# feeding schedule



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I feed mine twice a day, but I had a Papillon staying who was used to evenings only, and thriving on it. There is the anti-bloat argument, but I would go along with what he is telling you. I cook offal because Sophy doesn't like it raw, and make special fishcakes because Sophy says the salmon and rice mix was gluey and horrible ... I'd be grinding stuff up too!


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## Joelly (May 8, 2012)

Charlie's (10 lbs toypoomixterrier) feeding schedule is twice a day. With fruits for snack in between meal or after dinner. Sometimes I give him yogurt as well. This month menu is home-cooked mashed potato and boiled chicken. Sometimes I switch to brown rice with boiled chicken but he is geeting mashed potato and chicken twice a week since the beginning of this month. 

Charlie is the most picky dog I've ever own. Last Friday, he is neutered and completely lost appetite for anything, i.e. food, toys, walking, etc. He just sleeps and sleeps and sleeps in the weekend after the neuter procedure. Then comes monday morning he chows his food like there is no tomorrow and actually whine for more. This never happen before so I am a happy as a clown since Monday. But I still not completely convinced that he is out of his pickyness tendency. So far so good. We shall see.


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## Quossum (Mar 18, 2011)

My adults eat once a day. Sugar is still on twice a day (8 months old), but that first meal of the day is cut up chicken necks given in the context of a training session. 

I do feed raw and no one has any problems with it, all enthusiastic eaters.

--Q


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## shadow mommy (Jan 6, 2012)

Joelly said:


> Charlie's (10 lbs toypoomixterrier) feeding schedule is twice a day. With fruits for snack in between meal or after dinner. Sometimes I give him yogurt as well. This month menu is home-cooked mashed potato and boiled chicken. Sometimes I switch to brown rice with boiled chicken but he is geeting mashed potato and chicken twice a week since the beginning of this month.
> 
> Charlie is the most picky dog I've ever own. Last Friday, he is neutered and completely lost appetite for anything, i.e. food, toys, walking, etc. He just sleeps and sleeps and sleeps in the weekend after the neuter procedure. Then comes monday morning he chows his food like there is no tomorrow and actually whine for more. This never happen before so I am a happy as a clown since Monday. But I still not completely convinced that he is out of his pickyness tendency. So far so good. We shall see.


My pup did this after his neuter. He actually went a week without wanting food or water (thanks to his vet injuring him and making the procedure harder than it had to be -still angry about that) I had to feed him baby food for that week to keep him hydrated and eating. When he finally started feeling better he ate like a horse which is very unusual for him but a very welcomed behavior to me! lol However, this didnt last very long and he is back to being his regular picky self not even finishing a whole bowl of food in a day and refusing to eat anything he has to break up in small pieces.


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## Joelly (May 8, 2012)

shadow mommy said:


> My pup did this after his neuter. He actually went a week without wanting food or water (thanks to his vet injuring him and making the procedure harder than it had to be -still angry about that) I had to feed him baby food for that week to keep him hydrated and eating. When he finally started feeling better he ate like a horse which is very unusual for him but a very welcomed behavior to me! lol However, this didnt last very long and he is back to being his regular picky self not even finishing a whole bowl of food in a day and refusing to eat anything he has to break up in small pieces.


I'm sorry about that. Vet can be unrealible. Hope you change vet after that. 

Oh my, Shadow's tendency on big pieces is the same as Charlie. I have to make sure that the chicken is cut into a small bite for Sir Charlie. DH call him this sometime. Gosh, sometimes I realized that I'm not his mom, just his slave. Lol.


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## georgiapeach (Oct 9, 2009)

I've always fed my dogs 2x daily. They're happy, so I'm happy! I wouldn't want to eat all my food once a day.


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

Small breakfast, larger dinner. When they don't eat anything for breakfast sometimes they do the green bile thing. Also, they feel better with two meals. My puppy gets three meals a day. Canines are built to gorge and fast, so one meal is okay and I have fed only one in the past.


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## faerie (Mar 27, 2010)

well i offer him two meals a day, but it doesn't mean he'll eat it all. for example, this morning nothing. tonight i offered him 1.5 pounds of meat (a variety from gr turkey, turkey gizzards, beef and venison) he ate all buy 8 oz and main amount he left was venison and gr turkey. i removed the bowl and was putting it up and he nommed a few bites of venison (about 4 oz) out of my hand. 

ugh.


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## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

Olie and Aoki were/are just like Seely. If I look at when this happens most it is in the mornings. But sometimes they wont even come into the kitchen. And there have been many times that I have really cheered for them to come eat. I don't anymore. :aetsch: After 5-10 minutes I pull it and you wait until dinner time. It's their choice. 

What I have done that has increased their want to eat is trimmed back the amount I am serving and they are now coming more often to eat.


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## faerie (Mar 27, 2010)

he ate some dinner last night, no breakfast and a big meal tonight (turkey neck, turkey gizzard, titch of liver and venison about 22 oz total.) he's still about 4-8 oz off what i'd ideally like to see him eat daily. but he ate. 

i'd really prefer seeing him eat 2 times a day and smaller portions.


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## pap2labc (Jun 25, 2010)

My group of all adults eats at 10:00-11:00 pm....and they do well on this schedule. I started feeding at this odd time 15 years ago with my first border collie because when she was younger she couldn't eat if anything was going on....so she ate when I went to bed. I just continued the process and it works for my guys weighing 6 lbs. to 45 lbs. I am not against feeding twice a day and if I had a dog(s) that needed it I'd do it for sure. I do feed puppies mulitple meals a day when I have one.


