Exercise with pets

korsicash

I took my dog out for a run with me today thinking he would like it, he did of course it was bonding time. I went to feed him tonight, he gets a cup in the AM and a cup in the PM of very high quality pet food (I believe he should get good stuff). Well tonight the thought hit me: he has maintained all winter on 2 cups a day. His body weight is perfect and his muscle held up all winter. We live in a cold climate and he is a short haired dog. I can not run him in the winter. SO the point of this post do you folks who exercise with their dogs feed them extra after they have had a big day? I fed him an extra cup today because well I feed myself extra after I work out hard....What are the thoughts out there?

ShannonD13

I used to feed my Akita more after we went running. I figured he should be hungry too...he never complained. Lol.

JenBrown0210

I have a Siberian Huskey. He is my running partner, I don't run without him (he can run in the winter, in fact I would say he prefers it!) Has been since I started running. I usually give him the same amount and if he is hungry, he lets me know. I sometimes will treat him to a can of soft food too or I give him a couple extra treats. His regular food is Taste of the Wild.

I don't know of you do this, but a tip for running with your dog. I wrap one leash around my waist and use an extender to his running harness so my hands are free!

froeschli

i have a german shepherd, and he'll eat anywhere from 2-4 servings a day. he is not greedy, maybe a tiny bit overweight (5 out of 85 lbs, mostly muscle mass though). he just lets me know when/if he's hungry. if he isn't, he'll just leave the bowl until the next meal... quite convenient actually...
in summer he generally eats less, so he'll lose those 5lbs in no time...

if your dog doesn't do the same, find out his caloric need (it will blow you away) and feed accordingly.

songbyrdsweet

I will just give mine about 1/2 cup extra wet food as it is less calorie-dense. She doesn't always eat her whole breakfast but I keep the food so she can have it for lunch or dinner. She normally gets fed twice a day but if she doesn't finish breakfast she will be super hungry at lunch! She has gained 5 lbs since I got her from the shelter but it was all muscle. Just keep an eye on his weight, waist, and ribs.

KPainter70

After reading the subject line, all I could think about was how to get my cats into the gym...

froeschli

I will just give mine about 1/2 cup extra wet food as it is less calorie-dense. She doesn't always eat her whole breakfast but I keep the food so she can have it for lunch or dinner. She normally gets fed twice a day but if she doesn't finish breakfast she will be super hungry at lunch! She has gained 5 lbs since I got her from the shelter but it was all muscle. Just keep an eye on his weight, waist, and ribs.

mine was 42 lbs when we got him - you could literally count the ribs through his fur. didn't help that he has problems digesting most foods. now he's a strong 85 lbs, the vet says that's 5 too much... ah well, he'll be down to 80 by july again anyways...

korsicash

My running partner when I was a teen was a husky wolf and we free fed back then and yeah he ate when he was hungry. Axle is a boxer, lab, grey hound mix his body type and activity level is true to a grey hound (couch potato) and like the boxer and lab he gets short bursts of crazy. Well he didn't complain tonight about the extra food so I guess I will try playing it by ear. He is a wimp and will not play out side if it is below 40.

songbyrdsweet

I will just give mine about 1/2 cup extra wet food as it is less calorie-dense. She doesn't always eat her whole breakfast but I keep the food so she can have it for lunch or dinner. She normally gets fed twice a day but if she doesn't finish breakfast she will be super hungry at lunch! She has gained 5 lbs since I got her from the shelter but it was all muscle. Just keep an eye on his weight, waist, and ribs.

mine was 42 lbs when we got him - you could literally count the ribs through his fur. didn't help that he has problems digesting most foods. now he's a strong 85 lbs, the vet says that's 5 too much... ah well, he'll be down to 80 by july again anyways...

Awwww poor baby! Sounds like he is in a great home now, yay rescues!

songbyrdsweet

My running partner when I was a teen was a husky wolf and we free fed back then and yeah he ate when he was hungry. Axle is a boxer, lab, grey hound mix his body type and activity level is true to a grey hound (couch potato) and like the boxer and lab he gets short bursts of crazy. Well he didn't complain tonight about the extra food so I guess I will try playing it by ear. He is a wimp and will not play out side if it is below 40.

