Hunting is a major threat to wildlife, and the use of dogs for subsistence hunting may significantly impact wildlife. I assessed the impacts of hunting with dogs by comparing the assemblages of species hunted by the Huni Kuin with and without dogs in indigenous lands in southwestern Brazilian Amazonia. I also assessed whether Huni Kuin agreements on hunting with dogs can be effective for conservation. Huni Kuin hunters with dogs rely on a different assemblage of prey than those without dogs; the former strategy targets mainly fast-reproducing, resilient species, whereas the latter method kills several sensitive or threatened species. Hunting with dogs is also limited to disturbed mixed landscapes near villages because the dogs are used to protect crops and are not allowed into forests in order to prevent them from becoming lost. Additionally, compared to hunting without dogs, hunting with dogs results in an equivalent amount of meat with the use of less effort and ammunition. Moreover, hunting with dogs is not associated with an increase in the distance of prey from villages. Therefore, there is no conservation-related reason to prohibit hunting with mixed-breed dogs in subsistence communities. Nevertheless, community agreements mediate local conflicts caused by the social inequalities related to hunting with dogs.

Hunting with dogs in winter conditions is practised in the Nordic countries. The present study aimed at determining daily energy expenditure (DEE) and body water turnover (BWT) by the doubly labelled water technique in eight hunting dogs (body-weight (BW) range 14–27 kg) working 3 h/d for 3 d ( − 6°C) on ground covered with 20–40 cm of loose snow, to provide information on energy and water requirements. The mean distance run during the hunting period was recorded by the global positioning system and averaged 19·4 km/d. DEE increased with increasing BW (P < 0·001) and varied between 7·20 and 16·6 MJ/d (mean 11·0 MJ/d) corresponding to 950–1350 kJ/kg BW0·75 per d (mean 1170 kJ/kg BW0·75 per d). The larger dogs tended to run longer than the smaller dogs and therefore spent more energy per kg BW0·75 but not significantly (P>0·05). DEE values determined were close to the values measured for hunting dogs running for 3 h/d in hot climates, suggesting that climate within the range of the two studies has little impact on energy expenditure per h running activity. Compared with the work of sled dogs per km travelled running on a track, the work performed by the hunting dogs was suggested to be higher when running in a loose snow layer. However, DEE was much lower because sled dogs ran for a longer distance each day. Mean BWT was 217 ml/kg BW0·75 or 19 ml/kJ metabolisable energy.