my lab is now 10 months old i have been feeding her at 5pm and 5am as i thought it best to let her digest the food before exercise and i quite often take her to the woods as early as 7am does anyone have any ideas as to wether i am doing the right thing thanks i am pleased to say that she has calmed down a lot now i was on here before saying how bad things were but now her season is over we have long walks in the woods
Re: feeding times The general rule of thumb is not to feed dogs for an hour before or after exercise, though I don't strictly stick to that. I usually just make sure that she isn't exercised for about 45 mins after eating and that if she is fed after exercise (as happens in the evening) it's at least 20 minutes after. Penny gets fed at 7am (walk at 8) and between 6-7:30pm depending on what time and how long we walk for in the evening.
Re: feeding times So pleased to read that things are now a lot better , thats good Because my dogs exericse hard , I do observe the guidelines of avoiding feeding one hour before and one after exercise . I also often go off early with the dogs, but not until 8-8.30 a.m. and so ours have breakfast at around 7-7.30 . Their afternoon run is usually around 2 and so they eat tea at around 4ish .
Re: feeding times I'd say you're doing the right thing too. My son once gave Chip his tea as soon as we came in from the afternoon walk and he'd wolfed it off before I'd got my boots off. Of course it came back 5 minutes later. He won't do that again I try to leave an hour as a rule.
Re: feeding times For me, the main reason for the hour each way is to avoid bloat which can be serious or even fatal , so I reckon its worth observing the guidlines
Re: feeding times Interesting. For before hydrotherapy swimming, I was advised 3 hours before and half an hour after exercise. So if we swims early, I just don't give her breakfast until we come home. Maybe I will give her a dozen bits of kibble in her bowl, just so she is not looking for her breakfast and thinking I have forgotten to feed her.
