Would it not be possible for you to get up earlier?

 

I typically wake up at 5:30 and leave for work at 7:30 so that I have time to exercise and get ready for work. I will likely get up a little earlier, around 5, but that still doesn’t solve my problem. 🙁 I can’t imagine getting up much earlier... is that what other people do?

 

Pretty much -.maybe not these exact timings but you do need to adapt your lifestyle to meet your dog's needs.

 

I don't disagree with you, but my question was about what other people do in a similar situation and what their schedules look like. If the "norm" is to wake up at 4 am to feed your dog breakfast, wait 2 hours, then exercise them, then get ready for work... I will do it! I just can't imagine that's what everyone does, especially those of you with kids. I don't have kids, but I imagine there are people out there who also have to work around that in the morning. 😁

 

My dog isn't a high energy breed and I don't have your work schedule but I have friends who walk at 5.00 am with their dogs. I feed my dog after exercise though, on the basis that animals are designed to hunt first then eat. What about a feeder on a timer that could open after you have gone to work?

 

I had two big foster dogs that were in risk of bloating so they were never fed close to exercise. I always waited about 1 hour (depending on how heavy the exercise was) to give them food after exercise. And never exercised them for at least 2 hours (I often waited longer) after getting fed. I don’t know if you’ve got it mixed up but you need to wait longer to exercise after feeding them vs before feeding them.

I never had a strict schedule for their feeding time since I often wanted to be flexible whit whenever I could exercised them. So they got fed when it suited. Sometimes they got their first meal at 08:00 and sometimes at 15:00. However, I would strongly dissuade you to feed him in the morning before exercise, even though you wait in between. It’s much safer to exercise first. The dog will have no trouble exercising on an empty stomach, this is actually most common. The advantage of this is also that you don’t have to wait as long between exercise and feeding, since you have to wait longer if the dog get fed before exercise.

I chose to wait at least one hour to feed after exercise (and I think that’s a common recommendation) but what’s crucial is that the dog gets time to calm down and that the breathing gets normalized.

During this time I often worked from noon/afternoon-evening/night. So I didn’t really have the same issue with early mornings as you. But the days I worked early and left maybe 07:00 I had the luck that my dad was home until later and could feed them when I had left. But if he wouldn’t be able to do that I would make sure to walk them first thing in the morning and then get ready for maybe an hour so I could feed them after that. I didn’t take them for long walks before work if I began early, maybe just 30 minutes (they then got longer walks in the evening). So then I would get up 1,5 hours before I had to leave. And I don’t know how much time you spend in the morning to exercise your dog, but if you wake up at 05:30 and have to leave at 07:30 it sounds to me like you have time to exercise the dog before 06:30 and then the last thing you do before leaving at 07:30 is to feed him. Or do you exercise him for more than one hour?

How is he let out during lunchtime? Can’t you (or whoever that lets him out) feed him then?

Otherwise if you need to exercise him for more than one hour or wants to wait more than one hour after exercise, can’t you feed him multiple times when you get home instead? Some dogs can’t be left on an empty stomach for too long (they will start to throw up) but most dog have no problem with that.

There’s a lot of different ways to tire him out that doesn’t include physical exercise (such as mental stimulation). But I would still recommend you to exercise him in the morning. If you need to choose between getting him exercise or food in the morning I definitely would suggest exercise (if he is okay being left on an empty stomach).

Other ways to prevent bloating is to let the kibble (if that’s what you’re feeding) soak in water before feeding and also to feed smaller portions at a time.

 

Ours goes for her walk early in the morning, then we come home, and she eats her breakfast.

 

So you don’t wait in between exercise and feeding time? Is your dog a breed that’s in higher risk of getting GDV?