# Exercise after eating and the heat



## Themusicmanswife (Jul 16, 2015)

Hi All,

I'm just wondering how long everyone waits to exercise their dog after eating. 

With the summer heat and humidity, it seems like the time to get the dogs exercise is a relatively short window.

We take our long walk as early as we can on the hot days. I try to feed her about an hour before. 

I wait to do the high energy ball and running stuff for a couple of hours after mealtimes. With the heat and humidity, she can't do it for long. We've been managing okay with small spurts throughout the day and somedays it's just the kiddie pool and ball in the house. 

Waiting an hour is about right? And a couple of hours for strenuous activity? 

Thanks in advance.


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

I wait at least an hour before or after a meal for anything strenuous.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Due to my work schedule and Summer I feed mine once a day and that is usually about 10pm. They go out to pee only after they eat and then we go to bed. They have all night to digest the food. If I didn't do it this way, they would never get any exercise or swimming in.


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## zetti (May 11, 2014)

dogma13 said:


> I wait at least an hour before or after a meal for anything strenuous.


An hour is really not safe, per several vets and personal experience. Two hours is the absolute minimum. And the dog should be inactive for two hours before eating as well.

One vet told me the ideal schedule would be two hours before and four hours after. Not practical, I know. Just quoting the vet.


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## gsdsar (May 21, 2002)

I have a basic rule of thumb. No food if your panting. Generally my dogs are sedentary for about an hour after eating. 

It's all a guessing game really. To prevent bloat. No one really knows what does or does not work.


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

zetti said:


> An hour is really not safe, per several vets and personal experience. Two hours is the absolute minimum. And the dog should be inactive for two hours before eating as well.
> 
> One vet told me the ideal schedule would be two hours before and four hours after. Not practical, I know. Just quoting the vet.


Never heard this one. 2 hours is unreasonable. 4 hours after is completely impossible. 
I know tons of working people and the rule is "use common sense" Don't eat a lot of food (or drink a ton of water in 1 sitting) if your body is overheated. Much the same as for human athletes. 
However, a small bit to eat at least 45 minutes before exercise is ideal if it's an early workout.


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

it also depends on if you are feeding one big meal or 2 smaller meals. smaller meals are always better than 1 big one.


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## eddie1976E (Nov 7, 2010)

This is a tough one. We all have busy lives and want to do what we can to avoid losing our dogs over stupid things like bloat. My dog is always panting in the summer. He gets excited he pants. He sees me coming into the house he pants. Leaving the house he pants. I have heard GSD pant alot. So when is a good time to feed him? If I'm just taking him for a slow walk, 45 minutes after feeding is reasonable to me. If I'm going out to play with him or run in the woods, I wait about 2 hours. Once done playing, I watch him. He generally doesn't drink alot at a time, so I don't worry about that. Once I see his panting isn't crazy, his tongue isn't dragging, I feel comfortable feeding him, even if it has only been an hour. But if he is panting like he just ran a mile at full speed, I wait it out. Dogs like other animals can go many days without eating...I would rather skip a meal than risk it.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I do one hour of forced inactivity (crate rest) after and usually the dog needs to be cool and relaxed before. I do continue to split meals to have smaller amount of food in the stomach. But there is no real solid answer. If we have a working day ahead of us I cut the breakfast in half.


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## Themusicmanswife (Jul 16, 2015)

Thanks everyone for the input.


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## Secretariat (Aug 12, 2016)

llombardo said:


> Due to my work schedule and Summer I feed mine once a day and that is usually about 10pm. They go out to pee only after they eat and then we go to bed. They have all night to digest the food. If I didn't do it this way, they would never get any exercise or swimming in.


If I may ask, since you feed your dog once a day only, how much do you feed your dog? I mean, how many cups of dry dog food or anything else you feed your German Shepherd?
Thanks.


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

we also split meals, a lighter breakfast, especially if we are going tracking or working. Then a bigger dinner with no "big play" afterwards.


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## cranster (Jan 14, 2015)

gsdsar said:


> I have a basic rule of thumb. No food if your panting. ...


I also go by this rule. 
I only feed after exercise, and usually after an hour+ of down time. Besides being wary of bloat, I just imagine he'd throw up anything he ate anyways if he was still breathing hard.


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

Yes just like gsdar said I make sure Max is calm relaxed and cooled down- no panting. Some of his meals are later then others depending on our schedule.


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## BJO (6 mo ago)

Themusicmanswife said:


> Hi All,
> 
> I'm just wondering how long everyone waits to exercise their dog after eating.
> 
> ...


We rescued our big 120lb dog from west side German shepard rescue in Los Angeles (amazing organization) the experts there said to not feed and excercise due to possibility of the stomach rolling . Sumer in NM is hot. It’s 8 pm and we just got done with excercise . I prefer to feed at 6am and 4:30 pm but I will feed late 30-45 mins after excercise . I would rather feed late than risk our dogs llife .


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

2 hours for hard exercise. I am pretty consistent with this.


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

6 year old thread but relevant question. I had to roll my eyes at the "forced inactivity" above, before feeding ....

After our 5:00 hike (can be hot out), they have access to cold water and the house is AC. around 6:00 they eat, no issues. Without AC, they can pant for hours or most of the night. I doubt too many people are subjecting dogs to rigorous exercise in July 90-100 degree afternoons. Any vet telling people to wait 4 hours, shouldn't be giving advice.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

It's a good opportunity to link this other thread that discusses the research on bloat, which found NO correlation between exercise timing before/after meals and bloat:








Bowl height and bloat


Hi there, Recently found out from here that a raised bowl can cause bloat. My bowls aren't all the way on the floor but they're in a stand. Is this low enough to the floor or should they absolutely be flat on the ground ? Thanks!




www.germanshepherds.com


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