How Often Do You Feed Your Dog

[Shutterbug]

Korben is 10 months old and we feed him 3 times a day. He gets bis breakfast, lunch and dinner and a bone to chew on in the daytime while OH is at the office.

We are quite happy with this and so is he but people keep telling me to cut him down to one or two feeds a day and I'm not sure if they are saying this because its the "done thing" or because its better for him..I would have thought 3 meals a day was fine.

He is on the raw diet

 

[Bug2007]

Naturally dogs are scavengers and will only eat once every three days or so as and when food is available.

Hounds at a hunt kennels would only be fed very other day or so.

As we have domesticated dogs we feed them everyday and fall in to the trap that they need breakfast and dinner and some cases lunch!!


Alot of people feed twice daily. not sure about three times. What is right and wrong i'm not sure, but i'd watch he doesn't get too fat, dogs aren't fat by nature it's being over fed that does it.

Cliff is fed once a day in the evening and given about four biscuits at breakfast time before we leave for work and a dental stick before bed.

He looks good and is of a good weight.

I'm sure there are more dog diet people on here that might be more helpful than my rambling.

 

[Shutterbug]

Hes getting the right amount of food per day based on his weight - we are quite strict about that, its just broken down into three meals so Im not worried about him getting fat at all. I just feel as though Im doing something wrong because so many people have said "ohh you should have him down to one feed a day now" - like its bad for him or something. Maybe Im just being paranoid lol

 

[posie_honey]

ours are fed twice a day - the old spangle needs two feeds a day to keep weight on - one feed is too little or would be too large quantity - the other two have their feed split into two or they drool everywhere watching old dog eat and i feel cruel lol
also works well on shoot days too though as they go out with food in them but not too much to sick it up if they get over excited/work hard from the beginning of the day

ETA - if he's doing well on that... then if it aint broke...

 

[Herbie31]

I used to feed our dog his daily allowance in the evening. He got a bit porky so the vet advised, when going for his annual booster, to split it up into two feeds. So he now gets fed morning and night.

The vets argument for this was that the dog was getting fed when he was most sedatatory so was not using the food and it was being transferred into fat. Don't know if I have remembered that right, but it has worked for us and he has slimmed down.

 

[Sanolly]

Mine gets fed once a day on the vets advice, he is a deep-chested dog so, as he is so active during the day, I was advised to feed him once a day to avoid the chances of him getting bloat. Also he tends to graze so his food is left overnight and is usually gone by morning.

 

[MissTyc]

We feed once a day as dog stays home for the day to rest and digest and then it ready for running and playing and garden work in the evening. She gets her dental stick when we go to bed . She is a bit chubby at the moment, which we allowed her to get on purpose as she was a lean, mean ribby machine with food aggression from neglect. Now she is a chubby bunny and it's time to reduce rations and let her find her natural healthy weight (which she's not far off, I hasten to add! She's super fit)

 

[Shutterbug]

Thanks guys - give me something to think about.

 

[Goya]

It really depends on your dog imo.
I have 3, 2 of which need feeding twice a day as they need to keep weight on. The third one (Skye) really doesn't need 2 feeds so she just gets a very tiny (and I mean tiny) amount at breakfast so she is not left out when the others get theirs.

 

[cobgirlie]

Mine are fed twice a day, I have a large pack rangeing in age from 4 months to 19 years so find 2 feeds a day ensure the young and old get what they need. I like them to eat twice and day because they are hungry therefore it tells me they need food, they are all extreamly active dogs and none are overweight.

On the rescue side we feed twice a day too, mainly for the kennelled dogs to have something to enjoy in an otherwise distressing and miserable day and we advise new owners to continue with that routine also. Don't know why just because it's the way my parents fed our family pets so I continue to do it also.

 

[RuthnMeg]

1 main meal a day for Ebby, but she also gets 1 dry piece of toast for breakfast and a bonio at bed time. I am having to be careful as she is slightly porky for a whippet cross. (the other half is lab - so it maybe its not so bad?! lol)

 

[MerrySherryRider]

My terriers get fed once a day, though may get appropriate scraps chucked to them at breakfast, as the older one had part of her gut removed and eats smaller meals. Seems to work for them, as they're fit and shiny. In very hot weather they get fed late at night when the temperature drops.

 

[CAYLA]

Once a day, late evening for all mine inc 11 month pup, she holds her weight well enough now to be on one feed, mine are all super active off varied age range.
Rescues are also fed once a day in the afternoon.

