Advice needed for morning routine with dog!

[honestjoe69]

In a morning, what is the best way to deal with a dog. For example:

 

1) Should I wake up, take the dog out to the toilet, bring him back for food, take him out for a long walk then go to work. Or

 

2) Wake up, take the dog out to the toilet, take him on a long walk, bring him back for food then go to work.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

[tifftifco2]

mu pup is 6 months and i wake up let him straight out to garden,come back in feed him then walk. Make sure does his business then off to work, otherwise if you feed him last he will need to empty so make sure you leave him when he has had a good empty:hihi:

[Moonbird]

In a morning, what is the best way to deal with a dog. For example:

 

1) Should I wake up, take the dog out to the toilet, bring him back for food, take him out for a long walk then go to work. Or

 

2) Wake up, take the dog out to the toilet, take him on a long walk, bring him back for food then go to work.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

My bold, I would do it this way around, but you need to be aware that you should not exercise your dog straight away after feeding, you should wait at least half an hour.

[Adz]

likewise you should not feed your dog straight after exercise particularly if they have been running they need at least a good 1/2hr to settle back down and relax.

[Lotti]

Our routine is option 2. This is because dalmatians, along with other breeds are susceptible to gastric tortion and the risk can be reduced by giving them 30 - 45 minutes 'down time' before any other exercise.

 

The other reason being Takara was a very skinny pup and I couldn't get weight on her. I was advised to feed her after exercise so she wasn't burning energy off as soon as she'd taken it in.

 

We do alternate though as well, if I'm up late and we're going out much later than usual I'll feed them first - or feed them half before and half after - because otherwise they're likely to be so hungry on their walk that they scavenge more than usual!

 

The benefit of alternating the routine is that your dog can then cope with a routine change should it need to occur for any reason.

[katkin]

Option 2 for the Dobermutt too - broad chested breeds are susceptible to bloat /torsion so should not be fed and exercised at same time and the logical and most time efficient thing to do in a morning is to walk her first, come home and get ready for work, THEN feed her a good 50 minutes to an hour after she has been exercised, (half of her daily entitlement, she gets the rest at tea time) as we leave the house, so she is focussed on her food and will go straight to bed when she's finished. Tired, contented and fed dogs are far less likely to cause mayhem whilst you're out. If we fed her first and had to wait an hour to walk her, we'd need even more time to get ready for work after then and she's already up at 5:30am as it is.

[honestjoe69]

So Lotti / Katkin, what would you recommend for a Labrador?? I'm now thinking walk first then food before I leave.

[anna293]

we work differently here, my hubby gets up at 530am lets the dogs toilet in the garden and then feeds, they go out on garden again after brekkie then when i get up between 730 and 8am i have my brekkie then take them out so theyve had a good 2-3 hours after food to rest, they get some treats for recall whilst out. if i had less time, id walk them first then get ready and then feed giving them at least an hour break after exercise before food. I have hounds so they too are susceptable to bloat. anna.x.

[katkin]

So Lotti / Katkin, what would you recommend for a Labrador?? I'm now thinking walk first then food before I leave.

 

Labs are also broad chested and tend to like their food, so I imagine you have to watch the feeding regime too.

 

We work full time, so walk first then food works for Ailsa and for us (correction, it tends to be the other half these days- he is willing to wake up at 5:30am whereas I have problems sleeping and tend to be just going BACK to bed at that time). It's much more relaxed and gives the walker more time to come round to the idea of going to work. If we fed Ailsa then had to wait up to an hour for her food to settle then took her out, then jumped in the shower, got ready and left the house, it would take forever plus Ailsa would probably me more lively - at least our way, all she wants to do after the food is sleep - except if we are on holiday and out and about - she never seems to tire if she's at the seaside!

[Strix]

anybody who suggests to Brude that we have a morning walk is met with a scowl!

 

the routine is out for a wee, snort breakfast down, dive out for a poo, bound into cage for a mornings snoozing - but he's a weekend dog - we take him out for hours on end of a weekend and he likes to spend the weekdays recovering