How Long Does It Take for a Dog to Digest Food?

Have you ever stumbled upon the question, of how long does it take for a dog to digest food? So, here’s your every answer to a dog’s digestion and poop.

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Like a curious dog parent, I always wanted to know, “How Long Does It Take For A Dog To Digest Food?

To answer it in short, It just takes 8 to 10 hours to completely digest a meal, and as fast as 4 hours or as long as 12 based on the breed of your dog and the type of food eaten”.

We are at peace of mind seeing your furry buddies, joyfully eating and drooling over their food bowls as if there is no tomorrow!

How Long Does It Take For A Dog To Digest Food

And mind you, that Puppy-Dog eyes, will still haunt you if they sniff you eating.

Being dog parents, we always want and select the best in the world for our paw babies.

In the view of improving their well-being, understanding the basics of dogs’ digestion and their relevant factors is very important.

How Long Does It Take for a Dog to Digest Food?

Before we delve into our answer, let’s consider some key facts, information, and worth to know knowledge about a dog’s digestive system.

Dog’s digestive system- Understanding the process of Digestion

To understand, how long is a dog’s digestion process? We need to understand, The Canine Digestive System and all the organs involved. We have discussed each organ and its function and brief.

Dog's Digestive System
Dog Digestive Organs

The journey of food from the mouth to the dog’s stomach

The process of food digestion begins in the dog’s mouth.

Dog’s teet’h break their food into smaller parts with the help of salivary enzymes.

The broken food moves further down the Oesophagus into the dog’s stomach. The stomach acid breaks the food down further. As Per dharamsalaanimalrescueThat means the food has a shorter distance to travel and that digestion takes less time. All and all, it generally takes a dog around 8 hours to properly digest food whereas it can take humans up to 72 hours.”

Food is on its way from the stomach to the Intestines.

From the stomach, the food travels to the intestines(small & large) where they meet enzymes and hormones from the liver and pancreas.

These digestive enzymes help the food to be further digested.

Here, the food’s nutrients are absorbed through the intestine walls and passed into the blood to be carried throughout the body to be used.

Anything without any nutritional value, or that cannot be broken down and digested, is pushed out of the large intestines into the rectum.

En route exist from Intestines to ultimately Pooping

In the rectum, this nutrient-less food is called waste and is stored there. The food is stored here till your dog has a trigger reaction that urges the dog to defecate.

And, in this way, it stool is pooped out of your dog’s body.

Let’s Get Some Science Rolling

Fun Fact: Dogs Can’t Chew Side to Side, and they have their ingestion storage reversed in comparison to humans

Thus, that being said, dogs contain 70% of their food more time in their stomach and only 30% in their intestinal tract.

What Is Digestibility?

Digestibility refers to the amount of nutrients ingested by the individual, and is usually measured as the quantity of nutrients consumed minus the amount of nutrients retained in the feces.

Foods that have high digestibility provide the dogs with more nutrients.

The digestibility of pet food refers to the amount of food or nutrients that the animal completely digests, utilizes, or absorbs.

How Long Does It Take For A Dog To Digest Food? Dog Digestibility
How long does it take to digest food and poop?

Breaking it down in simple terms, If you were talking about calories, you might say,

“The dog ate 1000 calories of a meal and 100 calories were detected in the stool of the dog, so the caloric digestibility of the food provided was 90%.”

The less digestible food, the higher your pet’s risk of losing essential nutrients.

An essential macronutrient left undigested, like protein, may mean that fewer amino acids are absorbed.

Factors That Affect Your Dog’s Digestion

Every dog is unique and has different eating habits and schedules, which are mostly decided by their owners. According to NCBIDigestive problems considered as the major health problem among dogs.”

Yet each dog or puppy has their own personality and traits, depending on its breed too.

But even with this breed diversity, there are certain common factors that affect your dog’s digestion process and health. These factors include,

Size

Size is one of the most important variables in deciding, how long it takes for a dog to digest food.

For example, completely grown Labrador retrievers, are around 12 times larger than fully-grown Chihuahuas.

Considering the size of the breed, we also need to focus on their weight.

So for a full-grown lab, a dog weighing around 60-75 pounds would require more food and more time to digest. As compared to Chihuahuas of the same age!

So, large dog breeds have different nutritional needs and a much bigger difference in how fast they can digest food than smaller dog breeds.

