Need help with a dog schedule. Help provide me one or share yours?
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Anonymous
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I have a 1 year old medium sized dog. I am a first time dog owner. I had her for about one week now. She is amazing! I think she is ready for a more consistent schedule that works for our family and for her but I can’t figure out one. I am going to list as many facts as I can and perhaps someone can save us but helping with a schedule? I don’t know what comes first, eating or walking, or what time to even eat.
-she is 1 -she rarely eats her morning meal. I have no clue why -she eats the dinner meal but I assume she is starving by then. I feed it at 6:30pm but I can do earlier or later -I leave the house at 7:30am -I wake at 5:45am -I am home at 3:00pm -she sleeps through the night -the household goes to bed around 9:30pm -rarely any potty accidents -husband works from home so can do extra walks or foods but I don’t want her to be dependent on it because his meetings can get crazy long and be all day Am I trying to feed her too early in the morning? I try at 6:15am. Should I walk her first or feed her first? Any other advice? |
Anonymous
| We walk ours before feeding in the morning. We have a lab so she eats anytime it’s offered but if yours doesn’t eat the morning meal is there a reason you can’t just leave the bowl down all day so it can eat when it wants to? |
Anonymous
OP here. Thanks! I thought grazing was something you were not supposed to do. I thought you put the food down, if they don’t eat within 20 minutes, it goes up? |
Anonymous
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OP, some dogs can be trusted to free feed, and some must be fed at specific times. My Mastiff and Bulldog got fed in the morning and at dinner time.
This was because my Bulldog absolutely could not free feed, even though my Mastiff could. Maybe try to free feed your dog, as it sounds like they are well in tune with their hunger signals. I usually took my dogs out after breakfast, but before dinner. It just worked out that way most times. They could go either way with this, really. [NP] |
Anonymous
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Our schedule is:
wake up and walk: 6:15-7am breakfast: 7am midday walk: 15-30 mins, some time between 12-4 dinner: 5pm evening walk: 15 mins, sometime after 9pm Sometimes we add in an extra walk if the window between midday and evening ends up long or if the weather is nice and we want to go for a walk. Some dogs only eat 1 meal a day - yours might be one of them! |
Anonymous
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We have a 2 year old mixed breed dog who weighs 80 pounds and eats about 5 cups (!) a day. Our schedule is:
7:30am - someone takes dog out to the bathroom 9:30-10:30 - go on a long 1.5 mile walk and breakfast when we get home 2:00pm - another 1 mile walk 6 or 7pm - play fetch outside if weather is nice 7:00pm - dinner 8:00pm - short walk around the block bedtime whenever the last person goes upstairs |
Anonymous
| OP here. Interestingly, everyone so far seems to be walking and then eating. I am doing eating and then walking. Maybe she has to work up an appetite? |
Anonymous
This probably isn't an issue with just a regular walk and I can't tell quite the size of your dog (everyone seems to have a different perception of medium) but I'm personally really freaked by bloat in dogs. It's more common in larger dogs (I have a 55 lber which I consider on the cusp...) but one of the ways they get it is exercising after eating. To err on the side of caution, it's better to eat after any kind of activity or wait at minimum 30 minutes before exercise. Your dog also might be like mine and eat once a day or free graze! That's totally fine and some say even preferable. In the wild, they'd load up on what they could find and then go quite awhile without til the next meal. Kind of like intermittent fasting, it's not a bad thing.  My dog has access to plain kibble all day but really only goes for it at like 9pm or when I put salmon oil and probably some other topper like chicken on it, whichever comes first.
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Anonymous
Most housebroken animals won't pack in food/water when they already have a full bladder. I always take our dogs out to do biz first, then a bit of play/free time to work up an appetite, then food. |
Anonymous
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I have two dogs. Schedule is:
6ish: out for quick potty and then breakfast 7:30: morning walk Mid-day (anywhere from 11 to 2 or so): walk from dog walker or us if home 4:00: out for potty followed by dinner (sometimes this is later depending on when we get home from work) Evening (anywhere from 6 to 8 or so): evening walk, the longest walk of the day 10: pre-bed potty followed by snack (one of my dogs has a stomach issue and needs food before bed, hence the snack). |
Anonymous
We have our dogs eat then walk— the eating makes them need to go #2. |
Anonymous
As the other PP said, I don't let my dog do ANY activity for 20-30 minutes after a meal because I worry about bloat and twisted stomach. I'm not sure if this is a bigger thing with puppies and we shouldn't worry about it anymore with older dogs or if it's a real thing to be concerned about. But for me, the paranoia from puppyhood about it lasts. |
Anonymous
| Try some healthy toppers on top of the morning meal. I feed kibble but I like to supplement with some real food. Sometimes I will cook a pound of lean ground turkey (in coconut oil) with a couple of diced veggies (carrots, broccoli, spinach, squash, etc) and put two spoonfuls on top of his meal until ive used it all. Or sometimes I top my dogs kibble with a half a can of sardines. Sometimes I throw a handful of blueberries on top. There are tons of healthy options; find what your dog likes. |
Anonymous
I have a dog with a deep chest, and there is a risk of bloat with these kind of dogs. So I never take him on a walk, or play in the backyard on a full stomach. |
Anonymous
| We do 8am walk then breakfast, mid-day walk between 12-1, walk at 5-6pm then dinner, then quick pee break at bedtime around 11pm. |