How many times must a dog be fed?

[tanelaine]

Should a dog be fed once a day or twice?

Thanks.

[sandyRoe]

Once a day does mine. Always plenty of water available if it wants it.

[tanelaine]

Thanks, Sandy.

I feed mine once in the morning and once in the evening. That means I'm doing the wrong thing.

[craft1948]

It depends............small dogs should be fed small amounts twice a day.

[wolf63]

I have had two dogs and both were fed twice a day. I used to feed biscuits in the morning and meat at night. If your dog is in good condition, has energy to do doggy stuff and not overweight then your feeding regime seems fine.

Cats are easier - you just feed them when they demand to be fed. :-)

[wolf63]

My two were biggish - both part German Shepherd.

[smurfchops]

Puppies should have three or four small meals per day.
Full grown dogs I would ssay once in the morning and once at night.
Otherwise they would be so hungry !! I know I would be ...

[Jules001]

I generally feed mine twice a day, but he's not that fussed and can take or leave the dry kibbles so I know this goes against what a lot of people say, but they stay down until he wants to eat, sometimes, that will be just once a day.

[lankeela]

Mine (5 small and 1 GSD) have dried food down all the time. The GSD gets raw chicken wings for breakfast and they all get a bowl of dried food/meat in the evening. So basically small dogs once a day with access to dried, big dog twice a day with access to dried. There is no hard and fast rule and many dogs get fed only once a day. I feed the GSD twice to try to avoid filling him up too much in one go, in case of bloat. The timing can be hours apart as sometimes they don't get fed till late evening and other times they are fed at tea time. Depends on exercise, e.g. today when its hot they won't get exercised till later when its cooler and I will feed them at least an hour after they get back.

[notasyoungasiwas]

My dog (alsation/collie cross size) gets fed twice a day and has doggie treats in between. I personally wouldn't dream of feeding him on just dry food - how boring! He has tinned dog food with mixer, he loves any variety, but with chicken not beef as anything with beef in upsets his tum. He's 13 soon and in good health.

[carmalee]

I've always fed my dogs once a day when they are young/adult but as they progress into middle/old age I feed them twice a day. Not twice as much food though just their ration split into two meals. Gives them a little more interest. Also as they get older I'd put part of their feed in toys or hidden about the place for them to find, specially if they were a bit restricted in how much exercise they could cope with.

[Rozjune]

I have a golden Retriever and the vet said she was over weight. so i had to put her on a diet. she used to be fed twice a day morning and night now i just feed at night at first she was grumpy looking but is ok now and losing the weight.

[carmalee]

rozjune it would make very little difference if the dog is fed once or twice a day - it's the quantity not the frequency that matters.

[RATTER15]

We feed ours twice a day, they have fresh meat (human grade) along with chicken joints with some veggies mixed in and fresh green tripe. All meat is RAW.

One meal a day is not good for any dog but im sure any dog will survive on it, but feeding a dog involves a little more than just keeping it alive.

[paddywak]

I feed Max twice a day, small portion of dried in the morning which is left down if he doesn't finish it main meal in the evening of dried with gravy, meat and any veg scraps. He's nearly 10 now and as you can see from my avatar he seems to thrive on it

[LoftyLottie]

My dog has a dish of dried food down permanently, which she rarely eats unless she is really hungry. We feed her once a day with wet food and biscuits and she never finishes it all, and she is really healthy, nice and slim and has boundless energy at 9 years old.

As our dogs get older we go on to twice a day. She is 9, but fine on once a day. And she rarely gets treats apart from those things that help keep teeth clean.

[lankeela]

Well mine eat their dried food with relish (not literally!) I mean they enjoy it. What you have to remember is that it does contain lots of stuff that they like, some people seem to think it is just a pellet of who knows what but if you look at the ingredients you will see what it contains. Humans might not like the idea of a 'one pill for each meal' but dogs don't think like that. Its the way it is prepared that makes it a dried/complete food not what it contains. They do like their meat both cooked and raw but will still eat the dried food too.