We rescued a pup and have been feeding him 3 times a day. He is about 7 months old currently and still feeding puppy food. He is about 45-50lbs, mix breed (we think mostly lab and doberman, but thats not confirmed). When is a good time to switch him to eating twice a day instead of 3?
When to feed twice a day??
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Mostly puppies and often older seniors who have trouble both keeping weight on or off can benefit from twice a day feeding.
Most healthy adults can be fed once a day.
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I agree that they can, but I never did so. I figured I wouldn't like to eat only once a day and my dogs probably don't either so I feed my dogs twice a day. It's never done them any harm, and I've always wondered if it isn't healthier to feed them 2x a day.
The one I have now needs to be fed at a minimum 2x a day and one snack before bed or he gets hunger pukes, and yes he's healthy. There's also deep chested breeds and the whole debate as to weather feeding smaller meals multiple times a day can prevent bloat, and some tiny toy breeds end up with hypoglycemia when only fed once.
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I cant see charlie my lab and my brothers lab ozzy or even cooper brothers golden retriever only being fed once a day! they get fed twice a day and stare you out moan, whine , pace until fed. Jessie is healthy too as are the others and she needs to be fed twice a day too! gosh she wont let me get away with it unless she unwell!
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We feed once a day... we started to do this with both dogs when they were around half a year old or slightly older.
they get their main portion (eith dry food or wet dogfood) in the morning after the first walk. during the day we feed plenty of treats and often he gets a little snack (like a few potatoes a piece of meat or cooked vegetables... something from dinner, if isn't too salty) too.
both of them were more on leaner side and they don't eat when they're not hungry which makes it easier to us (a friend's golden retreiver mix would eat everything and 8 full meals a day and still ask for more if they'd let her).
For Sancho we also want him to be lean, because the heavier he is the more straining it is for his bones and joints.
If you should notice that the dog is getting too heavy and the dog is an adult, it is also okay to have a fastday once a week and of course, adjusting the food amount and quality to the activity level.
they get their main portion (eith dry food or wet dogfood) in the morning after the first walk. during the day we feed plenty of treats and often he gets a little snack (like a few potatoes a piece of meat or cooked vegetables... something from dinner, if isn't too salty) too.
both of them were more on leaner side and they don't eat when they're not hungry which makes it easier to us (a friend's golden retreiver mix would eat everything and 8 full meals a day and still ask for more if they'd let her).
For Sancho we also want him to be lean, because the heavier he is the more straining it is for his bones and joints.
If you should notice that the dog is getting too heavy and the dog is an adult, it is also okay to have a fastday once a week and of course, adjusting the food amount and quality to the activity level.
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We fed Samantha once a day for awhile, but she would get so hungry, she just seemed to be miserable. Also large meals tend to upset her stomach. We switched to twice a day, she does so much better, both with hunger control, and her stomach doesn't get upset.
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I fed mine three times a day until he was about 15 weeks, and then switched to twice a day. I don't think I'll ever switch to once a day - mostly because I want his blood sugar to be balanced.
Plus, he's very food motivated with behavior and training. If he's not at least a little hungry, I won't be able to train him to do ****. If I gave him an entire day's food all at once, he won't cooperate with anything at all lol.
That said, I do underfeed him (below the label's recommendation) but he gets tons of healthy treats (usually freeze dried raw meat) though out the day. Sometimes I put all his food in kongs (I mix dry Acana kibble with maybe a boiled veggie mash, for example, or a spoon full of wet food) and let him work at it over a few hours.
Plus, he's very food motivated with behavior and training. If he's not at least a little hungry, I won't be able to train him to do ****. If I gave him an entire day's food all at once, he won't cooperate with anything at all lol.
That said, I do underfeed him (below the label's recommendation) but he gets tons of healthy treats (usually freeze dried raw meat) though out the day. Sometimes I put all his food in kongs (I mix dry Acana kibble with maybe a boiled veggie mash, for example, or a spoon full of wet food) and let him work at it over a few hours.
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