Feed once a day or twice

ORIGINAL: Edie

Wolves eats twice a week if they are lucky, same with lions and other wildlife.

I'm sure my dogs would only want to eat twice a week if they got a whole zebra or carrabou at each meal []

 
Good analogy ...
 
if your dogs work as hard as wolves to hunt down that carribou or if you dogs don't have to share their food with a pack 8-10 other wolves [8D]

Willow gets fed her daily requirement over three meals per day, late morning, evening and late night.  She will sometimes refuse one meal and only have two, it's all up to her. I don't really care as long as she's eating something.  She gets some cookies or milk or yogurt as snacks if she isn't eating her meal. 
 
I had to go to a third meal due to the bile vomiting after so many hours without food.  Also, she's very active and I can't imagine making her walk and do things with no food at least offered to her. 

I split Smokeys daily food into 2 portions.  She eats breakfast at about 8:30 AM and her dinner is about 5 PM.  I do this to help prevent bloat and to space her eating out so taht she won't be starving  by the end of the day

ORIGINAL: EnchantedGypsy

ORIGINAL: fangtl

Wolves eats twice a week if they are lucky, same with lions and other wildlife.  Sure most dogs are domesticated pets, but let's not personify them to human standards.   Personally, I don't think feeding once a day will do any harm.

Deep-chested breeds especially should NOT be fed just once a day since they are prone to bloat/torsion which is often fatal. Dogs such as sighthounds, setters, Great Danes, ect should be fed 2-3 smaller meals moistened before serving. No strenuous activity 1-hour prior or after feeding. Feeding from a raised bowl may or may not aid in digestion, studies have been inconclusive....
 

Moistening dry food increases the risk of bloat.

[linkhttp://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&C=216&A=672&S=0]http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&C=216&A=672&S=0[/link]

ORIGINAL: Bobsk8

ORIGINAL: EnchantedGypsy

ORIGINAL: fangtl

Wolves eats twice a week if they are lucky, same with lions and other wildlife. Sure most dogs are domesticated pets, but let's not personify them to human standards. Personally, I don't think feeding once a day will do any harm.

Deep-chested breeds especially should NOT be fed just once a day since they are prone to bloat/torsion which is often fatal. Dogs such as sighthounds, setters, Great Danes, ect should be fed 2-3 smaller meals moistened before serving. No strenuous activity 1-hour prior or after feeding. Feeding from a raised bowl may or may not aid in digestion, studies have been inconclusive....

Moistening dry food increases the risk of bloat.

[linkhttp://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&C=216&A=672&S=0]http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&C=216&A=672&S=0[/link]

Not in high quality kibbles that don't swell up when water is added.
When Ella does get kibble, I add just enough water to moisten the kibble. It NEVER swelled up.

I also want to add that wetting the kibble with water should take care of any possible high ash content concerns.

Our dogs are not living the lifestyle of wolves. Biologically, they're very similar. Lifestyle wise, they're VERY different. Feeding once a day could be detrimental to the health of dogs who wouldn't survive in the wild, like toy breeds or sickly dogs. I know that if Emma were fed once a day, she'd likely become very ill. She's sizeable enough (18 pounds), but she has serious health conditions that limit her ability to stabilize her blood sugar. She is fed four times per day, with treats in between. She also eats a SERIOUS amount of food. Gorging is *not* a healthy habit, for any of us, regardless of what wolves do.

Hold on now Jennie I was not suggesting dogs should follow the eating schedules of a wolf or any animal in the wild, but merely pointing out we shouldn't personify dogs to human standards since there was a remark earlier in the thread that stated something to the effect of' I wouldn't want to eat only once a day so I don't think my dog would want to either.

What I was saying is, it's perfectly alright for a dog to eat once a day. In fact, most if not all dog food manufactures will state, [font="arial"]"Adult dogs should be fed either once or twice per day." [/font][font="arial"]If the canine food manufacturing community feels that feeding once a day will make a dog ill, wouldn't you think there would be HUGE BIG LETTERS stamped on top of every bag or can of dog food sold stating just that?[/font][font="arial"]

[/font]Now, Emma has a special case where her health condition requires you to feed multiple times and thats perfectly fine, the amount/schedule of food should always be adjusted to suit your dog#%92s needs. [font="arial"]

[/font]

I wasn't suggesting that you were saying to feed them like a wolf, but you *did* compare them to wolves. Most of our dogs do *not* eat the same diet as a wolf (even raw dogs generally do not get the feet, face, fur, and all), and they lead a very cushy lifestyle. You can't really compare them to wolves, in that aspect.

I do not believe that it's ok for anyone to eat once a day, not because I don't like it, but because of the way that our bodies metabolize things, and because of blood sugar stability. Spikes and dips are NOT good for us. A nice, stable blood sugar, with enough good protein, is the best way to maintain proper weight. I can imagine it'd help with general health, as well. My healthy dog eats four times, per day, as well. She lost over half of her body weight, that way.

Look, I'm going to say that maybe feeding SOME dogs kibble once a day is fine.
But I don't even like saying that because I was strongly advised against doing it by my vet and everything I read says it's healthiest to break meals up.

Digesting kibble and digesting raw food that a wolf would catch, are different.

I COULD feed Ella once a day because I feed her raw, but I, like Jennie, believe it's not healthy for the stability of their blood sugar.

Honestly, without saying I like or dislike it I just don't understand why someone would only offer one meal per day.  Why expect the dog to go all day with nothing in it's stomach.  It just doesn't seem reasonable.  My dog walks with me, rides around with me, trains, etc.  She should do this all on an empty stomach??  Or with nothing but treats until we feed her her meal?? 
 
I just don't understand the reasoning behind doing that. 

[sm=smack.gif]
 
Alright Jennie, I *did* mention wolves, and I *also* mentioned lions which you have no issues with (yet).  Would it have been any different if I substituded the wolf reference with buffalo, snake, or  leopard? 
 
Regardless, I used it as a means of rhetoric comparison of human v. animal and not something to be taken literally, chewbacca and Edie got it but I guess there was something lost in translation between you and I b/c I still see you using comments like "I do not believe that it's ok for anyone to eat once a day," we are still talking about dogs here aren't we? and almost everyone (dog food community, vets, breeders, trainers, etc) out there suggest 1 or 2 feedings a day for an adult pooch is perfectly peachy.  Now, if you want to feed more than twice a day (4 in your case), that is a personal choice between you and your pets and if you think that's a good choice then no one will be able to change your mind .  However, I know of no evidence out there that suggests there's any benefit to feeding an adult dog more than once or twice a day.

I can tell you that if Willow was fed in the early morning and then at dinner and that was it she'd be vomiting bile by the next morning.  She just cannot go more than I'd say 9 hours or so without food.

The amount/schedule of food should always be adjusted to suit your dog#%92s needs. So I do concede that some dogs need to be fed twice a day, but many other dogs out there are a-ok with one feeding.

"I do not believe that it's ok for anyone to eat once a day," we are still talking about dogs here aren't we?

Dogs are someone, are they not? I do not believe that anyone, human or canine, should eat only once a day. It is not healthy, for blood sugar levels and for the huge amount of work it gives to the stomach. There is a LOT of evidence that it's better for humans to eat five small meals per day, rather than three. It is highly reccomended that diabetics do this, and people who are trying to lose weight. There is also quite a bit of evidence that what conventional vets are doing is causing illness, rather than curing it.

If I believed everything my vet said, I would have missed out on the last two years, with my precious little dog. I think we can agree that losing years of life is a true tragedy.