# Once a day vs. twice a day



## Shamrockmommy (Aug 16, 2013)

Jack has been extremely picky about food for his entire life. I no longer try to switch and dress up his food. He’s been getting mostly a raw premix food, that he is “meh” about (Volhard NDF), or honest kitchen (extremely MEH about that), or homecooked, or Fresh Pet rolls (this one he consistenty loves).

It’s almost always the morning meal that he turns down. I wonder if he would do better on once a day feeding? 

I’m pretty sure my PWD would lose her mind if I only fed once a day for her LOL. She eats anything with a flavor. Or anything that used to have a flavor. Or anything that potentially could have a flavor, and is gross LOL. 

The thing is... I *can* take the time to home cook, package, add supplements. I *can* take the time to do raw food, package it, etc. I *can* buy him expensive Fresh Pet Rolls (he always will eat this, always!) I am not sure I want to anymore! One is cost, one is time. I hardly cook for the humans, I don’t really want to for the dogs. But I have been, because of 11 pound mr. picky! 

It’s been a while since I have fed kibble, and there are an amazing amount of new froofy brands! Holy cow! I wouldn’t even know where to start or which to try! I recall neither dog did well on Fromm, goopy poo no matter what I did. I loved them on Beyond (Purina). 

What do you do? ONce a day? Twice a day? Fresh Pet? Kibble?


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

Merlin used to be once a day but now with Beckie still a puppy, she’s on three times a day and he’s on twice a day.

I have trouble cooking for myself so I would never cook for my dogs. My philosophy is «* you eat what I give you «*. If you don’t eat it now, you’ll eat it next time. Merlin was so fussy when I got him but now he’ll eat anything because he knows he’s not having anything else. 

If you go this route, it might takes many months before you see a change, but it will work. No healthy dog will starve itself.

I would like to change to 2 feedings soon. But my dogs have been on once a day for 15 years, when I worked. It was just more convenient. So I think both are fine.


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## Shamrockmommy (Aug 16, 2013)

Those are words I needed to hear! I feel incredible guilty for feeding “dog food.” 

I remember when you first got Merlin! How did he end up settling in?


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

My mom's mpoo eats once a day. Our dogs eat twice a day. I home cook for ours and my mom has recently switched to home cooked.


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## peppersb (Jun 5, 2011)

Shamrockmommy said:


> The thing is... I *can* take the time to home cook, package, add supplements. I *can* take the time to do raw food, package it, etc. I *can* buy him expensive Fresh Pet Rolls (he always will eat this, always!) I am not sure I want to anymore! One is cost, one is time. I hardly cook for the humans, I don’t really want to for the dogs. But I have been, because of 11 pound mr. picky!
> ...


Wow can I ever relate to that! I home cook for my dogs, but it does get a little bit old -- takes more time to cook for the dogs than for the people. I know that it is better for them to have 2 meals a day, but cooking twice for the dogs???? Does my whole life have to revolve around cooking for my dogs? So I leave kibble out, which they eat only if they get really hungry. They get one cooked meal a day. Sometimes I think I should make them french toast just toast for breakfast and then a full meal for supper. But I don't. I mean, I *can* but I don't.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I cook ahead and freeze.


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## glorybeecosta (Nov 11, 2014)

Dechi said:


> Merlin used to be once a day but now with Beckie still a puppy, she’s on three times a day and he’s on twice a day.
> 
> I have trouble cooking for myself so I would never cook for my dogs. My philosophy is «* you eat what I give you «*. If you don’t eat it now, you’ll eat it next time. Merlin was so fussy when I got him but now he’ll eat anything because he knows he’s not having anything else.
> 
> ...



Totally agree with you. They either eat when feed or they have to wait to the next meal. Once they realize they will eat. Cayenne was bad for that, now if she sees me start to pick up the other girls food she comes running to eat hers


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## Click-N-Treat (Nov 9, 2015)

Noelle and Francis eat once a day, separately. I used to feed them kibble in a Kong Wobbler, until Noelle started losing weight and Francis started gaining. Too much Boston Terrier pushiness going on, and Noelle is so gentle she will yield her food to anyone who asks for it. I have to be careful there are no cats in the room, or they will push Noelle away from her bowl and eat her food. 

