Is it okay to feed only once a day?

[Louise Perry]

Sorry another question!
Reuben never wants breakfast and only seems to want his dinner in evening. I am off to college in sept and feeding him only evening would be ideal as I won't be able to walk him , wait an hour (to avoid bloat risk) and leave in time for school drop off then college. Also I don't like to leave him just after he has eaten (again because of bloat risk). But I am worried that feeding him one large meal is a bloat risk too!!! So how does everyone else feed? Perhaps 2 meals in the evening?

[Louise Perry]

So Dee, i wonder is it safe to feed reuben his breakfast just prior to me leaving in the morning and not be around after he has eaten? My schedule 2 days a week (starting september when I go to college) is:

6.15 ish - Walk reuben & return at 7.15ish am
feed him at approx 8.30 am I have to leave house at 8.35/8.40 am
11.00am ish - dog walker comes to take him out for a walk
I am back at 5pm/5.15pm
Dinner at 6pm

I haven't my exact time table yet and though at college 3 days a week my mum in law is going to have Reuben 1 of those days. And on another day my mum will be picking my little boy up from school, so will be back at my house about 3.45 ie, before me. On the non college days i am at home so he can have a later am walk and eat breakfast later.

I was just a bit concerned about not being around after he had eaten. Hope this makes sense! I would prefer he ate twice a day but its just trying to work out what is best.

[Dee Rance]

You do have a bit of a problem, I am here with my lot mostly 24/7, (its called old age, its the main plus perhaps the only plus) so we all fit things around feeding, I note your concern about feeding and leaving him, Just don't know what to say, only you can find a ''happy medium'' perhaps on the days that you are not there, when someone else comes in they could put his food down, and maybe stay with him, is he a ''grazer'' (will he nibble during the day,) I can't do this with mine, because someone will eat the lot and the others won't have anything. Difficult delamer, and in this case, I can't help you, but I am sure that you will find a way, as you love your dog, you will do the best for him, and if at all possible please try for twice a day....if you can...

[Louise Perry]

Dee, thank you for your reply. Unfortunately I can not ask anyone to stay with him as using all the help to it's limit and the dog walker is paid with limited time. But maybe I could perhaps use a timed feeding bowl that's let's Reuben have say a light lunch about 1.30, which would be approx  2hrs after his second walk. I know someone wouldn't be with him after he had eaten but maybe safer than 1 meal a day . What do you think? And yes I love him dearly and want to do what I can that's best for him but also be able to carry on with the other things in my life that I need to do. Thank you again for your help.

[eva ciechonska]

When I used to feed once a day I never had bloat. I have had bloat though, touch wood, not in the last 8 years since I started feeding twice a day. Much depends on the make up of the dog, it's digestive system, tolerance/intolerance to certain foods, how active it's gastric juices are etc. etc. Juliette de Bairacli Levy who pioneered natural methods of animal husbandry never fed meat and cereals together. She also advocated incorporating vegetables beans and pulses, honey etc. She recommended feeding for 6 days and fasting on the 7th.
I think most people are concerned about overloading the system which is why they feed twice. Maybe we should concentrate on the quality of the food we feed and how we can get the optimum nutrition out of smaller portions to maintain the health of our dogs.
I have just started feeding Acana Grasslands with raw meat/tripe. I would appreciate any input from the members on this product and their feeding regime/quantities etc.

[Sue and Cash]

Oh my I think while reading this. Cash is a pig. A total food whore. He gets Eukanuba puppy because nothing better has worked out for us so far. That is what our breeder uses. Grainfree was a disaster with anal gland issues. Better quality, no corn or wheat Wellness dog food was my other choice and that too led to two anal gland problems and I never fully tranistioned over mind you. So this 8 month old boy wants to eat 24/7, all he does is beg for his food at the cabinet. And he is very demanding about it. He is eating like 5-6 cups a day. He is on the thinner side and today was weighed at 47 lbs. He is eating like four times a day. He won't allow it any other way. Crying to eat is more like it. I asked the breeder about it and she said FEED HIM. He is telling you he isn't getting enough to satisfy him. All I hear is how thin he looks but mind you that is from overweight Lab and Golden dog owners. Maybe he is a late bloomer and is growing alot still. I just can't imagine a picky eater. He eats first thing in the morning, again at lunchtime,and again after he comes home from his two hours of play and again in the evening after he wakes up! Hopefully this will slow down as he grows up. Anyone else have major foodies?

