How many meals per day?

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Charlie007

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How many times a day do you feed your dogs?

We have had dogs in the family since before I was born. I always remember mum feeding them twice a day and this is something I have always done with my own dogs.
We are starting to feed fresh tripe from tomorrow and we are thinking of feeding once a day, so what do you do?
 
I feed raw, and mine get a chicken leg -or similar - first thing. Then in the evening they will get their mince/fish etc.

For me personally it is because mine are mainly gundogs, and therefore I think they need some feed before they work. In the winter months when they are working I will give them extra in the mornings.
 
Thanks for your reply. One of ours is a gun dog and she also does agility. The little terrier does nothing! I might give them a small handful of complete biscuits in the morning and main meal in the evening. Feel guilty giving just the one meal!
 
I've asked this question before and there seems to be different schools of thought. Some say once a day replicates nature more closely and I have also heard of those who fast their dogs for one day each week, also for this reason. Other say twice a day to avoid health issues such as bloat. I feed my GSP' s twice daily as they are a deep chested breed and therefore more prone to bloat. I also hydrate them before working them. Having said that, growing up, my parents always only fed once and there were never any issues.
 
We feed twice a day.

The doberman is always starving and I think would chew her own leg off without breakfast to keep her going through the day!

The GSP isn't a huge eater and if we fed him once a day he wouldn't be eating enough (he also has lots of snacks through the day to keep him eating).
He is very lean with lots of muscle but we can't afford for him to not eat enough as he has no spare bodyweight.
 
I feed my GSP once a day. He became really uninterested in his morning feeds, so I gave him his daily amount in the afternoon and we really wanted it. Seems to be really working for him.
 
Mine also have access to food all day. Both whippets are on dry food (better all round) and they just graze when they feel like it. Both are a good weight with just enough padding but also the normal whippy bones sticking out.
 
At the moment, chicken carcass in the morning, dry food from my pockets during walking/training then a bowl of tripe at night, mainly for condition.
If he's doing a lot of training or tracking or away for a weekend he gets just dry.
 
Mine is more fur than dog and would eat for Britain. So to keep him happy, do a tiny breakfast, yay! and and a slightly bigger dinner. The salutations for it keep me almost as happy as him.
My son thinks I should let him allow his piggy appetite in his dotage. But I am keeping him lean and mean. I need him alive!
 
Used to feed once a day, but on veterinary advice now feed twice a day, roughly 12 hours apart. The dogs are much happier on it, and one who had a very tricky stomach is completely cured. Milk and biscuit at 8a.m., and 'proper' dinner (butcher's minced left-overs - cooked - and biscuit + household scraps) at 8p.m.

They are 15 and 10 and still look good and happy (very happy tonight, as I picked over the ends of a saddle of venison we'd had roasted after I discovered it at the bottom of the freezer. Made a lovely stock from the bones, and the dogs think I'm the best chef ever - for tonight, anyway)!!
 
Broke_But_Happy said:
It may be controversial but mine has constant access to food, if his bowl is getting low I just top it up :)
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Oooh 'eck! If I did that my Lily whippet would be like a barrel in no time! She would literally never stop until she was sick and then go again, greedy girl she is! However my mother's spaniel has this system and he isn't a greedy feeder and it works okay for him.

I feed mine twice. They seem content on this system.
 
Once a day for Betsy. She turned her nose up at her food when she was on two a day and dropped weight.

When she had a holiday at my mums she had two a day and wolfed them down because there was another dog there.

I keep toying with the idea of giving her a brekkie but she just stops eating it. She is a good weight now but I'm sure she would have you believe she is starved.
 
I just fill the bowl up when it's empty. Mine seems to prefer to eat overnight but it's not unusual for him not to bother eating some days. He's a lurcher and his weight is perfect. He is inclined to supplement his diet with fresh squirrels and rabbits!
 
Once a day, always have, always will. I personally do believe it's the best way to feed:p I would only ever make allowance for a very under weight dog (or a puppy) and even with pups Im not still feeding 3 or 4 meals at a year it will be down to one.
 
Twice a day - brekky is smaller than afternoon but I like her to start the day with something in her system as it's a pretty busy full on day.
 
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