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

I don't have a feeding schedule (gasp!) :lol: It varies widely depending on what we are doing. I'll feed him zero to 5 times a day. Some days he'll only eat a 1/4 - 1/2 cup of kibble. Some days he'll gorge on 4+ cups of treats and kibble. He doesn't care so much about food in a bowl, but he has good food drive for training rewards. He probably averages about 1.5 cups of kibble over 3 meals/training sessions. I feed more than once only for meeting training goals - we do A LOT of reward training! - not because he needs frequent meals.

I do feed him before I leave him loose in the house while I'm gone.
I don't feed him in the morning or during the day when we are working out of the house.
I do feed a huge quantity of treats.
I do occassionally do a fasting day, so that if our schedule interferes with mealtimes he will be accustomed to an occassional empty stomach and not behave distressed.
I do stash dog treats everywhere! In my car, by the couch, under the bed, in the pantry, at work, in deep pockets too!  I keep them in glass quart jars to keep them moist and safe from nosey dogs.
I don't feed at night unless I forgot to feed him during the day AND I can't feed him in the moring because we'll be out.
I do tend to feed him at noon because he seems to have most appetite then.
I do feed him as reward for working.
I put out 2 cups of food (more than he can eat), and put it up when he is done (or about 10 minutes) and offer it for the next reward or meal.
I don't cater to low appetite.

And my dog is getting chubby.  I'd better do something about that.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I did something similar when first training mine, T - but because they are so tiny I put a day's allowance in a bag or pot in my pocket in the morning, so as not to overdo it. I tend to the thirds approach when doing a lot of training - one third for breakfast, one third for supper, one third (or rather more) for treats. But we too are in weight reduction mode at the moment, after months of terrible weather meant shortened walks, so the treats are much the same in number, but less than half the size!

Now if I only had the self control to apply the same method to my own meals, I too would be heading towards my ideal weight ...


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## faerie (Mar 27, 2010)

temperance has chunked up since i went all raw and i need to probably reel in her portions a bit.
my boy cairn max lost a bit and has that lean raw fed look now.
eva and lily are perfect.

seelie is a skinny boy. he's still young and has his 'nads so i know that's part of it and is not food driven/motivated and a bit of a diva boi wanting his mommy to feed him by hand. so i'm needing to do the tough love you have 15 minutes to begin eating or it's going up til next meal time.

if seelie ate his morning meal, i'd be fine to add in some treats during the day, but i'm concerned if i treat him after he doesn't eat his breakfast meal ...t hen he will have his dinner spoiled.

i was that way with my human children. don't like dinner? then you will enjoy breakfast!


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## schnauzerpoodle (Apr 21, 2010)

I have always fed my dogs twice a day, same portion size, around the same time everyday. 

Nickel LOVES food. He's crazy about his raw food. He has never not licked his stainless steel bowl sparkling clean. I add a raw egg to Nickel's breakfast before sending him to daycare where he will have a highly active day.

I would not be too worried if Seelie doesn't want to eat as much in the morning. I have heard of that quite often. Some dogs are just like that - like humans, some are not morning persons and really don't like to have breakfast while others can't live without a toast or two with their coffee every morning.

Nickel just got back from boarding and has lost 2 lbs (10% of his body weight). I am adding a small lunch (in the form of training treats) for him so that he can gain his weight back. I use the Ziwipeak air dried raw (about 1/2 of the suggested portion). He loves the training sessions with this yummy food. If I'm away from home, I just put it in a treat dispenser to keep him busy. I never just hand feed my pets. They have to work for it. Want some treats? Clean up the toys or give me a few push-ups


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## shadow mommy (Jan 6, 2012)

Joelly said:


> I'm sorry about that. Vet can be unrealible. Hope you change vet after that.
> 
> Oh my, Shadow's tendency on big pieces is the same as Charlie. I have to make sure that the chicken is cut into a small bite for Sir Charlie. DH call him this sometime. Gosh, sometimes I realized that I'm not his mom, just his slave. Lol.


Im actually still at the same vet however that veterinarean isnt allowed to go anywhere near my dog. There are several vets in the practice and he was not the one i normally dealt with but Shadow's vet was on vacation the week of his surgery. This vet not only injured my dog didnt see fit to let me know anything about it until i had gotten my dog home and noticed his urine had blood in it. So when I took he back (an hour after I got him home) the vet nicely informed me he poked around in Shadow's stomach to see if he could get the other testicle which had not dropped because he was trying to keep from making a second incision and by doing so he probably damaged his urethra? and went on to say that he normally doesnt do that because its dangerous so he isnt sure why he did it this time and he still had to make a second incision because he couldnt get it out! I was furious:at-wits-end: He also proceeded to give my dog a shot of antibiotics so that he wouldnt get an infection after I brought him back, but this should have been done anyway before I picked him up.


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## Lily's-Mom (May 31, 2012)

I have always fed my dogs 2X - morning and evening. Lily was fed just evenings at her foster home and I continued with that. The vet was happy with that schedule too and told me it should help maintain her poop schedule too (and it does). I still feel guilty for not giving her breakfast and once in a while I'll put a few pieces of kibble in her busy ball type toy in the morning while I have my coffee - yeah there's an ulterior motive there too


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## faerie (Mar 27, 2010)

seelie had a breakfast offering of half pound of grind and skin and a turkey neck which is half a pound. he ate the grind and skin (he loves chicken skin) but not the neck. i'll give him the neck tonight with his dinner. so i'm glad he ate breakfast!


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