switching to one meal per day ?

falabo

I have been feeding my dogs morning and evening at 06.30 since day 1

recently they have become fussy about their food (James Wellbeloved) they wouold just sit and stare at me. could be due to me giving them too many human treats mabe recently or every now and again mixing it with wet food. never used to do that but then I thought "arrrrrh if they like it so much with a bit of wet food why not". probably my mistake.

anyway my question is: they are fed in the evenings, could they really be that hungry in the morning anyway? If I fed them one a day int he evening would they not be absolutely starving all day?

Feeding them once a day would also be much more convenient for me asd I walk them a vbit in the morning and drying them, waiting until they recover to feed them etc before I leave for work is a lot of pressure so even by removing that would help. sure would dogs in n ature have access to food even once a day anyway ?

all opinions welcome

portgirl123

my dogs are all fed twice a day and i wouldnt have any other way. to me feeding them just once is cruel, esp if its just more for your convience than the dogs sake. im sure there is some dogs who only like been fed once a day and that is fine. to me, i think been fed once in 24hrs cant be right as i know i wouldnt like going that long between meals.
i think maybe you answered your own questions and that they have gotton fussy over food because you have gave them to much treats etc.

so my opinion for what its worth, that with my dogs anyway, twice is best

tk123

Would it not be dangerous feeding them a double portion once a day eg a risk of bloat?

Galway K9

Feeding more frequently than once, improves your dogs metabolism thus improving immunity, energy, bodly functions perform faster, makes digestion easier for the dog and prevents stomach from flippign over later on in years. This is what i foudn so far that got me to feed my dog more frequently less quantity.

Amzie

I think its okay if they are still getting their nutritional needs, like I feed my dog once a day but its a big bowl and sometimes he dosent eat it all, I give him denta sticks aswell and the odd treat, dogs obviously get a flavour for the nicer treated but if they are really hungry they will eat the dog food they are given! its difficult to decide you could try it for a couple of days you will know if they are acting odd then put them back on two meals a day:D

andreac

Its def better to feed larger breeds 2 meals as to reduce the risk of bloat as Tk said.
I would always feed 2 meals, never one. I dont think my dog would eat one big meal, well maybe the female would but then again i think she would eat until she burst, lol.

pokertalk

yeah twice a day is best for them . its like when you have not eatin all day and eat something huge for dinner and ya feel like a balloon,well i do anyway;). if they dont like it without abit of wet in it then just give in and give it to them,maybe abit of tuna with sunflower oil would be better than a treat mixed in with the dry. or a carrott for a treat

TooManyDogs

It's often better to feed smaller dogs once a day because unless food is very strictly weighted out to give half in each meal it is really easy to over feed them. Half a small dog's dinner looks tiny in a bowl!

are you serious

I would have thought as everyone else has said twice a day would be best for the dogs metabolism, I know for my fella he very rarely eats his early feed until its almost time for his second feed! Then he will leave his late feed until during the night or when i'm at work, or visa versa. Odd I know.If he's not hungry he just wont eat it, sometimes I get in from work and he hasnt touched his food at all!

But sure look your dog is not simple it wont let itself starve if it is well looked after. After a couple of days of big feeds it will learn to leave some for later!

I try my best not to give any human food treats at all, the only thing I give would be some veg, and maybe a very odd bit of ribs. He sits there drooling the whole time but wont get a thing.

Galway K9

garkane wrote: »

I would have thought as everyone else has said twice a day would be best for the dogs metabolism, I know for my fella he very rarely eats his early feed until its almost time for his second feed! Then he will leave his late feed until during the night or when i'm at work, or visa versa. Odd I know.If he's not hungry he just wont eat it, sometimes I get in from work and he hasnt touched his food at all!

But sure look your dog is not simple it wont let itself starve if it is well looked after. After a couple of days of big feeds it will learn to leave some for later!

I try my best not to give any human food treats at all, the only thing I give would be some veg, and maybe a very odd bit of ribs. He sits there drooling the whole time but wont get a thing.

mmmmm...ribs reminds me of this. If my fella has a voice this is it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGeKSiCQkPw

sotisme

I feed my dog 3 times a day. Maybe 2 is more ideal, but he's been getting 3 meals for 4 years now and he's perfectly healthy. He'd probably see it as some kind of punishment if I changed it as he LOVES his food!