I don't free feed mine because she likes to try and be dominant at times, so this is a good everyday lesson on who's in charge. I make her wait for the food after I set it down. Also she will eat until she's round lol! I have free-fed dogs in the past though and plenty of them are fine with it.

hbrittingham

I would feed him an extra 1/2 cup on the days that you run with him. When I take my dogs to the lake where they run off-leash the whole time, I give them an extra 1/4-1/2 cup each feeding (depending on the dog). When I take them to the beach where we do a lot of really long walks, they get an extra 1/8-1/4 cup each feeding. Two of them are normally on 1 cup each feeding and one is on 1 1/4-1/2 each feeding.

shmunster

My dogs compete is a dog sport, and the weeks leading up to comps and a week after they get more food than usual, and when not competing they generally get less, but its still based on how their weight is looking, they never really get the same amount all the time

withervein

If I haven't fed my dog enough he lets me know by turning his dish upside down and kicking into the room I'm in.

He's small, about 20 pounds, he gets a heaped half cup in the morning and another in the evening. He stops when he's full and frequently leaves half of his breakfast for an afternoon snack.

But when he's hungry, the dish is emptied, he scratches in the bottom of the bowl for attention and if that doesn't work, flip, kick, plop, whine.

MrsSpinks

My dogs eat the same amount all the time, but on days when I don't run, they have off the lead walks in the woods and probably use a lot more energy running around and playing with each other then they do when we go for a dog jog!!! Their bowls are rarely completely empty though, but I would certainly give them extra if they scoffed the lot before the end of the day!

I'm so pleased to see lots of dog joggers on here! I seem to be the only one where I live and get referred to as the crazy dog lady!!

AmeChops

We've got Huskies and we don't feed them anymore than they would normally get per day. They are actually very good at regulating their food and sometimes don't eat everything that we put down for them. We don't free-feed, with 4 dogs it'd be a nightmare and if they don't eat within 10 mins then the bowl goes away.

We walk, jog and have the occasional off lead run-around with them and also do scootering (so much fun!) - just monitor your dog, if he appears to be losing weight or particularly scrounging then maybe up his feed or have a chat with your vet, see what he thinks.

If we ever get to compete in races then we'd probably up theirs then but they would be doing a LOT more work than normal.

wellbert

I military press my cat and deadlift my border collie. I usually don't feed extra, though.
I just monitor their body shape and adjust food accordingly.

MrsSpinks

I military press my cat and deadlift my border collie. I usually don't feed extra, though.
I just monitor their body shape and adjust food accordingly.

I do the same with my baby, do you think I should stop giving him extra food after a work out?

HealthyBodySickMind

My girl, Mischief, self regulates (she stops eating when she's not hungry), so I'll offer her more, but if she doesn't eat it, I don't sweat it. Our boy, Renegade, will eat whatever is put in front of him, so if we've had a lot of exercise (like the 12 miles we did on Saturday) he gets an extra chunk of meat (maybe as much as an extra chicken leg/thigh quarter, if it's small).

Also important if you're running or biking with your dogs on pavement: check their foot pads. If they are not used to it, they may not have the calluses to keep up, and they can actually wear holes in their pads. Increase distance the amount of running they do on pavement slowly. Also, keep an eye on how they are walking after. Dogs can get muscle stiffness just like we do. It's not unreasonable to get some xrays to make sure their joints are up for the extra-exercise either.

songbyrdsweet

My girl, Mischief, self regulates (she stops eating when she's not hungry), so I'll offer her more, but if she doesn't eat it, I don't sweat it. Our boy, Renegade, will eat whatever is put in front of him, so if we've had a lot of exercise (like the 12 miles we did on Saturday) he gets an extra chunk of meat (maybe as much as an extra chicken leg/thigh quarter, if it's small).

Also important if you're running or biking with your dogs on pavement: check their foot pads. If they are not used to it, they may not have the calluses to keep up, and they can actually wear holes in their pads. Increase distance the amount of running they do on pavement slowly. Also, keep an eye on how they are walking after. Dogs can get muscle stiffness just like we do. It's not unreasonable to get some xrays to make sure their joints are up for the extra-exercise either.

I actually got some pad wax from Petsmart and I really like it. It's not too heavy but it coats Margo's feet well and they haven't gotten as raw lately. She did over-exert herself this weekend though and now she's limping on her bad leg. It was broken as a puppy and never healed properly. Here I am thinking she'll stop and not push herself too far...proved me wrong!

wee_wolfie

Just keep an eye on his weight and adjust accordingly.

Also, I would avoid the wet food. It just rots their teeth and is mostly water. A good dry food and plenty of water is more than adequate.