How Many Times Do You Feed?

[Doxmom]

My neighbor and doxie-mentor with a standard, only feeds her doxie once a day, in the morning. She does give him a snack at night.

I was wondering, now that Bree is ten months old, if I should be feeding him only one meal/day. He has been eating breakfast and dinner, with a small treat after his walks and in the evening..

 

[Wandering Man]

We've always fed twice a day.

Our vet has said either once or twice is fine, but I don't want to worry about my dogs going to bed hungry.

One thing we haven't done, is to leave food out all day. The few people I know that have tried this with a dachshund have had to stop because the dogs didn't know when to quit eating.

 

[Steph]

I feed once a day - at night when we have supper, so we all eat together. I used to do it twice a day until Arelus started REALLY packing on the beef once he hit around Bree's age. Then it was diet time and cut down to one meal a day with a few treats during the day itself. If I plan to do a training run with him, I cut his portion down a little more to accommodate treat usage during training.

 

[nola]

Nola gets 1/2 cup of food in the morning, 2 TBSP plain yogurt and 1 TBSP of pure pumpkin at about noon, and treats throughout the day for training.

 

[dgc333]

Mine are feed in the evening. They get a snack in the morning as part of a little training.

 

[Inkeri]

I feed the dogs 2 times a day because Manu has issues with his stomach if it's completely empty... He starts to vomit and refuses to eat (he's been like this since he was a puppy and they say that it usually passes when the puppy grows up). So he has to have regular meal-times.
My parents feed their dogs once a day.

 

[jax's_mommy]

Jax has free range with his food, yet he only eats 2 maybe 3 times a day. but its there for him when he's hungry

 

[vizzla]

I believe that dogs need morning and afternoon but they decide for them selves We feed him twice a day but he chooses to only eat once, at night. We always keep food in his bowl because he needs to eat. He is in good condition and he is checked by a vet so he is healthy. A little bit skinny in my opinion but he has a great coat and is a happy and active dog so I suppose he eats what he needs.

 

[natural curl]

Twice a day, but we cut back the amount a bit when he started to pudge up. He enjoys his meals so much I hate to take away that happy time, even if it last only a few seconds.

 

[DeafDogs]

I feed 2x per day. especially with small dogs, it's important as little dogs often get hypoglycemic episodes. Both Mouse and Boo shake like crazy after a meal when I tried only once a day feeding... besides, Mouse needs too much food for her tiny little belly to get it all in one meal... she looks like she swallowed a softball if she gets all her daily food in one meal. LOL she has a seriously high metabolism and eats nearly double what Boo eats in order to keep her at a healthy weight... at 8.5 lbs she eats a cup a day! Oliver my 40lb dog eats 1.5 cups! Boo my 7.5 lb little guy eats only 1/2 cup a day.

 

[babysis]

I feed my girl twice a day. Once in the morning and once in the evening. It really depends on the metabolism and how quick they can digest the food. (From past learning experiences on my part).

 

[Penny]

We feed 3 times a day. Beau was taking meds every 12 hrs with food so it just works for us. I do add enough water to the kibble so they float a bit, and microwave 12 seconds so it's a nice warm meal and they get extra water. In half an hour those kibble must get to be 3 times the size with the added warm water! lol I like to think they feel warm, full, and sleepy on a winter day.

 

[vizzla]

Twice a day he gets food. He often only eat once but I will always give him twice. I have heard that they can get sumachepain and illness if they dont eat more than once.

 

[squish13]

I feed Farfel twice a day 1/3 cup each time. Then very few treats along the way. She keeps going back to her bowl now wanting more though, which is new.

 

[Ruth C]

Mine are so differant the younger one eats like there is no tomorrow..she has two meals a day and is 7 months old..the older is 11 months old and bearly touches her food just picks out the meat ..lol...

 

[Penny]

Mine are so differant the younger one eats like there is no tomorrow..she has two meals a day and is 7 months old..the older is 11 months old and bearly touches her food just picks out the meat ..lol...

Hi Ruth!
How is it that they can pick out the meat? You aren't feeding kibble then?

 

[MatthewLP]

I feed 2x per day. especially with small dogs, it's important as little dogs often get hypoglycemic episodes. Both Mouse and Boo shake like crazy after a meal when I tried only once a day feeding... besides, Mouse needs too much food for her tiny little belly to get it all in one meal... she looks like she swallowed a softball if she gets all her daily food in one meal. LOL she has a seriously high metabolism and eats nearly double what Boo eats in order to keep her at a healthy weight... at 8.5 lbs she eats a cup a day! Oliver my 40lb dog eats 1.5 cups! Boo my 7.5 lb little guy eats only 1/2 cup a day.

I swear each of my Doxies have different diet needs. My Doxie of 16 years who died last October ate though out the day. I gave about 3/4 of food per day and she ate what she wanted with out a lick of problems. My Current 2 dogs that I have now are totaly different (go figure) Khloe my female is going to be "big boned, breeder hips" kind of girl. I feel her 1/3 cup of adult food per day to keep her fit and trim. Kai my little male is on the othe end. I feel him almost 1 1/2 or 2 cups of puppy food per day and he is thin as could be, high energy and have a hard time putting on the weight.

Those feeding guidelines are just that, but need to be based on the dogs specific needs. I fist fallow the recommended feeding by my vet or dog food buidelines then feed accordingly based on the dogs intake and calorie needs.

MatthewLP

 

[Lbonnienclyde]

We leave dog food all out day, both of our dogs share and nibble a few times thru out the day at different times. Our vet has suggested feeding them once or twice a day, but I feel so bad taking there food away and changing there schedule. I figure we eat when we are hungry thru out the day? I wouldn't even know where to start if I did feed them at certain times of the day and give each of them there own bowl?