Justask

Looks like im on my own here... I feed my dogs once a day, always have. They get their toast in the morning and their dinner at 6 in the evening.
They are healthy happy hounds.

*one poster said feeding dogs once a day is CRUEL.... I take great offence to this.

Galway K9

Justask wrote: »

Looks like im on my own here... I feed my dogs once a day, always have. They get their toast in the morning and their dinner at 6 in the evening.
They are healthy happy hounds.

*one poster said feeding dogs once a day is CRUEL.... I take great offence to this.

Ah Justask, youll always get a Bleeding heart liberals input on issues like this. Once your happy and dogs are happy, then you know best and anyone else opinion is trivial.

Taceom

I used to feed my golden retriever twice a day and had every intention of continuing to do so until he began to ignore his morning meal. I gave him several days to change his mind but the morning meal was being left untouched so I took that to mean he only wanted to eat later in the day. He gets his one feed at about 5pm, it isn't double what he used to get but it is more than just a single serving and sometimes he doesn't even eat all of that.
I don't think it's cruel at all to only feed him only once a day - it's what he wanted.

Graces7

Justask wrote: »

Looks like im on my own here... I feed my dogs once a day, always have. They get their toast in the morning and their dinner at 6 in the evening.
They are healthy happy hounds.

*one poster said feeding dogs once a day is CRUEL.... I take great offence to this.

We have settled on something that works FOR OUR DOGS.

A snack in the morning, usually a piece of raw chicken, bone and all, then their main meal late afternoon; usually home cooked eg chicken stew with bread.

Collie is less food addicted than she was, and wee dog eats very little so this works for them.

Which is much the same as you are saying of course. lol...

falabo

yes I was thinking of doing a similar routine: a few biscuits/treats in the morning to keep them going and then a main meal in the evening when they are really hungry after their walk etc .... this morning again, 3rd day in a row she sat by her food bowl and would not touch it because there was no wet food and started "giving out" lol

she used to DEVORE food in seconds no matter what it was. maybe they just dont like that fish flavour from James Wellbeloced, I have 2 big bags if anyone is interested feel free to contact me

Justask

falabo wrote: »

yes I was thinking of doing a similar routine: a few biscuits/treats in the morning to keep them going and then a main meal in the evening when they are really hungry after their walk etc .... this morning again, 3rd day in a row she sat by her food bowl and would not touch it because there was no wet food and started "giving out" lol

she used to DEVORE food in seconds no matter what it was. maybe they just dont like that fish flavour from James Wellbeloced, I have 2 big bags if anyone is interested feel free to contact me

If you give her toast with butter on it and change to flora dont be supprised if the nose turns up :rolleyes:

Thats what happened me last week with one of mine....She dont like flora

Graces7

falabo wrote: »

yes I was thinking of doing a similar routine: a few biscuits/treats in the morning to keep them going and then a main meal in the evening when they are really hungry after their walk etc .... this morning again, 3rd day in a row she sat by her food bowl and would not touch it because there was no wet food and started "giving out" lol

she used to DEVORE food in seconds no matter what it was. maybe they just dont like that fish flavour from James Wellbeloced, I have 2 big bags if anyone is interested feel free to contact me

Nice idea, but we have abandoned all commerical dog food except in emergency.

The raw chicken keeps them busy for a wee while of course. Collie dances for her food and sings. She was manic over food for years after we took her as she had been half starved. It is with her as much occupation as eating if you see what I mean. Has to be chewed..

toadfly

Is bread/toast with butter good for dogs?

portgirl123

TillyGirl wrote: »

Is bread/toast with butter good for dogs?

wouldnt imagine it is.

Galway K9

TillyGirl wrote: »

Is bread/toast with butter good for dogs?

depends on the bread and on the butter, just like humans lol

portgirl123

Justask wrote: »

Looks like im on my own here... I feed my dogs once a day, always have. They get their toast in the morning and their dinner at 6 in the evening.
They are healthy happy hounds.

