How often do you all feed your adult dogs?
I feed my dogs once a day, as my own family always did.
But Darren wonders if they shouldn't be fed twice a day,
which I guess is what his family did.
It's funny it came up this week because we've had dogs all the 20 years
we've been married and he's never said anything before. I guess because the dogs have always been "mine".
Just curious what you all do.
I put Abbey's food down first thing in the morning but sometimes she won't eat till midmorning for some reason. She will always eat if we have scrambled eggs for breakfast though. She loves those. I also feed her in the evening when I eat dinner.
Hollie's food is always out and she eats at different times during the day. We are lucky we can keep the food out, as she doesn't tend to over eat. When we first brought her home from the shelter she would finish her food everytime we put it out (she was picked up as a stray), but now she knows that there will ALWAYS be food for her if she is hungry.
I feed mine twice, in the morning and in the evening.
I feed mine twice a day, in the morning and in the evening!
I feed twice a day. Mine eat in their crates, and what they don't finish in 15 minutes is taken away.
We feed Duke in the morning, about 1-1/2 cups of dry - He'll eat what he wants, but always leaves about 10 or so kibbles. After our dinner, we add to what's left in the bowl, another 1-1/2 cups and he'll eat it, and leaves a few kibbles. I think he likes to have just enough room in his tummy for goody biscuits - eaten anytime you give him one. If he were really hungry, I think he'd go back and finish the leftovers.
my god! My girl would be so fat if I fed her 3 cups of food a day! O.o
I feed her twice a day, and she's on a diet.
I feed Cali in the morning before I go to work and in the evening when I get home from work. She normally does not eat all of her food in the morning so whatever is left(sometimes I give her soft canned food mixed in with her regular food) is put in a freezer bag and put in the fridge. If she has any soft food left from the morning I heat it up in the microwave a little and add the hard dog food to it. I keep Cali crated during the day, but I do not leave food or water in her crate. Sometimes I will put a couple of dog biscuits in her crate before I leave in the morning. I also don't let her eat or drink anything past 9pm because this keeps me from having to get up in the middle of the night to let her out.
tlbuddy
I did not put water in Jazzy's crate when she was younger, but now that she is older and can "hold it" as necessary, I do keep water in her crate at night. She very seldom drinks it, but it's there if she needs it.
Whenever I crate her, whether for the night or if we are leaving the house, I toss a puppy biscuit in for her. She is always very excited to get into her crate. Of course, I give biscuits to my other dog which is not crated when I leave; that's just something I've always done.
I wonder. . . just thinking "out loud" here . . . . . if my lazy Jazzy would be more energetic if I fed her in the AM instead of PM. hmmmmm, something else to ponder.
Sahara eats twice a day, morning and evening, about cup of Beneful puppy dry mixed with about 2 tablespoon of Beneful wet. She also gets treats when she is good, and doesn't try to kill the cats or goes potty when raining.
I leave Sandies food out all day she does'nt seem to over eat and her bowl only holds about 2 1/2 cups …which still has food in it till mid day the next day... we have training sessions at nite when i get off work, at which time she gets her puppy biscuts... the only real people food she has had is chicken and she like that.. we use that as a treat for the cats...
Feeding time is much different in our house.
There is no leaving food out, AKA "At Liberty Feeding", we have several dogs which would take advantage of this and pork out a any opportunity. There is a great amount of competitiveness for food about our dogs. I generally attribute this to having groups of three or more.
There are very beneficial reasons to feed at a specific time. Pavlov’s Dog, which documented that dogs anticipate a specific feeding time and or conditions in which they salivate and produce digestive acid. Feeding on a regular schedule does aid in the digestive process. This also very beneficial to producing regularity for bowel movements, a big plus for puppy house breaking.
As for time of day, if your dog tends to be overweight, feed in the morning only. The dog will burn the Kcals thought out that day, and extra will be stored as fat, or if insufficient to meet that days needs, they will burn fat reserves. This allows better weight management for the dog which tends to be fat.
If your dog tends to be thin, feed twice a day. The dog will burn the Kcals given in the morning, and the evening feeding will assist in supplying additional Kcals and reduce the likelihood that they will pull from fat reserves. The additional Kcals from the evening feeding will be processed into fat reserves if the dog does not utilize them, such as during that nights sleep. This helps to keep weight on the dogs that tends to be thin.
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.
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!
