Remember, a dog’s digestive system is very different from humans. In the wild, canines do not eat on a regular schedule, often going several days between meals. They gorge themselves when the do feed, and sleep shortly after, putting as much of the Kcal into fat reserves as possible. We humans do not have the metabolism to process calories into fat then burn that fat on a fest – famine demand. Our metabolism wants to slow down before burning those fat reserves when faced with famine.
Maybe… maybe not. Studies of wolves show they eat mice and stuff all day long when they can. For them, its not what is optimal, but what is available.
Also, while I totally agree about not free feeding, even overweight dogs I think need 2 meals a day to avoid throwing up bile. I would rather give 2 meals, add in green beans to cut calories and have them feel full. In fact, one meal a day would tend more to put the dog's metabolism into slow down due to feeling starving, don't you think?
Debra
my dog gets fed once a day at 6pm. He's always been a one meal a day type of dog. Even as a pup, he only wanted 1 meal a day. so be it. and if it doesn't get eaten, I pick it up after 20 minutes or so… or until the cats start eating it.
Also, while I totally agree about not free feeding, even overweight dogs I >>think need 2 meals a day to avoid throwing up bile
This puzzled me. I have always fed my dogs once a day – so we're talking 43 years of living with dogs -- and I've never had a problem with dogs throwing up anything {except the occasional piece of child's toy that wouldn't stay down, LOL and Jazzy's occasional bouts of car sickness}.
My dogs don't throw up anything-- my cats are a whole other story though, ugh.
What did I miss? Are you saying the feeding once a day causes vomitting? Or that your dogs throw up frequently and you'd prefer it not be just bile? 'Cause that's just something I am not familiar with.
Wow, am I seriously underfeeding Kiora? I feed her about 1/2 cup of dry kibble (Healthwise Chicken and oatmeal) in 1/4 cup increments twice a day. I think she is a great weight…in fact for awhile she was gaining weight and getting very chubby...and then I found out that she had learned how to open the food bin. Now that that problem is fixed her weight is exactly where I want it. 2 and 3 cups a day just seems like...a lot! I feed my 34 lb mix 1 1/4 cups, and my 51 lb mix 2 cups, and they are both great weights as well.
Jazz was getting 1/2 cup a day as well in order to maintain a good weight.
Bryan had me switch her to a lower fat dog food so that she could be fed more in order to ensure that she was getting the proper nutrients and still maintain her weight. Now she gets 1 cup a day, and seems to be holding at 21 lbs. We'll see if I need to up that or lower it. {It's only been about a week that she has been entirely on this food, so I'm still evaluating, but in the past she chunked up pretty quickly} I'm feeding her Eukanuba low-fat now.
He also suggested a thyroid panel at the next vet visit, but I haven't been able to get to that yet.
My older golden/mix {70 lbs} had been getting 1 cup of kibble a day {I also have six kids and they tend to share, more with the older dog than w/Jazz} because she had a tendency to gain weight. I switched her to the low-fat too, and now she is getting 2 cups. Both dogs like it. {I"m guessing she gets enough fat in the peanut butter, deli meat, cheese, etc that the kids "sneak" to her LOL}
What did I miss? Are you saying the feeding once a day causes vomitting? Or that your dogs throw up frequently and you'd prefer it not be just bile? 'Cause that's just something I am not familiar with.
I honestly don't know many people who feed once a day but OBVIOUSLY if your dogs do it and you have no problem with it,
"if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
I do know that often on the message boards many people who try feeding once a day end up with dogs puking yellow bile. The "cure" from vets is always to feed at least 2 meals a day. Some even need a "snack" thrown in before bed time to prevent it. I also know that vets state that small dogs and tiny dogs MUST be fed more frequently to avoid hypoglycemia as they cannot maintain levels on one feeding. And because of bloat issues, medically smaller meals make sense for many dogs.
But, I did do a search to see if I am just a product of habit or if vets generally agree. Many articles didn't address number, and just say simply to divide total food into how ever many times a day you feed! 
General Feeding Advice in the CanineThe number of times a day you feed your dog should be tailored to suit the individual. Generally we do not recommend feeding any dog less than twice daily. …
www.isabellevets.co.uk/health_advice/dog/info/feedingadvicedog.htm
Feeding Your Great DaneGreat Danes should be fed 3-4 times daily as pups, decreasing to 2-3 times a day at around age 6 months. It can be dangerous to feed a Dane only once a day, …
www.daneangelnetwork.org/Feeding.htm
Dog Owner's Guide:Feed adult dogs twice a day to prevent gorging at a single meal and to lessen the chance that deep-chested dogs will develop bloat or stomach torsion
www.canismajor.com/dog/nutrit3.html
Thank you.
Very interesting. I've never heard anything like this before, ever.
I've never even had a vet recommend feeding more than once a day – not that they've recommended against it, either. It's never been an issue.
How funny -- almost everyone I know feeds once a day! LOL
Although, like I said, my husband {also from the south }said his family fed their dogs twice a day when he was growing up. So maybe it's a southern thing -- LOL {But I've noticed his mom feeds her cocker spaniel and jack russell terrier once a day; as does his grandpa feed his poodle once a day; go figure! LOL}
You've peaked my curiousity though, so I did some looking around online too.
Most things I read say once a day is fine and that the important thing is to shoot for a regular feeding time and quantity. I did come across two sites that indicated that some dogs {individual, not breed} may be prone to bloat and those particular dogs should be fed more than once; and that those small dogs that develop hypoglycemia are the exception not the rule and should be evaluated by a veterinarian for other health issues.