On the topic of no healthy dog will starve itself, well, you never met my old dog, Honey. Honey starved herself with food available. She ate two bites of food and left the bowl. She dropped so much weight her hip bones showed through her skin, and her ribs showed. I worried the ASPCA was going to accuse me of cruelty. She looked just awful. Food was available 24 hours a day, but, Honey did not like it, and did not eat enough to thrive. Once I found a brand she liked, she put the weight back on. If your dog is not eating and losing weight, that's a red flag. It's also stressful! I wouldn't wish that on anyone.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

I buy the cooked turkey breast at Costco for my minipoo which saves me the time and labor of having to roast poultry. It's human grade meat.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

Shamrockmommy said:


> Those are words I needed to hear! I feel incredible guilty for feeding “dog food.”
> 
> I remember when you first got Merlin! How did he end up settling in?


Thanks for asking ! Merlin has improved on many aspects, but even with medication he remains an anxious, fearful dog. I’ve accepted that he won’t change and I now I get my «* normal dog*» fix with Beckie.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

Click-N-Treat said:


> On the topic of no healthy dog will starve itself, well, you never met my old dog, Honey. Honey starved herself with food available. She ate two bites of food and left the bowl. She dropped so much weight her hip bones showed through her skin, and her ribs showed. I worried the ASPCA was going to accuse me of cruelty. She looked just awful. Food was available 24 hours a day, but, Honey did not like it, and did not eat enough to thrive. Once I found a brand she liked, she put the weight back on. If your dog is not eating and losing weight, that's a red flag. It's also stressful! I wouldn't wish that on anyone.


Before starting the «*I won’t give in «* program, it’s really important to find a kibble or food that the dog really likes. You can ask samples from the pet store and try as many as it takes until you find the right one. When you’re certain your dog likes it, you have all it takes to say no !


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## Shamrockmommy (Aug 16, 2013)

This is good advice! So I got a few thigns to try, and so far he liked the proplan toy breed food. The kibbles are TINY. I also added a spoonful of beyond canned chicken and poof! All gone. So that’s good.


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## asuk (Jan 6, 2017)

Mine is on 3 times a day. I work from home so I do have that flexibility. He gets raw for breakfast and kibble the rest of the day. He free feeds, so at lunch he may eat 10 kibble, but eat most of it in the evening though he doesn't finish it.

I also find bigger size kibble turns him off, so perhaps a small breed kibble? I don't put a topper on his kibble anymore. i do give him a small treat before bedtime if he doesn't eat his dinner to avoid that hunger puke. So far so good, been the same weight for ages.


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

I guess it would be considered 2x a day..........I feed Molly her raw meal in the a.m. (which she eats immediately and with great enthusiasm!) and then put a small measured amount of kibble in her bowl to graze on thru out the day, which is usually gone by bedtime.


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## galofpink (Mar 14, 2017)

Shae was fed 3x a day until we started having difficulty getting her to eat her meals at 11 mos old. After a couple weeks of struggling, she was switched to 2x and is eating better now. Weaned herself so to speak. Rocky was switched to one meal a day in late puppyhood. We found that switching to 1x helped keep his stool harder. I started giving him a snack in the morning when we got Shae because I felt bad for him. He had been fine on 1x meals for years.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Twice a day, home cooked. Meals are one of the high points of my dogs' day - eagerly anticipated, bounced for during preparation, eaten with relish, and every last molecule licked from the bowls. I have learned over the years what they like and don't like (and what might upset their stomachs) in terms of ingredients and texture, and adjust the mixture accordingly. Like Catherine I cook ahead - yesterday I did a batch for all four animals for a week.

In terms of time:
Remove meat from freezer and leave to defrost - prep time 5 minutes, as the freezer is in the garage across the car park, elapsed time several hours - I took the dogs for a walk and did some gardening
When defrosted tip into a pan, add water, bring to simmering point and turn heat down - prep time 10 minutes, but I was making coffee and sorting out the dishwasher at the same time, elapsed time 1 hour - caught up on emails and other indoor stuff
Cook vegetables in some of the broth (I don't mix veg in with the meat because the cats don't like them) - prep 2 minutes, elapsed 20 minutes 
Switch everything off and leave to cool.

In the evening I portioned the meat up into seven 500ml freezable containers, added vegetables to one half, stuck one pack in the fridge for next day and put the rest in the freezer - total time including clearing up 15 minutes. So the actual prep and pack time to feed two small dogs and two cats for a week was just over half an hour. I have spent more time than that squinting at ingredients labels trying to find one I'd be happy to pay for!


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## Shamrockmommy (Aug 16, 2013)

So now 4 meals in a row have been proplan toy breed, with absolutely tiny kibbles, a couple spoonfuls of beyond canned food, chopped up into smaller pieces, and a dash of warm water. He has happily eaten the last 4 meals this way whoa! 

His belly adjusted right away, thankfully, so far so good.


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