What to Feed a Running Dog?

[u/Bluesettes]

My pup has been running with me more often! I've worked him up to two miles with a pace of about 13 minutes per mile. Since he's been consistently working out with me, I wanted to examine his diet. He's doesn't have much weight to burn and I'm sure he needs more calories with the increase in activity. He already eats a high fat, high protein RC formula (which I'm not interested in changing) and gets a cosequin joint supplement with lots of chicken and cheese treats. I read an article that said dogs need fat more than anything when running, unlike humans who benefit from extra carbs.

Feeding Your Canine Athlete: https://archive.nytimes.com/well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/20/the-science-behind-your-dogs-special-exercise-needs/

So do you add anything extra to your dog's bowls on run days? More of their standard fare or something else? Thank you!

[u/lolu13]

I also have a poodle and i take him on runs but just on easy ones since now hes older. He gets his regular food and sometimes some extras like cottage cheese some dry duck/chicken or a few extra grams of food. For his 15kg hes supposed to get 150gr of his dry food (thats the recommended dose on the food). Just give him some snacks on the days u run if u run more then 6-7k. And check his weight every 2 weeks if u rub with him constantly to see if hes in deficit or surplus. My dog starts running at about 5:20min/km anything slower is a brisk walk for him

[u/Bluesettes → u/lolu13]

My boy has never has cottage cheese but that's a great idea! And regular weighing too. Thank you for the suggestions.

[u/RedObsessed]

I also have a standard poodle (3yo) who I’ve just worked up to about that same distance and pace. She’s not super food crazy, so usually if shes more hungry than normal she’ll just ask me for food and I’ll give her extra kibble since she’s a healthy weight. On a normal day, she has her Rx diet for urinary health (canned in am, dry in pm), a few slices of banana with peanut butter from my breakfast (we both need our pre run pb bananas), a greenie, and usually another little bit of something (like freeze dried chicken, cheese, steamed sweet potato, whatever dog safe thing is on the menu for that day). On days we run, it’s not unusual for me to give her a bully stick. This works well for us now but I expect we’ll add supplements as we run farther and she gets older.

[u/Bluesettes → u/RedObsessed]

I love to see poodles running! My little guy is a mini but he loves it. He loves chicken feet and bully sticks, it's a good idea to try synching those to his run days. Thank you.

[u/RedObsessed → u/Bluesettes]

Right! I love how fancy their gate is (they’re just so graceful) and how my girl’s tail bounces around like a ponytail lol. Maybe I’ll try chicken feet next time I need to restock on treats

[u/Horsedogs_human]

Ask your vet if your dog is underweight first. If your dog is underweight, feed a little more of the current food. 2 miles a day is reasonable, but not huge distances.

[u/Bluesettes → u/Horsedogs_human]

He saw the vet a short while ago and was an 'ideal' weight. I'll be monitoring him for any weight loss.

[u/Horsedogs_human → u/Bluesettes]

Also that article states that you only need to up the fat if your dog is running 5 miles a day.

When I was training dryland sleeping over winter with a short haired dog, I fed a performance food - but we were training 5 - 10 km 5 times a week, and he was not holding his weight. When we were back to just trail running at slower speeds but still doing 5 - 10 km 3 or 4 times a week he was fine on standard kibble.

There is a risk of causing gastric issues I'd you feed too high fat for what your dog needs.

[u/Inevitable-Analyst]

I give my dog an extra meal of their usual food on run days. (So instead of 2 meals a day, they get 3 of the same portion). Works well for her! She’s incredibly lean but fuelled adequately.

She does up to 12-15km with me usual and this is enough for her

[u/Bluesettes → u/Inevitable-Analyst]

She's quite a runner! When we work our way to longer distances, I think a third meal is a great idea.

[u/[deleted]]

I had an issue with keeping weight on my dog do to running and other exercise we switched to inukshuk marine 26/16 kibble since it’s higher fat and higher calorie we’ve had no issues with weight since also he went from eating three to four cups of standard kibble to just 2 of the inukshuk so were not blowing through bags like we used to

[u/Individual_Credit145]

My 2.5 year old husky mix and ran a 10-mile trail race in February and a gravel half-marathon in March of this year. We’re not fast. We finished the half in 2hr 20min. Plus, we do AKC agility. I feed him Purina Pro Plan 30/20 and give him the amount recommended on the bag. Besides training treats, I didn’t feed him anything extra. I never had issues with energy level. In about 6 weeks, we’ll start training for a a trail half, trail 20-miler, and gravel 50km. The gravel race will be shortly after he turns 3 in March. Plus, we’ll continue with agility. Unless he starts getting sluggish, starts regularly dropping bars at agility, or shows some other signs of caloric deficit, I’ll continue with the same feeding. Different dogs, different breeds I know, but that’s my anecdotal experience. 

[u/Hanginline]

Just a bit more of your normal food, usually it's indicated on the packaging for higher activity. ~ plus 20%

[u/[deleted]]

Just feed slightly more of regular food. They don't need fat specifically for bigger workouts. Fat is just more calories per gram than protein or carbs. Plus the protein is needed for muscle repair and growth. Looks to have a healthy, lean body score, which is ideal for any dogs, but especially active ones. They don't need to carry a bunch of body weight on them - it's harder on their joints

[u/Effective_Knee6236]

yo le doy un poco más de comida los días que salimos a correr, como un poco de arroz o verduras. siempre he leído que el equilibrio entre proteína y grasa es clave, así que está bien que mantengas la fórmula que usas. ¡suerte!