[Dee Rance]

You are very lucky with a setter that is eating so well....long may it last, and 47 lbs wow 'fatty' and this is good just in case Cash gets anything wrong, there is some body to have as a back up, but don't let Cash get too big, it is so difficult to get a happy weight, they either eat too much or not enough, This is such a typical setter thing....I now have two that would eat until it came out of their ears, and one that just won't eat what he is supposed to, well not voluntarily anyway...keep feeding Cash at least twice a day when grown up....keep up the good work.. you are so lucky...

[Paige P]

Dash went through the same stage at about the same age. I couldn't feed him enough! I got a little panicked with all the bloat talk and then I realized he'd grown like 2" in a month. No wonder he was so hungry! For at least the last four months (he's 18 months old) he's been Mr. Picky Eater. I feed him twice a day - a combination of meat and Blue Buffalo Lamb & Rice. He eats 1 1/5 cups of BB 2x a day with chopped meat and water added in. He loves it but will not eat the dry food with anything but fresh meat. He simply refuses to eat. I've tried waiting him out ("If he gets hungry enough, he'll eat!") but he won't eat. My last dog was a Labrador, so you can imagine the adjustments I've made! He will eat any type of people food, including bananas (!), which is one reason why I've switched to 2x a day feed instead of 3x - he gets a third meal from me and the family sharing goodies with him (plus dog treats and biscuits). And Dashy is definitely thin - but not skinny!

[Rebecca]

I feed my two twice a day. But because they are lazy and like to sleep until 11am (yes, really), and then it's walkies time, their first feed is usually 1pm, and then they are walked again at about 5pm and fed again at about 8pm. Luna the Gordon has always been fussy. Very fussy. We've hand fed here since she was a little puppy, otherwise she will go for days without a proper meal. No idea why, but she has problems getting started on her food, but once she has a taste she will sometimes eat the rest herself. More often than not you have to hand feed the whole bowl, but she's keen enough to eat it! Very odd behaviour, but we don't mind hand feeding.

Murphy (the rescued Irish) is a total glutton. Can't get enough - no need for hand feeding here. When he came to us he was very skinny and had runny stools, but we moved him from Arden Grange to Orijen and his weight has improved and his stools are nice and solid. Even better, Luna loves the Orijen too (this is a dog that refused to eat every kibble I tried her on, and had wet food with a bit of mixer since puppyhood). She will eat some Orijen from her mat as a snack, but at feeding time she still likes to be hand fed!

However, I am concerned about Murphy's digestion. Sometimes he comes home from his walk, has a drink, and a few minutes later he brings it up again. I put it down to the cold water being a shock to his system. Anyone else experienced this? It's a new one on me.

[Rebecca]

Yes, showing their leads to them would definitely work!!! But I like it this way, and wouldn't want to change them ;-). I work at home and it gives me a chance to get some stuff done before we go for our first walk! We do go to bed late in this house, and both dogs get the opportunity for a comfort break at 7ish, but Luna never takes up the offer. Murphy pops outside with a bit of persuasion, does both businesses, then comes straight back to bed! Honestly! When we rescued Murphy back in December I thought that would be the end of lying in and having time for a few chores before our walk, but within a few days he naturally fell into a routine. Perhaps he couldn't believe he was getting to lie on our bed! The rest is history!

[Louise Perry]

Reuben is quite lazy in the morning too and is more than happy to get out of bed when we get up at whatever time, say hello and jump back in to bed. He doesn't even want to pee! Hope this stays the same forever!

[Nicky Vangalis]

I find with Ollie at the moment where it is so hot we are putting his food down for him and he's just picking at it in the morning. He's not got much of an appetite until the evening - just like us. We are still giving him the same amounts and we've been monitoring his weight and it's still fine. I guess dogs pick and change when the weather's the way it is but when they are hungry they will eat. Ollie has never been a piggy dog so I guess we are lucky. But feeding once a day - is there no way you could leave a little food for him in the morning to eat outside and then if he needs to go he can go then?

[Louise Perry]

Hi nicky, I am confused as to what you mean about leaving food outside for him? We don't have a dog flap and he will not have access to outside when I am not home .