How many meals does your dog get each day?

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MizElz

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Our Labs only get one, at nightime....but my OH is a nightmare about pandering to his old Border Terrier, who demands food all day! He insists on giving him 'breakfast', even though he blatantly doesnt need it; he's fat enough as it is! I dont believe that the average dog needs to eat more than once a day - puppies, of course, are different!
 
Three cos he's a puppy but he will still have two a day when he's an adult. I think it depends on the dog: some will only want one big meal, others may prefer theirs split into two.
 
Some would feed two feeds as sometimes one big meal can cause bloating. I have never had a problem with this with my lot and they happy on one. In fact the Beastie wouldn't even get out of her bed for breakfast
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(Unless it's mine of course)
 
How many times a day do you eat? Could you go 24hours before getting your next meal? It's irrelevant how many times a day a dog eats, it's whether they are getting the correct amount according to their size and exercise routine. I would always recommend 2 meals a day, however my gsd has a bowl of food down permanently, has done since a pup, if you do this from day 1 they tend not to overeat and eat according to their requirements.
Lucy (VN)
 
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How many times a day do you eat? Could you go 24hours before getting your next meal? It's irrelevant how many times a day a dog eats, it's whether they are getting the correct amount according to their size and exercise routine. I would always recommend 2 meals a day, however my gsd has a bowl of food down permanently, has done since a pup, if you do this from day 1 they tend not to overeat and eat according to their requirements.
Lucy (VN)

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In answer to your first question, I would have no problem going 24 hours to my next meal.....but that is actually irrelevant because I asked about dogs here, not humans! I agree that each dog is different; however your last statement about keeping a bowl of food down permanently made me laugh out loud; there are some dogs you could NEVER do this with! Our youngest lab got hold of a 5kg bag of dried food when she was 14 weeks old - she ate it all, paper included, and thus we initially had no idea what had happened - the vet thought it was bloat and told us we would probably lose her! She is the kind of dog that would gobble anything, regardless of whether or not she was hungry, and if we kept food down permanently, she would be as big as a house! As it is, she gets half a big bowl of biscuits every evening, and is perfectly happy and healthy
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I actually agree with magpie's yard, I think it's cruel to let them go 24 hours without eating - our domestic dogs are far, far removed from wild dogs who would perhaps only eat once a day, if they managed to kill something. Our domestic dogs have evolved scavenging around villages for hundreds of years, eating whatever they can, whenever.

As far as I'm concerned, there's no good reason for feeding once a day, it's just the old-fashioned way.

Mine gets her daily portion split into three meals a day.
 
My GSD get three meals a day. I have tried him on two meals but was always sick with yellow bile. Splitting his daily ration into three has sorted this and he is happy.
 
My puppy is currently on three meals a day. Our adult dog is on two meals a day, a smaller meal in the morning and a larger one in the evening. The puppy will be on two per day aswell when she's older.
 
All of my dogs are fed ad-lib. I never ever let their bowls run out. I've always fed all of my animals ad-lib and it works for them and me. I've never had a fat dog in my life and mine don't bicker over food.

I do however give them all raw meat once a day and this is at night time when I am preparing our dinner.
 
One meat meal at night and ad lib biscuit through the day(normally Chudleys) although TBH some dont really bother with the biscuits at all.
None of them have weight problems and all have been fit and healthy untill claimed by old age.

Refuse to mess about with dogs feed unless they have a special diet for medical reasons.
Enough food is put down and they eat it or dont.
 
Twice a day... dry for breakfast, meaty dinner. Have always done this for all my dogs, as sighthounds can be prone to bloat and I'd rather not risk giving just one big meal. Everyone's different, but this has always worked for us
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2 meals per day - he's 8 months.

Couldn't feed ad lib - being a Lab, he'd eat everything in sight, he acts hungry as soon as the bowl of food is finished!
 
My dog gets 2 meals a day.

Feeding once a day for a lot of dogs is not enough as the stomach cannot regulate and often the dogs throw up bile.

Its better if they have two meals.
 
I've got a whippet/patterdale cross and she has a normal size tin of dogfood for breakfast and her bowl is full of biscuits so she helps herself all day. She goes for a long ride in the morning with me and runs about for the rest of the day. She doesn't seem to need any more than she gets (although I do let her eat all the leftovers and lick the plates and saucepans) and she looks grand.
 
2 meals a day (dry am and wet pm) works perfect for us as Boris is on the go all the time we are always in and out of house, sometimes i take his breakfast to work, so dried food is much easier to carry and cleaner also don't need fridge. Whereas meaty he loves it and always looks forward to it in the evenings. He's in great shape. I accidently forgot to pick up his breakfast which he didn't eat and fed him his supper therefore he ate both meals within an hour, he threw up... Not surprised really. so two small meals is better than one large meal, it also gives chance for the body to absorb the essential nutrients if fed little and often.
 
Once a day since that is what their whole system has evolved to do, eat large meals and then sleep it off till they go hunting again!

They might get a few treats but I always bear in mind that they are not the same as humans or herbivores in that they need to eat little and often, they have evolved to eat it while they can, hence the Lab eating a whole sack!!!!!

Dogs binge eat by nature, hence why dogs kept in a household of 2 or more dogs always eat better than lone dogs, thats pack competition at work.

Re the metion of it being cruel to feed once a day, erhem we have only had commercial dog food for about 50 odd years, even less for sack food and dogs have been evolving for millions of years eating a lot when they can.
 
Ours get two a day because both are slightly underweight and generally won't eat more than a maintenance amount in one meal, bess lost weight when she broke her leg and dom was underweight when we rescued him last year and has gradually been putting some on.
 
Absoloutley agree with this.....I would certainley agree that it is in no way cruel to feed dogs once a day.....I think once again we are humanising
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Most literature will tell u that dogs need a large digestion period and that the worst feeding is add lib (each to their own however) but I would not go as far as to say one meal or add lib is cruel
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All of my dogs are fed ad-lib. I never ever let their bowls run out. I've always fed all of my animals ad-lib and it works for them and me. I've never had a fat dog in my life and mine don't bicker over food.

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Ditto!!!!!! Ours are on dried food, they have a bucket that is never ever empty. It's the same for our cats too! The dogs also get bones, any bones including chicken and fish, aswell as any left overs, etc. Must work well as the vet can't stop praising our dogs' health and our last dogs both lived until 16.
 
My three young ones get 2 meals a day because I'm soft and don't like to think of their tummies rumbling, and Indie gets 3 because she's old and skinny and has big brown eyes
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Normally x 2 a day, but because I have a five month old pup it is x 4 small meals a day with my adult dogs routine being changed to accomodate - to avoid her getting upset.

I would rather feed small meals and often than see a hungrey dog wolf down a larger meal. I do believe it depends on bred, temperment, home circumstances.
 
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