Tess's Girl Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Tess is about 1 year and 9 months now. She's never been a big eater but lately she's not been eating her breakfast until I get home in the evenings around 4. She usually gets fed dinner at 7, but she doesn't eat that after she just ate at 4. She's on a high quality kibble and she gets about 1 1/2 - 2 cups a day. So effectively, she's already eating one time a day. I've always fed my dogs twice a day but I'm thinking about just feeding her once in the evening. Does anyone else feed their dogs just once a day? It doesn't seem like enough to me, since I've never done it that way, but if that's what she's doing anyway I feel like I might as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 My inclination is to feed dogs once a day, and that's what I did for years (except for pups). I still do that for most of my dogs, but for a few, there are valid reasons to feed twice a day (keeping blood sugar levels more constant for the epileptic, encouraging the really old dogs to eat enough food over a 24-hour period), and so I do that, even though it's less convenient for me. In other words, until I had old or sick dogs (or puppies) that needed to be fed more than once a day, I fed only once a day. Of the seven I have now, two are fed twice a day because they need to be, and one, the pup (now a year old) will soon be transitioned to once a day (if she will eat enough in one feeding to satisfy her caloric requirements). J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 ^^This. I'm offering my old dog food 3 times a day (different kinds of food at each feeding) just to try to get her to eat. Actually, I guess technically it's 4, since she'll eat a couple Tbs. of canned food with her meds in it at night, but not touch the kibble underneath it till she's gone out for her final pee and is crated for the night. Then she'll have a few bites of the kibble. My other dogs are raw fed and usually fed once a day. But sometimes if I'm busy, or just lazy, I'll pull out the meat portion of their meal and end up giving them their meaty bones later in the day. They do fine either way and never complain about getting a second meal. I suspect Tess has just reached a point where her caloric needs aren't as high as they were before. Since she's self regulating, I'd probably move to one feeding at around 4:00 when she's choosing to eat, and if you want to give her a little evening snack, that would be OK, too, but I'm guessing not necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mum24dog Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 General advice nowadays is not to feed one large meal a day and that twice a day is better but if a dog genuinely doesn't want it you can't make it. if you're only going to leave 3 hours between meals that isn't really feeding twice a day and I'm not surprised she won't eat the second. That sort of gluttony is reserved for humans (and labradors). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie Meier Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Once a day unless I have a dog that needs to put on weight or puppies. Puppies usually go to once a day around 5 months of age, from 3 weeks old on up to 5 months twice a day. If a dog is getting treats I call that a separate feeding even though it's a little here and there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maralynn Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Adult is fed once a day, 12 w/o pup is fed twice day and also gets a meals worth of kibble/treats for training. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Oh, another note on twice-a-day feeding--one of my older dogs is fed twice a day because if he doesn't get that second meal, he will throw up bile in the mornings. So even on days when I've traveled and get home late, I may not feed the others who normally eat twice a day, but I always make sure he gets something to eat (and famotidine) so he doesn't have an upset stomach the next morning. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizabeth Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 this is a tricky one in my house, I have the over weight 15 yr old beagle, the hyper 5 yr heeler who forgets to eat because life is just too much fun to stop and eat, and then I have miss BC who wants to eat 3 small meals a day. The Beagle ( Poppy ) loved how we were keeping the bowl of food full all day long, oh yes she has ballooned out gained all that weight shes lost back and then some. So our feeding schedule has been changed and modified to where now i put some food out in the mornings, watch and make sure the heeler eats. If he eats then no worries because I know Gidget and Poppy will finish it off. Then mid day when Poppy is tired and sleeping I put out more food for Gidget, now and then Orian will come and have a few bites but his time is when Im cooking dinner. I make sure that I get Orian to eat every evening, showing the others out of the feeding area so he can take his time and get a belly full. Then after dinner I make sure everyone has gotten a chance to eat. It is kind of like musical chairs with dogs lol. Still working on perfecting this I think we really need a tread mill to work out that beagle I know she would walk for miles and miles on it if we hooked up a bowl of food just out of her reach lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Why not feed specific meals at specific times instead of free feeding? That would solve the problem of the fat beagle getting too much and the active heeler not getting enough. Personally I prefer to be able to know and regulate exactly how much each of my dogs is getting. There are many advantages to this, not the least of which is being able to easily control caloric intake and therefore weight. