Dog Community

How often do you feed?

Posted : 7/16/2006 12:16:53 AM

Just wanted to see how many times a day people here feed their dogs. I know some people that feed the dog only once a day, in the evening, but I can't help but feel this isn't really the healthiest for the dog. What do you think? From the time I got my dogs until they were 6 months old, I fed them 3x a day, breakfast, lunch and supper. After 6 months, just twice a day, and that's what I'm still doing now. Which would be better, once or twice a day?

Xeph

Posted : 7/16/2006 12:20:52 AM

I feed Strauss once a day. He won't eat more than once. He refuses to eat in the morning, I can't feed him in the afternoon, and so, evening is the only option.

Really, I should say "late night" because he's not fed until 10-11 PM depending on the night. 9 PM is the earliest he will eat.

Believe me, if I could make him, he'd eat more than once a day, because I DO worry about bloat, but if he's not gonna eat, he's not gonna eat. He needs to exercise before he's hungry enough to eat, which is why he eats so late. Kennel club (depending on the day), doesn't start until 6 PM. We work 2-3 hours, we go home, he's hungry, he eats.

Twice a day (depending on size and breed a dog) is generally better just because it reduces chances of bloat (or so they say), which is the only reason I'd prefer to feed Strauss twice a day instead of once

loveukaykay

Posted : 7/16/2006 12:22:08 AM

Twice is better than once... three times may be better than twice even when they are not puppies but this requires time.

I did the same, fed 3 times until about 5 months, then twice... morning and evening.

Minty_Pups

Posted : 7/16/2006 1:35:13 AM

I feed mine twice a day - 7am and 7pm. I always feed them kibble in the morning. Sometimes for the evening meal I might give them pork bones or raw chicken and such. Even though they're fed twice a day, sometimes they'll only eat 1 meal. In that case I would just take away their food and try again at the next meal time.

laura

Posted : 7/16/2006 2:45:38 AM

I feed twice daily, about 8 a.m. and 8p.m. It varies depending on what we're doing, but it's around those times. Like the others said, it helps reduce the risk of bloat, plus I figure it's just something nice for my dog. I also like knowing that if for any reason I wasn't home in time to give him a meal, he's not gone without all day.

marlania

Posted : 7/16/2006 2:53:11 AM

Brown and Grey's official meal is at 5 pm, but they get other stuff through the day. If we're not going to be home at that time, everyone gets fed early. Full bellies=sleepy dogs=good dogs.[

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Vivian

Posted : 7/16/2006 7:05:26 AM

April gets little milk bone in the morning that is all she will eat, she is a very picky eater, I'm lucky if she eats every other day. lol I do feed her once a day whether she eats or not and yes she gets another little half a bone in the evening, then at bedtime in bed she gets half a beggin treat.

olinda

Posted : 7/16/2006 8:58:52 AM

Romeo eats twice daily. 6:00 am and 6:00 pm and he gets a snack from grandpa midday. By snack I mean some kind of fruit smoothie or now that summer is here I make the smoothies put it in ice tray and that will be his snack.

pumaward

Posted : 7/16/2006 9:03:57 AM

Maddi gets fed twice a day, although I don't have a set time for the feeding. Usually around 8 am and 8 pm, although it varies significantly enough.

shamrockmommy

Posted : 7/16/2006 9:27:32 AM

Twice a day. 8a, 5p. And boy the dogs watch the clocks!

Alexis

Posted : 7/16/2006 9:53:41 AM

I feed once a day at night because that is the only time that Charlie and Lily will eat. They do get a couple of snacks before I head off to work, but don't eat their meal till around 6:30 at night.

Firestorm

Posted : 7/16/2006 11:30:05 AM

I free feed so I put food in it when it gets almost empty. So my dog eats as often as he likes and whenever he is hungry. This works for me and my dog. sometimes he eats once but most times he "grazes" during the day.[

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Justine Freeman

Posted : 7/16/2006 11:39:45 AM

2X a day...an hour after our morning walk...and in the evening it depends on if we have training that day! Sometimes it's as late as 8 or 9 (because I wait an hour after exercise because of bloat). I think it depends on the dog and the size of the dog. We used to feed our Beagle once a day!

bamaeskie

Posted : 7/16/2006 11:44:27 AM

Twice a day here too. Dakota also usually gets a few low-fat treats sometime during the day as well. Up until he was about 6 months old, he was fed three meals a day.

noblewoman

Posted : 7/16/2006 11:54:03 AM

Murphy gets fed once a day. Usually around 5pm.
This seems to work the best for him. When we first adopted him, it was twice a day, but he was the pickiest eater that way. I ended up throwing away more food than he ate. So we switched over to once a day and it's been like that for a year. He's doing very well this way.