How can we calm our dog after eating?

Question

Background

Our dog is a Pitbull/Husky mix. We got him from the kennel where he spent about 7 years of his life (got adopted twice but returned to the kennel a few weeks after), he's been with us for 1,5 years. He doesn't like other dogs or animals (we're doing slow progress on that) but usually loves humans.

He is a very powerful dog with lots of energy. Education was hard at first (lots of exercise and discipline) but we got there with patience and he is much better balanced and calm. He has some rules that he understands and sometimes he tries to break them, we think he is only testing us, nothing special.

However, he gets very excited sometimes. He loves eating, we had to get a special bowl so he doesn't just vacuum the food. When we fill his bowl, he sits down because he knows we only give him the "eat" command when he calms down, but he still looks excited and runs like crazy towards the bowl when we tell him to and eats like a maniac.

After eating, he gets very excited. Currently, we're having some work done in the yard, so he is being held by a long leash (on his harness). He doesn't have room to run and just walks around in circles and barks at the sky.

The Question

How can we calm our dog after eating? Sometimes he is calm, sometimes he is excited, that's normal for him and we are glad he is this way. But he always gets pumped up after eating, and we would like to know how we can calm him down (or, if that is the right answer, should we let him release energy or something like that)?

Thanks for your help.

PS: He always eats after going for a walk, morning and afternoon/evening.

Answer 1

Running around after eating can cause bloat in larger dogs, so this is potentially more important than you originally thought! lol. I would definitely suggest either moving the second walk to after he eats, or adding a 3rd walk about a half hour after his meal--no heavy running, of course. Eating knock the ol' digestive system into motion, so to speak, so dogs are also more likely to need to do the doo sometime after a meal.

My dog also gets really excited after eating. He'll rub his face all over his bed and bring all his toys up and grab and paw and bark, you know the deal. I'll still play with him, but only with my hands and the front half of his body. That is, no running. Mostly playing with his mouth, I guess.

He'll also stop if I tell him to, so he may not be as excited as your buddy. Regardless, I might suggest a strong, hollow ball with a really good bounce-back after a bite, yanno? Let him tire out his jaw, not his guts (or your floors).

Best of luck!