Morning Schedule: Is it better to feed and then walk or walk and then feed?

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Permalink Reply by Kristen on July 14, 2008 at 12:00am

I walk my dogs in the am as well. I walk and then feed. When we get back from our walk, I eat my breakfast and then give them theirs. Basically I am waiting for them all to settledown and for them to stop panting before they eat. It is probably right at 15 minutes or so. There was a forum and there was a suggestion to wait a considerable amount of time after exercise prior to feeding, or waiting a considerable amount of time before exercising after eating, but there is no way I could do both in the morning or evening if I had followed their guidelines. I think it would be better to exercise without a full tummy. I'll be interested to see what the other responses.

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Permalink Reply by *ducky* on July 14, 2008 at 12:27am

Yep, there's no way that I can wait an hour or so to feed them if I walk them first.

I'm guessing that your dogs have done well?

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Permalink Reply by Kristen on July 14, 2008 at 12:45am

They do very well. No problems to date. All healthy and happy. I think they would prefer to eat before and after with a little snack in the middle!

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Permalink Reply by wendulik on July 14, 2008 at 2:21am

After my boyfriend's German Shepherd passed away due to a stomach twist, I did a little research and spoke with my vet. I was advised that it's best to feed 1 hour after activity and 2 hours before another activity. So now I have my schedule like that: walk - 1 hour to settle down - feeding - 2 hours to settle down - walk. I know it's time-consuming, but I really want the best for my dog. Corgis, due to their long body, are predisposed to stomach twist (the same as bassets or dachshunds). There is a cuple more things you can do to avoid the stomach twist, but there's no 100% prevention.

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Permalink Reply by *ducky* on July 14, 2008 at 7:07am

This is not do-able for the morning. I have to leave for work at 7 a.m. This is how my schedule would look like:

5 a.m. - wake up and take them out for potty and a walk (10 minutes for potty, 20 minutes for a walk)
5:30 - come home
6:30 - feed

This does not leave time for taking them out again to go potty...and they usually go again about 30 minutes after a meal.

I understand the reasoning for the wait, but time is a big constraint.

I would like to hear from those who do not wait as long to feed after a walk or from those who feed and then walk.

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Permalink Reply by wendulik on July 14, 2008 at 8:01am

I think it's OK to wait shorter, if the walk isn't too wild, if it's really only a walk and potty - no jumping, fetching, or even roll-overs (my little one IS wild, and so I wait long time). Also I think the shorter wait is much better before feeding than after feeding.

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Permalink Reply by *ducky* on July 14, 2008 at 2:01pm

I'm just trying to decide if I should feed and then walk or walk and then feed"walk, then feed", I just can't wait an hour after the walk to feed them.

Maybe I'll do the "feed, then walk" in the morning and the "walk, then feed" in the evening. Does it really matter?

What works for others? I know there are other people who have tight schedules due to work.

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Permalink Reply by Aloha on July 14, 2008 at 2:35pm

We do the same thing as Wendulik. We have Danes also and they are the most prone to bloat. However, any pup can bloat and so we take the same pre - cautions with our other dogs. As long as the walk you're doing isn't anything heavy, and is fairly calm and not too rigorous I guess it should be okay.

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Permalink Reply by Katy Loggins on July 14, 2008 at 6:08pm

With my crazy schedule I do the following and it works very well:

When the shower water is warming up, I feed the dogs in their kennels then go hop in the shower while they are eating.

By the time I am done (about 15 minutes), they get their water.

Then we go out for a walk for about 15-20 minutes, seperately. This gives their bowels time to wake up, and make the morning elimination much easier.

They are all pottied, and main corgi energy burst has been fulfilled by running around, then I leave for the day for work, but come home at lunch.

I used to shower, feed, give them water, potty then play all in about a 15 minutes period. This caused the eat and puke issue with both dogs.

I now take my time, and it works out really well. I do the same thing when I get home for the evening.

Feed
Water
Then they sit for 15 minutes, enough time to let their bellies settle, or until I eat two belches :)
Then for a shorter walk for potty time, then play time for the night.

This works really well for me.

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