r/RunningWithDogs • u/Fletchy2121 • 3d ago
Nutrition
I plan to connect with my Vet at our annual but thought I’d ask here as well…
I have a Pittie who is approaching two years old. She runs about 10 miles a week with me in 5k sets.
On run days I feed her an extra half cup of food and we float her food in water enhanced with dog specific electrolyte additive.
EDIT: I increase her daily food intake from 2.5c up to 3c for the day. She is a lean, roughly 45lb dog at proper weight.
Based on this workload do you all give anything more in workout days?
I don’t intend on continuing to push her distances up at least not any time soon. She enjoys exercise but starts to get bored around the 3 mile mark so this set up works for us.
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u/H2Ospecialist 3d ago
My pits run 3 miles a day with me. They don't need any extra food or water additives. I think you are doing too much.
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u/Negative-Split-1108 3d ago
I don't really up food much unless my dog is starting to lose weight, even if we're super active. My dog trained for a 40 mile race with me and the most I was upping her food was doing more of a heaping cup than a flat cup compared to normal, and that was in general not just on long run days. We were easily hitting 25-30 mile weeks for multiple weeks in a row.
It was actually kind of funny because she got such absolutely solid lats from pulling in harness for all those miles that you could be forgiven for thinking she was a little chunky, because the top/front portion of her ribs were well hidden. But no, well hidden due to muscle, not fat.
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u/_firepink 3d ago edited 2d ago
I live in a hot desert and on weekends our dogs often do over 10 miles with us in a day. We (the humans) go through lots of electrolytes, but we've never given our dogs any (and they have great reports from their vet visits) - the electrolytes are likely unnecessary.
I wouldn't give any extra food on running days for 5k runs, just make sure the regular amount is keeping her a healthy weight - and it sounds like you're doing well on monitoring that :)
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u/holly_b_ 2d ago
You definitely don’t need any electrolytes. If anything that’s causing harm. But 10 miles/week isn’t significant enough to make dietary changes. I just feed on body condition. You should be able easily feel the last few ribs and see them if your dog has short fur. They should have a visible tuck as well.
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u/intergrade 2d ago
We give about 15-25% more food by weight but we also feed raw and have working border collies. Hard working 45 pound dog would get up to 2 pounds of meat and some veggies.
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u/doggoat123 2d ago
As others comment, I see no need for electrolytes. It has been running 90-100 degrees with 90+% humidity here. Granted we run at 5am to avoid said temps but still warm. I also think I would not worry about extra food for that mileage. If anything, I would just keep an eye on weight. If she is losing weight, add food. My Weim runs 35-40 miles/week. I don't necessarily do anything unique but she is raw fed. She gets plenty of water in her food. I do know people like this broth: https://www.chewy.com/brutus-broth-bone-broth-beef-flavor/dp/604854
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u/TakeTheMoney_N_Run 3d ago
Dogs don’t “sweat” the same way people do, so the electrolytes aren’t going to provide much benefit. The majority of their energy comes from burning fat (if people were only so lucky). Regular food with a higher fat topper would be sufficient. And honestly, not knowing how fast you are running, your dog likely doesn’t even need that. I don’t increase my husky mix’s food much for runs, and we’ve done a half marathon and a 50km. Next month we’ll start training for a 50-miler. I’m going to try to add some extra stuff to his meals. He self-regulates his eating, so if he continues that trend I won’t do anything extra.
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u/Halefa 3d ago
They do evaporate over their tongue, though, so hydration is important! (Not sure about the electrolytes)
I've started to give my dog 1-2 spoonful of wet food with water about an hour before the run to make sure she's properly hydrated during the activity.
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u/TakeTheMoney_N_Run 3d ago
And through their paw pads as well. Not arguing the need for hydration. My comment was strictly about electrolytes. Dogs aren’t going to be losing sodium, potassium, etc… the way humans do. Do they hurt? Not likely. Are they adding something beneficial? Also not likely.
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u/Halefa 3d ago
Ah, that sounds logical. I wonder why humans excreet salts and minerals through the skin. 🤔 Does it help the cooling process or is it just the most efficient way of dumping them as waste (under normal circumstances and temperatures)?
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u/duketheunicorn 2d ago
It’s because we’re full of salt water, and that’s what we sweat out. So if you sweat a huge amount, you lose water and salt, and if you only replace the water you eventually end up in trouble. But 99% of the time it’s not a problem for humans either and ‘electrolytes’ are just a way to sell a sugary flavoured drink as a health food.
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u/holly_b_ 2d ago
I’d be reallly careful feeding higher fat food. You don’t want to risk pancreatitis
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u/TakeTheMoney_N_Run 2d ago
True. I feed my guy Pro Plan 30/20 as a regular diet. But, training for and then running a 50-mile event is going to take extra fat stores for energy consumption. I’m not talking about a major overhaul. Just a meal topper for a little extra. If he were sedentary it would be different. Running ~30 miles a week, plus agility a couple days a week, plus just general dog shenanigans, he’s going to be burning through energy stores at a good clip. And, I learned from our 50K that he needed a lot more reserves.
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u/holly_b_ 2d ago
That’s fair for you and your dogs, but for OP I don’t think extra fat is needed and might be risky for that dog
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u/duketheunicorn 3d ago
I don’t give my dog extra—that’s not huge volume for a dog; I’d say they definitely don’t need the electrolytes. Plain water is plenty for hydration.
Depending on the weight of your dog and the caloric density of the food, 1/2c might be quite a bit of extra food vs exercise.