 

[dingle12]

Once a day around 4 ish, if i forget what time it is jake is there asking for tea

 

[MurphysMinder]

Mine have a token amount in the morning, for Buffy to have her meds but Evie has some so she doesn't feel left out,then main meal in the evening.

 

[flashmans]

Mine gets fed in the morning and evening, a cup of working dog food (soaked a little) in each and a bonio for lunch!

 

[SavingGrace]

Fudge is fed twice a day often he will only eat once a day though depends on how he is feeling and whether there is any scraps

 

[gable]

Usualy once a day - in the morning But since having the pup (now 15 weeks old) big dog also gets fed twice a day with pup

 

[Alec Swan]

Naturally dogs are scavengers and will only eat once every three days or so as and when food is available.

Hounds at a hunt kennels would only be fed very other day or so.

As we have domesticated dogs we feed them everyday and fall in to the trap that they need breakfast and dinner and some cases lunch!!


Alot of people feed twice daily. not sure about three times. What is right and wrong i'm not sure, but i'd watch he doesn't get too fat, dogs aren't fat by nature it's being over fed that does it.

Cliff is fed once a day in the evening and given about four biscuits at breakfast time before we leave for work and a dental stick before bed.

He looks good and is of a good weight.

I'm sure there are more dog diet people on here that might be more helpful than my rambling.

Absolutely right. Bitches in pup, or dogs in serious work, would be different, but apart from that, then mine get fed six days, out of seven.

Alec.

Ets, puppies at 9/10 months will go on to one meal a day. a.

 

[ofcourseyoucan]

my 7 month is fed twice a day, and my older dogs once a day about 5 pm when i feed the horses. they do pick at bits of horse food, horse pooh and sugar beet in the day (yes disgusting i know .. labs....) all fit, covered but not fat, shiny (they also try to get the oil as i am putting it in the feeds.. they are on the go for about 4 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the aafternoon. get shut away for a rest middle of the day.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I cut to twice a day at about five or six months.

My old bitch was fed once a day and it didn't kill her, in fact she lived to 14.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Usualy once a day - in the morning But since having the pup (now 15 weeks old) big dog also gets fed twice a day with pup

Another 'big dog'!

Big dog gets fed at the same time as the 7 month old pups, morning and evening. I moved them onto 2 meals a day as soon as I went back to work, so when they were about 4 months. I think I was supposed to keep them on three a day but I dunno why: they're all fine on twice a day.

When they're a bit older, they might get a token in the morning and the main event in the evening.

 

[echodomino]

Mine used to be fed once a day but I split it to twice a day, still the same amount of food though. For some strange reason, Jim keeps his weight better this way. It's also better because if I'm on a longer shift at work, they're not going ages between meals if they've had something in the morning.

 

[Shutterbug]

OK - we have decided to cut him down to two meals a day

Thanks everyone for your input - really appreciate it

 

[Cyrus]

My three are fed once a day in the evening apart from working season when they are upped to two meals a day and they are burning it off a lot quicker
We as usual keep a visual on them if they drop weight or gain too much we adjust accordingly
We also find the dogs choose themselves when to go back to one meal as they will start to refuse to eat their morning meals

 

[bex1984]

My dog doesn't have a 'mealtime' - he has dry food down all the time, as soon as he finishes it we put more down. He is 11 months old now and has always been fed like this, it seems to suit him really well. He eats when he's hungry.

 

[mollichop]

Absolutely right. Bitches in pup, or dogs in serious work, would be different, but apart from that, then mine get fed six days, out of seven.

Alec.

Ets, puppies at 9/10 months will go on to one meal a day. a.

Alec, i've heard of this but what is the reasoning behind leaving one day clear? Every other day makes sense, as a wild dog may not kill every day.

But I think one day off would confuse mine too much and they'd just think i'd been on the wine a bit early and forgotten! They'd follow me around on the 'dry' day til I gave in I think!

Mine get fed twice a day, with a third small meal for lunch on a shoot day.

 

[BBH]

My two ages 3 and 7 get a snackette in the morning either cereal or a couple of markies and are fed a main meal in the evening followed by a dental stick thing.

They both seem fine with this.

 

[Stacey02]

Ask your vet, all depends on the size of your dog, how active they are and how old they are. The last thing you want is an overweight dog, it will only lead to health problems

 

[Kenzo]

She is fed once a day, usually around 7pm.

She gets a biscuit in a morning as a treat when I leave for work.