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess's Girl Posted June 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 To clarify, I don't put the food down at 4pm. I put her first meal down in the mornings when I leave (5:30am) it stays down all day. I come back home around 4pm and that's when she chooses to eat. I tried to put her on a schedule and only gave her 20 minutes to eat, but. I kid you not, she barely ate anything for a week. I give her a specific amount, but since she's the only dog here I don't mind leaving it out. I thought it was just a me being there thing, but even when I am home in the mornings, she still doesn't eat until much later. I'll just put on her one meal around 4 or 5 and see how she does with that for awhile. I'll be interested to see if she will eat it all in one sitting or if she still leaves some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highway61 Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 ...I tried to put her on a schedule and only gave her 20 minutes to eat, but. I kid you not, she barely ate anything for a week.... Only 20 minutes? I feed my two dogs balances portions in the morning and evening. They're chow hounds, they gobble it up. On the rare occasion they don't, they have no more than a few minutes and then the food bowls go up out of reach until the next meal. Controlling my dogs number one resource has never been a problem for me or them but YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess's Girl Posted June 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Tess has been a challenge when it comes to eating. She doesn't even like treats or human food very much. If we've had a hard day, like a long hike or something like that she will eat almost as soon as I put her food down, but on a normal day she doesn't care. I decided that it didn't really matter to me if I left her food down all day. I know how much she is eating because I measure her portion, but she's free to eat it whenever. She's been eating fine, her food gone when I get back from work, and eating her evening meal in about 30min. It's just been lately that she's decided that she doesn't want to eat in the mornings. She stays at a good weight and is healthy. I guess she's just finicky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMS Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Older dogs- once a day Pups or dogs that need to gain- 3x a day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RemsMom Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Oh, another note on twice-a-day feeding--one of my older dogs is fed twice a day because if he doesn't get that second meal, he will throw up bile in the mornings. So even on days when I've traveled and get home late, I may not feed the others who normally eat twice a day, but I always make sure he gets something to eat (and famotidine) so he doesn't have an upset stomach the next morning. J. My German Shepherd has the same issue. I also have to make sure he gets breakfast by 8:30 or he will get sick. He also gets famotidine. I have never thought about feeding once a day. I have always fed my GSD twice a day so that is what I was planning to do once my puppy gets a little older. For now I am feeding the puppy three times a day and I can't imagine cutting it down to two because she is really slim. When I had Miniature Schnauzers I always free fed them. They really didn't care much about food and were never overweight. It sound like Tess is the same way. As long as she stays slim I don't see why it would be a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 My German Shepherd has the same issue. I also have to make sure he gets breakfast by 8:30 or he will get sick. He also gets famotidine. My understanding is that the reason many dogs vomit bile is that they're on a very strict schedule with feeding times, and that their digestive system starts secreting in anticipation of a meal. If they don't get that meal soon after they begin producing digestive fluids, those fluids upset their empty stomachs and they vomit them. I cant' swear that this is 100% true, but I did have a dog who vomited bile frequently, so I started feeding at random times so that the dogs never really knew when they'd be getting their next meal. I know that many raw feeders follow this routine for just this reason. So, my dogs usually get fed sometime late morning, but it can vary from 10:30 to noon. Occasionally it's earlier than that and sometimes it's later. Most days they're fed once a day, but sometimes it's twice. There's often, but not always, a bedtime snack of a small amount of organ meat. It may not work for every dog, but it's been a great way of doing things for me. No random bile vomits at all any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon's girl Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Gideon was always picky and I would try feeding twice daily, but he would only eat every third meal. Angel would never miss a meal, no matter what. Micah would spit up bile if I didn't get a bite of food into him every couple hours. Turns out he had food intolerance issues. I started feeding some raw and figured out his food intolerances and the bile regurg stopped and hasn't been back. Everyone is eating once a day now and doing great, but I do train with treats, so they really do get bits throughout the day sometimes, but not every day. I've read that often the bile regurg is due to diet. Water content of the food triggers pepsin production and pepsin triggers the release of hydrochloric acid. Stomach acid at the right level encourages the valve at the top of the stomach to close completely. I don't know how true it is, but there you go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 The problem with random feeding times is that it's not really practical if you work outside of the home. I have a schedule and so the dogs' meals are going to be on some sort of schedule. The evening meal can be variable simply because at this time of year I may be outside doing stuff till much later than at other times of the year, but in the mornings I give myself an hour and a half to get up and get out of the house, and in that time I have to feed dogs and cats, scoop the litter pan, scoop the yard, make my bed, and get myself cleaned up and dressed and ready for work, oh, and wash all the dog bowls. And give fresh water to any who will be in crates or runs for the day. So there won't be much variation in the morning feeding times.... As for my comments on free feeding, those were intended for Lizabeth, who said that with free feeding their fat beagle was getting even fatter and the heeler was too skinny. I have a pack of dogs here. Free feeding, unless I crated all of them all day with their bowls of free choice food, would mean that the pigs would overeat and the picky eaters would never get anything. If free feeding works for other people, then they can certainly do it. I prefer a little more control over my dogs' feeding schedule. And with a houseful of dogs I don't have any surprises about who's eating and who may not be. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shetlander Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 I have been feeding twice a day for years now and it seems to work for us. The ancient Sheltie has chronic pancreatitis, so I have been feeding her four small meals for about a year and a half. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushdoggie Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 Twice a day, because my husband thinks they will die if they only get fed once. They do nothing to encourage this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloria Atwater Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 I feed ours twice a day, simply because I feel better about it. I have no science to back it up, but I feel that feeding twice a day just keeps their internal furnace better stoked. After all, wild or feral dogs are more apt to snack on rodents and leftovers during the day, rather than eat one big venison steak at night. Unless we're going to do something really strenuous that day - like run a sheepdog trial - in which case I feed a "soup" of canned dog food and water for breakfast and reserve the big meal until supper.If your dog is a little fussy, what I'd do is offer her a breakfast in the morning, maybe dress it up a bit with something really yummy like canned food, and if she doesn't eat it in say 15 minutes, then pick it up. Offer her her supper the same way, just give her X amount of time to eat, then pick it up. It may take her a couple days or so to figure out the program, but she won't starve in the meantime. Can't hurt to try anyhow! ~ Gloria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloria Atwater Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 this is a tricky one in my house, I have the over weight 15 yr old beagle, the hyper 5 yr heeler who forgets to eat because life is just too much fun to stop and eat, and then I have miss BC who wants to eat 3 small meals a day. The Beagle ( Poppy ) loved how we were keeping the bowl of food full all day long, oh yes she has ballooned out gained all that weight shes lost back and then some. So our feeding schedule has been changed and modified to where now i put some food out in the mornings, watch and make sure the heeler eats. If he eats then no worries because I know Gidget and Poppy will finish it off. Then mid day when Poppy is tired and sleeping I put out more food for Gidget, now and then Orian will come and have a few bites but his time is when Im cooking dinner. I make sure that I get Orian to eat every evening, showing the others out of the feeding area so he can take his time and get a belly full. Then after dinner I make sure everyone has gotten a chance to eat. It is kind of like musical chairs with dogs lol. Still working on perfecting this I think we really need a tread mill to work out that beagle I know she would walk for miles and miles on it if we hooked up a bowl of food just out of her reach lol Goodness sakes, you're free feeding with dogs having eating needs that varied? Please forgive me, but I think it would be more fair to your dogs - and certainly healthier for the beagle - if you got them on a regular eating schedule. I'd recommend feeding them in individual crates so that the excitable eater can focus, the chubby dog only gets what he needs, and the BC can learn that meals come certain times of day. It's better for all concerned and would certainly cut down on the musical dog meals. Just a thought! ~ Gloria P.S. Also, feeding dogs separately lets you keep an eye on how they are eating and you can see if anyone is off their feed and perhaps getting sick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 ^^ This. The feeding regimen you're using now obviously isn't working well for the beagle. And it sounds like way more work for you than necessary, too. It sounds a bit like at my house when the dog I board is here. My old dog is offered food 3 times a day, first thing in the morning, last thing at night and sometime in between. My other 2 are fed somewhere between 10:00 - noon, and maybe a neck when the old gal gets hers mid-day. And the boarder border eats at 5:00 according to his owner's schedule. I feel like I'm feeding dogs all day long when he's here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
border_collie_crazy Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 I have always fed dogs over 6 months twice a day, and under 6 months 3 times a day. I have slept in before, not had time to feed my dogs breakfast, and fed them once a few times, but even my biggest food hounds refuse to eat that much in 1 sitting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizabeth Posted June 22, 2014 Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 I really think the beagle has been over eating just to eat, it is hard in our house do to the heeler to have set feeding times, but I have started to just pick up the bowl after the beagle eats, then when the heeler is in the kitchen I will set it down, if he eats good if not I just pick it up and try again later. Its working out pretty well, I tell the beagle to eat oh no problem she eats all she wants, the BC shes not a problem she lets me know when she is hungry no problem down goes the bowl. It seems that any time someone eats the beagle thinks she needs to finish up the bowl, she is a very food motivated little girl always has been. So far so good no one is going hungry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted June 22, 2014 Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 I'd be measuring out the beagle's food and not letting her eat more than she needs, not as much as she wants. IMO, it's your responsibility to limit food for the dog that won't do it herself. I have a couple dogs who would probably be quite obese if I let them eat what they wanted to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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