One can read the internet, talk to your vet, talk to people who have lost dogs to bloat, read all the studies, memorize the hell out of the do's and don'ts, do all the right things and still lose a dog to bloat. I've read through 30 pages of threads on the german shepherd forum and there were bloat deaths from all scenarios: puppies, old dogs, sick dogs, dogs that showed no bloat symptoms, high driven working dogs, mellow slow eating dogs, dogs that ate on the ground, dogs that ate on elevated dishes, dogs that exercised and drank water, dogs that didn't exercise nor allowed to drink before after meals, dogs on empty stomachs, dogs that ate 10 mins later, dogs in the middle of the night, dogs that were fed 1x, 2x, 3-4x a day, dogs with high anxiety, dogs that ate raw, dogs that ate wet and dry food, dogs that had human food, dogs that lost a family member, and the list goes on and on.<br><br>Just do what you think is right for your dog and when the time comes make sure to know the symptoms of bloat + what "normal" is for your dog and make sure to have gas-x (simethecone) on hand and get to a vet asap. Prompt vet care and gastroplexy seems to be the only things that really increased a dog's chance of survival, but even with that - there are no guarantees.<br><br><br>