Currently, our three dogs are eating twice a day, morning and night. I recently read about some people only feeding their dogs once a day. This intrigues me because it would fit much better into our school-year schedules to move them to an a.m. only feed, and it would work better for them, too. Are there any health reasons to not do this?

My other concern would be the switch, as they are obviously accustomed to their current schedule. Would it be best to slowly up their a.m. feed while decreasing their p.m. feed?

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks!

if possible, i would just slowly start moving the two meals closer together on hour at a time till their at the same time

We feed out dogs once a day at noon and they do just fine with it

We feed our adult once a day, and the puppy gets fed twice a day. The puppy was getting 3 meals a day, but he quit eating lunch, and started eating dinner earlier. So we just switched him to a breakfast and early dinner schedule. Which works good for the adult, because he's used to eating in the middle of the afternoon. He gets fed after school lets out.

Most vets recommend feeding your adult dogs only once a day, unless they are small breeds. Then they need fed twice a day because their bodies loose so much heat, compared to a larger breed. My friend has a cocker spaniel and a chihuahua, so I know how the body heat thing works.

Our dogs generally only eat once a day too.

My dogs eat twice daily....afternoon and PM.

Ours eat twice a day, in the morning before work about 6:00, and in the evening when we get home, anywhere from 5-7.

I recall our dog when I was growing up was fed once a day with dog food, then my parents would give her the scraps from dinner in the evening.

I usually feed my 3 dogs 3-4 times a day. I even gave them a snacks time. I remembered one time I failed to feed them. The other one got sick. From that on I always feed them everyday. They are more energetic now rather than before.

I don't have to worry about our dogs being energetic... Our husky is constantly running back and forth chasing and playing tag with the puppy or our 10 year old. I'm glad the summer's just about over, during the summer, the only time was his usual self was early in the morning. And even then, about half the time he wasn't completely normal because it was 80+ degrees here at 5am.

I'm terribly lazy here. I leave out a bowl of food and Phoebe eats, on her own, throughout the day.

I feed my dog once a day. She generally eats the food whenever she's hungry. It's often hours later before she finishes her food. I've noticed that she sometimes eats twice a day though. I have noticed that some of the food is missing in the morning, and by the next morning, it is all gone.

I feed twice a day once in the morning just dog food and biscuits and in the evening a cooked meal for him normally a chicken mince and rice meal. But I have a large dog who is slightly under weight(stresses/runs it off) so I would never consider taking him down to once a day but that's his situation if he was fat and healthy maybe my english bull terrier was only being feed once a day but she was a round tub of a girl. She would put weight on just sniffing food. Just be wise on your situation if your pups start loosing weight I'd say put them back on two meals but if works well they are happy and no weight loss it can't be doing any damage. Keep us posted on how it goes.

i also leave the food out troughout the day, we have free feed, it seems to work out just fine, then they can eat when they are hungary, i feel that i eat when i am hungary and they should be able to to. what ever is left the next morning we just through out and fill up new

We feed ours once a day and I just leave the food out until they eat it all. We onyl fed them more when they were very little.

My dogs get their main meal in the morning, and then they get an evening snack later. The snack is a small dose of food.

Originally Posted by jacksonflugie

i also leave the food out troughout the day, we have free feed, it seems to work out just fine, then they can eat when they are hungary, i feel that i eat when i am hungary and they should be able to to. what ever is left the next morning we just through out and fill up new

thats a really good point..mine is still a puppy so for a while yet I guess we'll feed him a couple times a day (and make sure he eats then)

If you feed your dog one time per day, he will do much better and live longer. Only if your dog is a pregnant mother, works a lot in cold weather of a little puppy just after wheaning, you may offer them food two times per day. Even puppies older then 4 months should be fed one time per day. This also depends on what kind of food do you use. Feed your dog raw meat products, up to 10% fat, if he works much or weather is cold. If you prefer kibbled dog food, prefer good brands without BHA and soy. Vitamine E is better then BHA as an antioxidant. My dogs never need a vet and they live until age up to 14-17 years.

Our boys get fed twice a day.

It is fine to feed once if they are free feeders as some on this topic seem to be (when they pick throughout the day).

As far as health concerns go, feeding once a day puts your dog at a higher risk of suffering from bloat.
Although it is not known what exactly causes bloat, it is more common in the following types of dog.

Deep chested Breeds
Large breeds
Being male
Being underweight
Dogs with Nervous disposition
Dogs that eat once a day
Dogs that eat fast
Dogs that exercise straight after feeding (you should wait 2 hours).
Dogs that eat kibble (kibble releases gases which cause the stomach to bloat) - you can try soaking the kibble first. You should also withold water for about 20mins after eating.

It is not to say that it will happen if you only feed once a day or indeed if any of the above is true to you, but that is why we feed twice a day....why risk a fatal disease?

Megan, Hannibal and Ralphie

p.s. I dont mean to scare anyone!!

I feed my dog once a day about 5pm which is when the family eats.Sometimes she eats it all in one go and other days she eats it over a few hours.

My JRT gets fed once a day, with treats given after every outing. My GSD is 19 mos. and still is fed twice, first thing in the morning when the JRT is fed, and again around 3:30 to 4:00 as he gets lots of exercise and stimulation. Baby, on the other hand is still over weight!

Usually I feed my dog 3 times a day in fixed timing and
I think he so ot used to it that he doesn't hungry at any other time which is out of "schedual" .