Author Topic: How Often Should An Adult Dog Be Fed?  (Read 2049 times)

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Offline Lola

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How Often Should An Adult Dog Be Fed?
« on: January 08, 2016, 04:33:13 PM »
When we had more than one dog, we fed once a day.  When Lacy became our only dog, and started spending more time with us and the cats...I started feeding her 3x a day.  Same amount of food spread out over 3 meals.  I didn't want her to feel badly that the cats were eating and she wasn't. 

Today I was reading a magazine that mentioned dogs should only be fed once a day.  Skipping a day was good too.  I can't imagine doing THAT.  Anyway, I started Googling.  :)  I read basically the same info on the Mercola website ...
Quote
She has clients that tell her they feed their dog four times a day. That means not only that the animal’s GI tract never gets rested, but also that the dog will eat every time he’s fed, and because of his scavenger nature, he’ll still act hungry all the time.

Lacy doesn't act hungry all the time, but she is always thrilled to eat.  :) 

How often do you feed your dogs, DeeDee?
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Offline DeeDee

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Re: How Often Should An Adult Dog Be Fed?
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2016, 06:16:54 PM »
They get fed 4x a day. I understand what they're saying, but Vlad needs to keep his stomach full more often b/c of the prednisone. It keeps him from getting indigestion. I'm not going to feed him 4x a day and make Barkly feel left out to develop habits of jealousy. His vet knows I'm feeding them that often and hasn't said anything.

But they also get warm, goat-milky water before eating to start up the digestive process faster. Vlad quit drinking enough once it cooled off, so forcing water some way was necessary. Half a teaspoon of goat-milk powder in a couple of cups of warm water is enough to get him to drink it, and it's easier than a lot of other things to clean his beard after.

Dannyboy and Sharkly got fed 2x a day.

Our puppies always got 3x a day until a year old, but Vlad's vet wanted him fed 4x a day for the first 6 months to keep his blood-sugar more stable as he grew so fast. They've never been fed less than 3x a day since we've had these two. It was pretty simple to just make the first 3 meals smaller and add a 9:00 p.m. feeding to their normal schedule.

I look at it like this, humans (Yes, I know they're not canines.) are better off eating 5-6 small meals a day instead of 3 bigger ones. It's also considered easier on the human digestive system to not have to break down larger meals. I don't think it's really hurting dogs to be fed the same. Though everyone compares them to wolves, they're a bit away from being wolves since man has been breeding them. Wolves get fasted due to circumstance alone. They gorge when possible, and they really do need time to allow that food to pass. My dogs are NOT gorging food because they're not allowed to have that much at a time. Like dogs and wolves, we have DNA that's really close to chimpanzees, but we're not chimpanzees. That's why I don't think they're the same as wolves or other wild animals.

The main thing I disagree about the argument that dogs have been domesticated (now) is that they haven't been eating processed dog food for the whole time they've been domesticated. (I say "now" because in the past I felt that processed dog food was just fine. I no longer think it's best.) From the beginning of domestication, they were first fed our left-overs or allowed to hunt on their own. I don't think their stomachs have progressed to some kind of new digestive system that has evolved past the point of eating our scraps. I think that eating processed dog food is kind of like wolves' eating habits--circumstance. I feel that circumstance meets their needs, but doesn't make them thrive the way raw-fed animals do.

I also know this, a lot of really tiny, hyper breeds need to be fed multiple times a day too, or they develop hypoglycemia--the opposite of diabetes (or what happens to a diabetic when they don't keep their glucose high enough). This is simply because their stomachs aren't large enough to hold enough food to meet their caloric needs since they burn it off so fast.

So, I think a lot of factors have to be considered with each dog. What's right for one isn't right for the other. As Pookie told me when we were discussing prednisone amounts, Vlad is an individual. Lacy is an individual too.
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Offline Lola

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Re: How Often Should An Adult Dog Be Fed?
« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2016, 07:06:20 AM »
Thanks for your input, DeeDee!!!! 

I think I will stick with our current feeding schedule.  It works. 
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Offline BeckPo

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Re: How Often Should An Adult Dog Be Fed?
« Reply #3 on: September 01, 2016, 04:03:05 PM »
3 times per day. Never had a problem. :)

Offline Middle Child

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Re: How Often Should An Adult Dog Be Fed?
« Reply #4 on: September 01, 2016, 04:37:40 PM »
3 times per day. Never had a problem. :)

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