*one poster said feeding dogs once a day is CRUEL.... I take great offence to this.

if u take offence to what i said them im sorry but as i said, to me, anyone that feeds once a day for THEIR conviencence is cruel. and to me it is. some dogs as ppl have posted are happy getting one meal a day and wont eat a 2nd, that is absolutely fine. But if you decide to drop a meal because it suits you i honestly dont think that is right esp if the dogs are happy getting 2 meals aday.
and in fairness if your feeding your dogs toast in the morning they are getting something which means they aint going 24 hrs without something in their tummies, which i have been told, esp in some deep chested breeds can cause bloat.
So sorry again if i offend but its my opinion and the op did ask for honest opinions and that is mine

lrushe

In 25 years I've had dogs of every shape, size and description and my food routine has always been as follows:

2 - 6 months: 3 small meals
6- 12 months: 2 medium sized meals
12 months on: 1 meal

On Fridays my dogs don't get a meal as such they get a large raw bone from our local butcher.
I've no scientific evidence that this is the best routine for feedng dogs other than this is how I learned from my Dad and continued on with myself. Between us we've always had long lived healthy dogs with good appetites, never really had a dog that was a fussy eater either.

Justask

TillyGirl wrote: »

Is bread/toast with butter good for dogs?

Probably not but after 13 years shes doing just grand

Graces7

lrushe wrote: »

In 25 years I've had dogs of every shape, size and description and my food routine has always been as follows:

2 - 6 months: 3 small meals
6- 12 months: 2 medium sized meals
12 months on: 1 meal

On Fridays my dogs don't get a meal as such they get a large raw bone from our local butcher.
I've no scientific evidence that this is the best routine for feedng dogs other than this is how I learned from my Dad and continued on with myself. Between us we've always had long lived healthy dogs with good appetites, never really had a dog that was a fussy eater either.

Thanks for this. This is what many vets and breeders advise also. It is better for a dog's metabolism and that will go for many other critters.

When we took the collie, we tried twice or even three times a day and it led to weight issues etc. Wee dog refuses to eat more than once a day. Collie would eat herself stupid given the chance.

And as you rightly say, less chance of them getting fussy. Eating to live rather than living to eat.

opinion guy

Question:

How often would a dog feed in nature if he had to go and hunt and catch/scavenge his own food ?

Graces7

opinion guy wrote: »

Question:

How often would a dog feed in nature if he had to go and hunt and catch/scavenge his own food ?

I was thinking on these lines myself. Many zoos etc do not feed their big cats every day ie leave them one day without food, for this very reason.

The issue re bloat is interesting too.

Never heard it applied to dogs before except if feeding dry food of course which is totally unnatural and alien. Dry food plus water can be very dangerous indeed in excess.

One of our cats years ago brought home a headless hare and gorged off it; lay on the settee for a day then was fine. A wild animal will gorge and sleep it off because food is hard to come by.

We feed late afternoon so that the dogs will sleep better with a full belly. And the wee chicken leg in the morning to keep them going in the day.

Wee dog makes that chicken her main and sometimes only meal but she is fit and happy so no worries. They both graze when we are out; collie eats raw nettles all the time.

Galway K9

opinion guy wrote: »

Question:

How often would a dog feed in nature if he had to go and hunt and catch/scavenge his own food ?

Well there wouldnt be any routine about it and no meals garanteed everyday but theyd still be happy. Working for your food is very healthy in my eyes.

Taceom

Graces7 wrote: »

I was thinking on these lines myself. Many zoos etc do not feed their big cats every day ie leave them one day without food, for this very reason.

The issue re bloat is interesting too.

Never heard it applied to dogs before except if feeding dry food of course which is totally unnatural and alien. Dry food plus water can be very dangerous indeed in excess.

One of our cats years ago brought home a headless hare and gorged off it; lay on the settee for a day then was fine. A wild animal will gorge and sleep it off because food is hard to come by.

We feed late afternoon so that the dogs will sleep better with a full belly. And the wee chicken leg in the morning to keep them going in the day.

Wee dog makes that chicken her main and sometimes only meal but she is fit and happy so no worries. They both graze when we are out; collie eats raw nettles all the time.

Why is feeding dry food only unnatural? That is all I feed mine and that was on the recommendation of a vet. He seems very well and healthy on this, but I'd like to know if I'm doing wrong?