How Many Meals Should A Dog Have A Day?

[medusa 16]

Molly has 2 meals a day, both of complete biscuits with a little home made chicken stock or tinned meat mixed in, but we have found that she doesn't want to eat anything like as much for her morning meal so she has one scoop for her breakfast and two for her tea, plus any leftovers that are good for her (she loves rice and pasta).

 

She also has treats through the day and a kong stuffed with cream cheese and bits of dried black pudding or sausage if she's left alone for a few hours, as many rawhide chewy things as she wants and a dentistick at night.

 

She's put on a little bit of weight since she arrived, but she's not really that interested in food and seems to see it as a necessity rather than a pleasure.

[BlackVelvet 10]

Ours are a working breed and do work, so fed a fairly high level of protien they have complete working kibble in the morning (28% protien) and a BARF diet in the eves: 2 days of meat/bones/fish and day of fruit/veg, 2 days of meat/bones/fish, 2 days carbs/fruit/veg, done over a week rota. The meat is all raw, with bones: Beef, chicken, venison, rabbit. The fish we steam lightly. The carbs are steamed spuds or pasta. Fruit is given raw, as is most veg. we do puree certain fruit and veg so its easier to digest. we dont feed avacoados (high in fat) or grapes (Toxic), and brassicas are given rarely and in small amounts(as can cause iron poisoning in larger quantities). We also use tuna, sardines and pilchards in oil and kelp. Lamb is only used if we need to put weight on a dog (post-whelp bitch etc)

[Adz 10]

I got told of by my vet the other week for giving ours extra's with their complete.

She told me i was messing the balance and effectively making the dogs metabolism work harder as i was not giving the correct balance of food types.

 

I feel mean just giving them the dry complete or soaked a bit complete (soaked for the dog with only a few teeth). I tend to add a small amount of sardines/tuna or some nature diet. In the morning they have the added extra but at night i give plain biscuits.

Albert has half a yakult in the mornings also as he suffers with his tummy but is fine with the foods we feed has been a process of elimination though and he cannot tolerate fat so pigs ears and rawhide is out but some treats for training is ok.

 

I feed twice a day one hour either side off exercise depending on when they are walked which varies, from a raised feeder for the big dog.

I also bulk there food out with canned green beans sometimes as they both tend to gain weight quickly but can get hungry sometimes and one of them prowls, i think that is more to do with her history though and where she came from.

I also feed veg sometimes or do a rice/pasta with white fish meal as an alternative on some days.

 

They have a carrot every day for there teeth as well.

[Mandie 10]

 

 

And Mandie: I think your dog has learned that if she doesn't eat what you give her in the morning, she'll always get something better! They do pick these things up quickly. If you want her to eat her own food, you need to stop giving her "human food" every time. If she doesn't eat what you give her, don't leave it there for the whole day, take it away and the next time it's food time for her give the same food. I can almost guarantee she'll eat at some point! They won't starve themselves, but they will wait for the better treats if you teach them that's what they'll get. One of my boys is a bit picky at times, but if he doesn't eat his meal then he doesn't get anything until the next meal time - and by then he's more than happy to eat what he's given! And the other one eats like he's never seen food every time- but you can tell that he has he's quite smart but he seems to forget that he ate like 2 mins after he's finished eating

 

Edit: Of course, the answer to the original question in the thread Our boys eat twice a day, mornings and evenings.

 

Thanks for the help! I've tried that, and she still doesn't eat it! We've tried her on chappie at home and she turns her nose up at it and doesn't eat it. Yet my husbands parents dog eats that, and whenever we go to theirs, she eats hers? Yet when we give it to her, she doesn't want it!

(Which I'm glad about as it stinks so much! Both the dogs ate it when we were there the other day and then they both sat either side of me whilst I was eating and the smell was horrible! I mean, dogs breath smells bad anyway, but that chappie stuff makes it smell ten times worse!)

