Hi all

I have always stuck to 2 hours before and 2 hours after feeding before exercising my dogs. However, I read an article which says that one hour either side is recommended.

I asked my vet who I respect greatly and he said that one hour either side would be his recommendation. He said that it used to be two hours but latest research shows that one hour is safe.

Despite this, I can't bring myself to change my habits lol! However, it would make life a LOT easier for me if I could bring myself to go for the one hour rule particularly during these short days. I may have less anxiety about feeding them one hour AFTER exercise given that they are not showing any signs of exertion etc. However, not sure I would ever feel comfortable with exercising one hour after feeding.

What do others do?

xx

With my Danes I always went by 2 hours because bloat was always on my mind. Sometime though they would gallop about after a feed and I often wondered if I should try to stop them.

I have another large dog now and tend to feed them an hour or so after exercise, so long as they are calm and not showing any signs of exertion. Still stick to 2 smaller meals rather than one big one though!

Mine a raw fed and I like 2 hours but will go at 1.5 dependant on the food they've eaten and the type of walk I have planned. 

If I need to do an early walk and don't have time to wait I'll give them a bonio type biscuit (one of mine gets sick with no food) and then feed them properly when we get back.  If they have bones I'd much rather feed these when they've got hours to digest them properly so feeding these when we get back makes more sense anyway. 

Luckily my two are reasonably au fait with the shift in feeding patterns caused by school holidays and the weather :)

If I go on a 2hr+ walk I tend to feed Tank 2hrs after, but shorter walks I feed him an hour after.

I do roughly one hour! I very rarely feed before exercising, so that's alway more than a couple of hours. But I feed after exercising where I normally make it an hour, sometimes a little less.

My dogs are fed early in the morning then around mid morning are taken for their exercise so its a 3 hours gap give or take 30 mins - this is just our routine rather than planned as such.  They are exercised again around 5pm then fed at 7pm, again for no other reason than that is just the way things pan out.  If I had to suggest a time gap between feeding and exercise I would say at least 1.5hrs to be on the safe side. :-)

>With my Danes I always went by 2 hours because bloat was always on my mind.

same here with leos. however i also think an hour is ok provided that the dog has fully rested and isnt panting heavily, etc. i def will not exercise for at least 2 hours after feeding tho.

I do the one hour too

I wait an hour after food before exercising but do feed earlier than that post exercise - I have come to the view that if my dogs had to catch their own food they wouldn't wait an hour before eating it.

maybe so but I wouldnt want to risk it for thier sake.