell that he feels better when it comes to #2, but selfishly, it’s much easier to pick up solid stool than runny! We have a small backyard, so we have to pick up on a regular basis, so this really did make a huge difference for our family. 

2.) The preseason. 

WINPRO supplements used: Immunity, Training & Recovery. 

Takeaways: Stable gut health and stool. Now noticed a difference with Training & Recovery supplement. 

The few months leading up to the season, we do step it up a notch. Still nothing close to what my hardcore hunting buddies and their hounds commit to, but still pretty intense for us. We continue running, we extend our retrieving sessions, and we add in a “wing course” a couple times a week. Towards the latter part of preseason, we also work live birds. Training sessions are longer and more frequent. George’s stool continued to be solid and predictable, even as we stepped up the stress level a bit. The noticeable difference, though, came from the Training & Recovery supplements. I noticed that George’s energy went further during our training sessions. He rarely showed signs of fatigue, which hadn’t been the case in prior years. Additionally, he got second winds. In the past, when he was done he was done. This year, when I did notice fatigue, we took a quick break and he was quick to bounce back. As our runs got longer, I noticed that George recovered quicker than normal, as well. Simply put, even though activity intensified, George was able to handle it and he bounced back and was ready for tomorrow. 

3.) Tucker. 

WINPRO supplements used: Mobility. 

Takeaways: My older dog definitely benefited from mobility. 

Perhaps the most hilarious part of my review was giving WINPRO mobility to my wife’s (again, my WIFE’S dog) toy poodle. Don’t let that full you though, if not for his size he’d be as much of a bird dog as any. He’s savage. At the recommendation of WINPRO, I gave Tucker appropriate portions of the Mobility supplement. He’s an older pup, about 9 years old to be exact. He has some arthritis, which is becoming more and more apparent when he plays fetch with his stuffed pheasant. Much to my surprise, the mobility supplements helped Tucker. I can’t explain it, but he’s not as stiff anymore. Plus, he feels better so he’s been wanting to play fetch and go on walks much more often which has helped his overall being. I know this isn’t the hunting dog review that you might have been after, but again my goal was just to pass along the real results from my review. If you ask me, it doesn’t get any more real than admitting you tested performance supplements on a 4.5 lb toy poodle! 

So, why are WINPRO performance supplements so important for a pup? Well, I’ll be honest with you… I’m still not 100% convinced that they are. We still have to make it through hunting season. I definitely saw favorable results, but I’m confident that my pups would do just fine w/o them. That said, our budget allows for it, so we’re opting to keep WINPRO going with George and Tucker. 

CONCERNS: 

My review wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t fully disclose my concerns about the product. I have only 1 concern with the WINPRO supplements. 

Flavor: I do think it’s important to note that George wasn’t crazy about the supplements at first. He spit out the first WINPRO supplement that I gave him. He was not interested at all (though Tucker was, and savagely scarfed it down). On the second day, same deal. George walked away from it, so Tucker raced in and inhaled it. I was beginning to think that I’d have to conduct this review using a 4.5 lb toy poodle! I’m sure WINPRO would have loved that. I only bring this up because there’s a chance that the flavor isn’t the most desirable and some dogs might not take at all, or like George, take a while to come around. George is definitely picky, so I’m sure it’s more that than the product flavor. Plus, all the other dogs chow down on them without hesitation. 

About WINPRO supplements. 

The WINPRO line of canine supplements is broken down into 4 different categories; Immunity, Focus, Mobility, Training & Recovery. Each supplement containing ingredients that trigger different responses. However, the basic concept as I understand it is that inflammation creates problems. Whether it is inflammation of the GI tract, joints, or other. WINPRO supplements are blended to prevent and minimize inflammation throughout the body, thus reducing problems. It’s a simple concept in layman terms, though there’s an entire science behind it. I’ll leave the scientific explanation up to WINPRO. 

Last but not least, I always scrape the internet to find out what others have to say. Social media and 3rd party resellers have really given consumers the ability to voice their true thoughts for all to see. Unfortunately, I didn’t find much. This isn’t concerning as WINPRO appears to be fairly new to the market, so naturally, they’ll need some time to prove themselves. There are testimonials on the WINPRO website, but I was after true, unbiased reviews. They don’t have much of a Facebook following yet, but the few reviews they have there are all good. Their supplements are sold on Amazon but don’t have any reviews yet. I guess the consumer reviews are TBD! 

Would I recommend WINPRO supplements? Yes. If your budget allows for it, I would encourage you to try them out. They can be purchased online at Amazon and www.winpropet.com, as well as other retailers. The beautiful thing about supplements is if they don’t work for you or your dog, you can simply stop using them! Pretty simple.

 

 

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