 

We've tried putting gravy onto the food too, she licks the gravy off and leaves the food! If we mix stuff in with it, she eats around it and still leaves the food! I've even tried not giving her any treats or anything, she still wont eat the food! Which is starting to worry me now, could there be something wrong?

Luckily she still drinks lots!

[helmi 10]

Yet my husbands parents dog eats that, and whenever we go to theirs, she eats hers? Yet when we give it to her, she doesn't want it!

 

It's the competition She probably knows that the other dogs will eat her food if she doesn't, so suddenly it's very good! They seem to do that with everything; anything someone else has must be good

 

When she's alone she knows no one is going to take it away from her. You could try to make her "earn" her food every time. Make her sit and wait when you give the food, and only when you give the permission is she allowed to eat. That could make it more appealing to her, because she had to do something to get it. Also just leave it there for 10 minutes or so, if she doesn't eat then take it away. It might take a couple of days, maybe a bit longer even if she's really stubborn. If she still won't eat then maybe you should try something else, another brand or something. Maybe she just really doesn't like that particular food! If you mix it with something to make it more appealing, be sure to mix it so that she can't just pick out what she likes and leave the rest

I don't think you have to be worried though, she still eats the treats and whatever else you give her - she's just picky, some of them are. I would try to make her eat her food, but if she doesn't eat it even if you give her nothing else for a couple of days - I'd change the food to something else. There is a huge selection of dog foods, I'm sure there is something even your girl will like

[busybee 10]

I used to work in the kennels for guide dogs for the blind. They were fed once a day at 7 pm & weren't allowed any treats. Each dog was weighed every week & their food weighed accordingly. They were fed Eukanuba or other dried food & look how healthy they are & what a fantastic job they do. I feed my dog Beta or Bakers in the morning & chicken & pasta or tripe mixed in with more dried food at tea time & he has a treat in between

[Mandie 10]

We tried her on lots of different brands of foods, and all of them she'd like them the first day, then after that ignore it all the time!

And I know you're not meant to change their food, so we can't give her a different type/brand every day to make sure she eats it!

 

I miss how she was when she was a puppy, she used to be so greedy, she'd eat anything, and she'd eat her food as soon as it was put down for her!

Although I like how now I can hold a little treat out and she wont snatch it off me nearly biting my hand off! She takes it nice and gently now which is good! No more having to buy long treats, haha!

 

 

Going to try mixing the food with a different thing every day, maybe that will make her eat it!

What are some dog friendly things I can mix with her food for her? I need 7 for each day of the week! She doesn't seem to like eating the same thing every day!

 

 

I gave her some asda hero stuff in the little trays today, it's what the breeder recommended to feed her when we got her(after she was old enough of course!) mixed with biscuit, and she ate that, but I know tomorrow she wont want it! And I'm not sure if she only ate it as she was so hungry from ignoring her food the last couple of days when I give it to her!

 

 

A greedy dog is so much better than a fussy dog I think! At least then she actually ate instead of starving herself, grr!

 

Yesterday she ignored her food all day, then ate lots of green chews that made her woopsies come out GREEN! I freaked out this morning when I took her out, I thought there was something seriously wrong with her, what with the not eating and then the green poop! So woke my husband up and said we needed to go to the vet, and he was like it's just from them chews you idiot! Pfft!

 

But she's ate some food now, so yayyyyy! Just got to make sure she eats every day now somehow!

 

 

Could I maybe, if she ignores her food all day again, could I mix it with a bit of human food, to make her eat it? Or would that make her ignore the food again coz she knows I'm soft and will give in?

 

(Why do I always ramble on in my posts and write a essay!)

[medusa 16]

If you want things to mix her food with you could use most human leftovers (apart from onions, grapes and chocolate) so pasta and rice are popular with Molly, so is home made chicken stock with little bits of meat in.

 

She'll also eat almost anything if you put a bit of cream cheese or yoghurt on it or mix in some little cubes of cheese.