So, I guess as with many other issue, this one will be one of strictly personal preference and experience since even the veterinary community cannot seem to agree!
So, I guess as with many other issue, this one will be one of strictly personal preference and experience since even the veterinary community cannot seem to agree!
LOL reminds me of the story of the woman who would always cut the ends off the pot roast. her husband asked why. She didn't know, called her mom. Her mom said she didn't know, she did it cause her mother did it. So she called her grandmother. Grandmother said "Cause I didn't have a pan big enough so I had to cut the ends off to make it fit."
However, on the flip side, I have a dog nutritionist friend who feeds, I kid you not, 5 times a day. She swears that dogs, like humans, do better with processing smaller meals as it keeps their blood levels, like ours, more even and aids in better absorption and digestion. now, true, its 3 meals and 2 snacks… but still, I don't have that kind of time even is she thoroughly convinced me.
But I do think that meals are such a happy time for my dogs (except Sayblee) that giving them 2 a day is not only healthy but spreads out the happiness. And with diabetic and cancer dogs, they absolutely say at least 2 meals a day. So I figure if they need it, it must also be better for dogs.
But lol on the southern thing... most of my dogs buddies are UP NORTH. That said, we did grow up feeding 2 times a day. On my grandmother's farm, it probably had to do with 'scraps' cause they got the morning scraps then the evening scraps along with their kibble. We are such creatures of habit.
Debra
Well, and actually my Daddy was a southern boy and he's the one who had us feeding our dogs once a day. Probably because his family was dirt poor and didn't have table scraps twice a day, LOL
FIVE times a day!! Wow. I'd never remember! We'd have the most inconsistent feeding schedule!
I am late on this thread, but some of our dogs can eat once a day and be just fine. But our puppies have always thrown up yellow bile if they they go too long between meals, and we have one adult bitch that will absolutely throw up if she doesn't eat two meals, and a snack at about 2:30pm.
And I really agree with Debra on this one…if it ain't broke, don't fix it!
Wow. Well, I'm not saying "it ain't so", but I've never seen it before.
Very interesting.
And yes, puppies DO need food more often. My original question was in regard to an adult dog.
I learn a lot on this forum!
I have found that Joey, at 14 months needs to be fed twice a day if he gets a lot of exercise in that day. If he doesn't have that second feeding, the next morning as soon as he starts to do his morning "zip around", he takes a pause for his bile expulsion. On his lazy days, I only feed him once. Since I have been doing this, he has not vomited bile. I wonder tho about the Pavlov theory and if Joey should always be fed twice a day but maybe a smaller version of the second feeding on his lazy days? I think maybe there is more to the individual nature of each dog?
We feed once a day in the evening, healthy treats in the AM. We feed the pups twice a day, but the adults only once.
BB, have you ever had any of your Bs vomit bile?
BB, have you ever had any of your Bs vomit bile?
It happens every so often I guess, reading all of this is new to me. We've always feed our dogs once a day.
I do have a female that was spayed last summer and is fighting weight gain, the idea of feeding her in the morning makes sense.
Please explain this to me, it is a new phrase that I am not familiar with. I have had Sahara throw up this yellow junk before, is this what bile looks like. I feed her 2 times a day, morning and evening, sometimes I have it down for her and she won't eat. I think she wants to be picky on those days.
I have had Sahara throw up this yellow junk before, is this what bile looks like.
That's what it sounds like to me YAT, it's something I've never knew before.
Oh yes, Bella was really bad about throwing up bile first thing in the AM when we first brought her home. Sometimes she would even wake me at night wretching and I would have to get down on the floor with her to keep the bed clean. Think about it, if we get too hungry we sometimes get heartburn… could it be similar with dogs? Some dogs stomaches are more sensitive than others, just like humans. Bella has grown out of the daily vomiting routine, almost like a baby with colic would. Now she only does it occasionally.
Our feeding regimine is Natural Choice Chicken Rice and Oatmeal dry kibble. 1cup in the AM which I leave out for her and she usually does not consume more than a few bites. Then in the PM I add 1/3 can of the same wet food to her dry. If she has eaten more dry than usual, I will add back a little kibble to compensate. Of course she gets a few treats through the course of the day, but no "chewy bones" until she has finished her evening meal...
She seems to do well with this and looks to be healthy Basenji weight. I think that if what you are doing is working, don't change it. 
Personally, I choose to feed food that does not have meat by-products. Also, I would avoid the ones that list corn and corn meal as the main ingredient.
Well, and actually my Daddy was a southern boy and he's the one who had us feeding our dogs once a day. Probably because his family was dirt poor and didn't have table scraps twice a day, LOL
FIVE times a day!! Wow. I'd never remember! We'd have the most inconsistent feeding schedule!
With Senji's liver disease, the vet recommends feeding him 4 small meals/day. I make little balls out of his canned food and hide a pill in each one. He takes his meds twice a day. He doesn't really like the dry Science Diet-liver diet formula unless I add some broth to it. He's been waking up at night to eat, so I've been leaving a little of the dry food in his bowl. That's the only time he'll eat it plain. (I guess when he's hungry enough, he'll eat anything.) I'm weaning him off the prednisone. He's down to 5mg/day. Maybe his appetite will calm down a little.
Before he was diagnosed with this liver problem, he would often eat grass when his stomach was upset. Then he'd go into this full body heave with his tail "pumping" and vomit the grass and yellow bile.
