# Playing after eating



## KohleePiper (Jun 13, 2007)

How long do you all wait after your gsd consumes a meal before you let your them play? I always wait at least 30 mins for my adults. Kohlee and Piper can walk around and be silly but no running around. I've been putting my puppy Diesel in his crate after he eats during that time too. He used to take a quick nap in that time but he's getting older and naps aren't as frequent! LOL

I heard gsd are prone to bloat so I was just wondering how long you all wait.


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## 3dogcrew (Apr 23, 2006)

I give all 3 of my guys at least an hour after they eat,that is before any hard outside play, such as ball chasing or just running around. They are not in crates any more, so if they start "rough housing " too much before the hour is up, I separate them into different rooms... love those baby gates !
I'll be curious to see what every one else does.


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## EJQ (May 13, 2003)

We feed our dogs in their crate and let them chill for about a hour before we let them out to play.


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## JerzeyGSD (Jun 26, 2008)

We usually feed Jerzey in her crate right as we're leaving for class so she has about an hour to just sit still.


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## MelissaHoyer (Sep 8, 2006)

I try to wait two hours...especially since my Grace has such a deep narrow chest and digestive problems so I worry about bloat a lot.


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

If it's just my dogs playing together, I don't wait at all, I just let them out in the yard right after eating. If it's me exercising them, I will wait an hour or two.


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## sprzybyl (May 15, 2008)

riley gets fed right before we leave for work in the morning. so she eats, goes out to go to the bathroom, then is back in the crate. in the afternoon we feed her at the same time we feed ourselves so everyone is mellow for an hour or so


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## BucksMom (Aug 13, 2007)

I wait 30/40 mins, I have been doing this since I adopted them 18 months ago, this seems to be working for us pretty well. If they do start heavy play I put a stop to it.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

I get up, let the pups and weak-bladder-Whitney out, put them in their crates and feed the lot. Moments after she consumes the last kibble, I put Whitney out wait for her to poo and put her in her kennel. She immediately carries on leaping from her dog shelter to the ground, up, down, back forth being a total nutcase. 

I get Heidi out and then Tori, allowing each to poo before going in their kennels, then I do Rushie. 

Next I let the pups out. They rush around like maniacs. While they are doing this, I let Arwen out (Babs has her private exersize yard available to her at all times). Once she is away, I let Dubya out with the mangies. And then Jenna whose job is to run the little buggers into the ground. 

Then I put the pups in their kennel, and Jenna in hers for QUIET TIME. 

At night it is similar, the puppies eat in their crates. Then I bring in everyone else, feed them, clean the kennels, at this point they are crated for the night. The puppies are allowed back out to do their business. Then again, I let them out before I go to bed. 

So far I have been fortunate and do not know of any bloating in any of my dogs recent relatives. I think the tendancy to bloat is hereditary. My method of prevention is to feed a dense quality kibble that does not expand a whole lot when wet, and feeding two small meals a day rather than one large meal. For canine vaccume cleaners, I dump their kibble so they have to chase it down to snorkle it up.


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## IliamnasQuest (Aug 24, 2005)

There's always been the thought that exercising after eating can cause bloat, but in all reality I don't think anyone knows what causes it. All the bloat cases I have seen/heard of have been dogs that were NOT active. My older chow, who passed in April, used to bloat up frequently and it was never due to exercise. She just had that tendency and I learned to deal with it.

My girls go out before they're fed and I encourage them to play and run and burn off some energy. But after I feed them, I take them out for their final poop and the two younger ones are WILD at that point. They've eaten, they've had a good poop, and it just seems to spike the energy level in both of them. And I do let them play a bit. I feed a very high quality food and they really don't eat that much (the chow gets about 1/3 of a cup, the young GSD gets about a cup). They chase each other around and I allow it to a certain extent. And then we come in and everyone settles down.

I'm not saying anyone else should do it this way, it just has always worked for me. The only other dog I've ever had bloat was Trick, and I saw it happen. We were outside playing (not after a meal, just during the day) and she kept grabbing up mouthfuls of snow and swallowing repeatedly. When she trotted by me she whimpered and I looked over and could see that her abdomen was obviously distended. I called her to me and took her inside, popped a couple of simethicone capsules into her and immediately started rubbing the accupressure points on her hind legs that help stimulate the intestines. Pretty soon she was belching and farting and her abdomen went back to its normal state. Scared me, but quick observation on my part and knowing what to do fixed the problem.

She had gulped down a lot of air with the snow that day - not sure why, because she always eats snow. I think maybe the back of her throat was bothering her (a hair caught, perhaps?) and she kept gulping down snow/air until her stomach was full. That was years ago and it's never happened since.

Melanie and the gang in Alaska


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## Sean Rescue Mom (Jan 24, 2004)

> Originally Posted By: 3dogcrewI give all 3 of my guys at least an hour after they eat,that is before any hard outside play, such as ball chasing or just running around.


Same here, we wait at least an hour after eating if Sean is going to run or play.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

after my dog eats i wait 2 hours before we walk or play. my dog is calm in the house so i don't have to crate him after meals.


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## barbezdolz (4 mo ago)

Elaine said:


> If it's just my dogs playing together, I don't wait at all, I just let them out in the yard right after eating. If it's me exercising them, I will wait an hour or two.


 Because they’re large bread dogs and their chests are high I was told to never let that happen it’s an instant problem for stomach flipping very very dangerous they can die from that so as hard as it is to not let them run and play I would at least wait an hour and definitely consider yourself being very lucky and fortunate that that’s never happened to them I’m not trying to scare you I’ve just heard it so many times happening and it’s horrible horrible to be helpless like that when that happens to them


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

2008 thread


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