Age

Age is the first determining factor for a dog’s digestion.

Age has a direct effect on digestion, as the rate of metabolism slows as the age of your dog increases.

Age slows digestion in dog

The puppies have higher digestive rates in their growing years. So they can easily digest food even with lower physical activity because of their growing metabolic needs.

Whereas, for an adult old dog the rate of digestion slows down, so a well-regulated and nutritionally enriched diet with higher digestibility is required.

Breed

The breed is the key factor that affects the rate of your dog’s digestion. There are approximately 350 breeds of Canine species.

Research shows that large breed dogs, in contrast with smaller breeds, have a highly developed colon.

What they eat

Digestion is also affected by the type of dog food (Wet vs Dry). Not all foods are equally easy to digest and can stay in the stomach for a longer time.

For example, wet foods are much easier to digest than dry food, because they have a higher amount of water as compared to semi-moist or dry dog food.

Also, the more your dog eats, the slower the digestion process will be.

The Amount of Exercise

A good amount of physical exercise not only keeps your dog healthy, but also increases the rate of digestion.

Exercise increases the body’s rate of metabolism, which in turn leads to faster digestion.

Prevailing Health Conditions

Many prevalent and common health conditions of a dog alter their digestion process.

Digestive issues such as GI inflammation and poor gut health are also known to affect the rate of digestion.

And the poor rate of digestion and in turn alters the time taken to digest dog food.

Relevant FAQs

What are the most common digestive issues that can affect my dog?

The most common digestive issue faced by dogs is GI Inflammation. This happens when your dog eats something foreign or their dog food has some wrong ingredient that caused their GI tract irritation.

Some other common digestive issues like bloating and heartburn can arise due to improper chewing or decreased metabolic rate.

It is also essential to give your dog nutritional supplements recommended by their Vets, to keep their gut health and digestion process healthy.

How long does it take for a dog to digest food and poop it out?

The simple answer? Depends on your dog and the type of food and eating habits that have been developed for them.

Digestion with many factors affecting it is one of the hardest organ systems to monitor in our furry buddies.

Generally, moist and semi-most food in younger puppies or actively growing dogs takes 4 hr or so. Whereas dry dog food/kibbles in an adult large-size dog breed may take 8hr to up to 12hr.

Can I take my dog on a walk immediately after feeding?

No, it is not recommended to take a dog for a walk immediately after eating, as they are at higher risk of gastrointestinal problems if they exercise on a full stomach.

Walking immediately after eating will slow down the rate of digestion in dogs.

How long does it take for a puppy to digest food and poop it out?

A puppy’s digestive tract, is extremely quick and efficient., compared to adult dogs. So within 5 to 30 minutes after the puppy eats, they have urges to defecate.

How long does food stay in a dog’s stomach?

According to the American Kennel Club, the typical dog has one or two bowel movements every day. The food stays up to 4 hrs in the dog’s stomach before defecation and is often affected by variables at different times like the type of food, age, size, and breed.

How long does it take for a dog’s stomach to empty?

It takes nearly about 8 and 10 hours for a dog’s stomach to empty. This is possible because, unlike humans, dogs have a simple alimentary canal.

The Final Note

I hope, you now have the answer to, how long does it take for a dog to digest food? And that you’re now a more knowledgeable, thoughtful, and responsible dog parent.

Dog owners should still be mindful of the needs of their dogs, considering the differences in breeds, different levels of exercise, diet, etc.

It is also not possible to neglect the value of veterinary treatment, so it is always recommended to seek the advice of a professional Vet when you see different feeding and pooping habits in your dogs.

A crucial indicator of how quickly your dog is digesting food is by watching for the amount of poop and watching its routine pooping habits.

It is also essential to monitor the general feeding and activity levels of your dog, considering that similar dogs (in age/breed/diet/activity levels) can also take different times to digest food.

Resources:

  1. Understanding pet digestion. (2018, June 12) – IVC Journal.
  2. Staff, A. (2017, October 25). Breed Weight ChartAmerican Kennel Club.

REFERNCE:

  1. John, J. D. (2023, March 3). How Long Does It Take For A Dog To Digest Food? DogLikesBest. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://www.doglikesbest.com/how-long-does-it-take-a-dog-to-digest-food/