Cheetah-tracking dogs are taught to find scat, not to chase the cat. It is slow, hot, precise work over rough ground. The dogs cover kilometres that a vehicle cannot, and they do it on a nose full of dust and sun.
Energy need is obvious. What is easier to miss is recovery: joints, pads, and a gut that must cope with travel and camp food. A meat-rich, lightly processed ration travels better than a sack of mystery kibble.
Stories like this are why we talk about working dogs when we talk about bowls. Conservation is glamorous in photos. In the field it is water, shade, and a dinner the dog can actually use.