I have a smallish male pointer (about 47 pounds in the off season). Have trouble keeping his weight up during hunting season. The last week he has been on a 2800 calorie diet and appears to to be returning to a healthy weight. He gets all the dry food he wants ( eats 4-6 cups per day) supplemented by sour cream, baloney and high calorie canned dog food. If I ate the calories he does I'd gain a couple of pounds per week. He gets the sour cream and baloney because it is tempting, cheap and high fat. He also gets a snack of canned mackerel when he hunts. (I'd use the mackerel in his daily routine if it weren't for the possiblity of his mercury level getting too high.) Anyone else have this problem?

Diet and EXERCISE.

Mundo, I had a male dog once that just quit eating during quail season. I tried lots of things, cracking a couple raw eggs over his dry food he would lap up the eggs and leave the kibble. After season he’d start eating regular again.

One of my Cockers (Buster) won't eat hardly at all when we go hunting for the weekend. Can of cheap chicken viennas mashed up in his kibble gets him to eat a little. Missy the female would stop hunting long enough to scarf down food in 30 seconds. She gets excited about food. LOL

I've never seen a dog turn down canned mackerel---nasty stuff, but they love it soft bones and all. Ounce for ounce about as cheap a protein as you can get.

My Pudelpointer goes from 62 off season to 54 during season. I hunt him pretty hard. Ribs and a little backbone showing is what I like to see in hunting shape. He might look poor but once he gets there, he will do 30 plus miles in a day and seems to almost never tire. I would not worry about it.

When you see most of the vertibrae you need worry--too much of a chance of health and injury issues. Especially in older dogs.

My last dog was on 4000 calories per day during the season.

Discovered chicken thighs. Only one bone to remove. At 99 cents per pound at HEB they are cheaper than canned dog food. Just pop them in the pressure cooker for 40 minutes, pull out the bones and save the meat and the broth. Mix the meat and broth with high pro dry dog food. (chicken is also cheaper than good dry dog food.) He has gained a little and stabilized. I've estimated he is eating between 2400 and 2800 calories per day.

I have never seen a dog starve that had quality free choice dog food. Might not ear for a couple of days after a hard hunting trip but they will not starve to death.

They may not starve but they are more injury prone if they aren't eating enough.

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Pointing dogs are like marathon runners. A build like a marathon runner is what serves them best if you hunt them hard. Fat town dogs are the dogs I see stoved up from injury.

There’s nothing close to that in the craw’s this year.

And marathon and triathletes are more prone to injury when they don't have a proper diet or don't eat enough. This is especially true with low-fat diets. Same holds for canines.
https://www.triathlete.com/nutrition/race-fueling/eat-to-prevent-injury/
https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/fat-and-the-endurance-athlete/
https://alphadognutrition.com/blogs/alpha-blog/5-facts-hunting-dog-nutrition
Many field trialers supplement their dog's diet for just this reason.
Trust me, there is no danger of this dog getting fat or even overweight.

Who would recommend someone feed a bird dog a low fat diet during hunting season? Mushers feed their dogs blubber…
Pro Plan 30/20 is what I feed as soon as I start roading before hunting season. From memory the bag reads 2 1/2-3 1/2 cups/day for a 50-75 pound dog. That works for my dog in the off season. This time of year he gets 40 oz or 5 cups/day. Off season he walks around at 62 pounds. He is steady at a lean 54 and in shape to run all day right now. Five cups/day is what it takes to maintain his weight during season.

Good deal you have the dog trending the right direction.

What I do;
Adjust the amount of a quality kibble by looking at each dog. If one gets extra poor in a hurry, worming usually gets it back on track.