Do you feed your doodle once a day or twice a day?

[Sara Schultz]

I am curious what most of you do with regards to feeding once or twice a day. 

 

We have typically fed Lucy, now 17 months, twice a day. She is not a big eater - like someone else here said in another discussion, she is treat motivated, but not that excited about kibble. So it tends to work better to feed her twice a day, and I usually leave her food out since she often only eats a quarter to a half of the serving at a time.

 

Lately, she has been waking up in the middle of the night needing to go outside to poop. Last night, I walked her at 10 p.m., and she pooped. Then she woke up shortly after midnight and again maybe around 4, and went out and pooped both times. WTD? Now that was a little unusual, but lately she has been waking me up once per night maybe twice a week. This is after months of sleeping through with no problems or accidents of any kind.

 

I'm wondering if perhaps feeding her once a day (morning) might eliminate this problem, no pun intended. :)

 

Or does anyone have other thoughts/possible solutions?

 

Thanks!

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Twice a day and about 3 poops a day, morning, noon and night. Only during the middle of the night if something unusual has been fed and that is rare.

[Camilla and Darwin]

We feed Darwin twice a day.

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

Rooney gets fed twice a day.  His breeder said to not leave his food out all day but we do because he just isn't that "into it".  Rooney just doesn't seem to care much about eating unless it involves chicken jerky, as in treats.  I wouldn't worry about Lucy, I think that just like us humans their bodies have changes in routine.  I'd try not leaving her food out.  Make a big deal about putting it out in the morning - give her 30 minutes and then take it away.  You'll feel mean but don't cave, feed her early evening, right after you get home from work or about 5:30, once again take it away after 30 minutes.  By the second morning she'll have the idea and eat.  By feeding early she should then eliminate earlier in the evening and hopefully not wake you.  Good luck and let us know how she does. 

[Leslie, Dexter & Kirby]

We feed ours 3x a day.  Dexter is always hungry and when we were feeding him 2x a day he was begging more.  We feed early morning, ~5 pm, and then ~11 pm.  Kirby eats whenever we can get him to eat - he's picky.

 

Could you feed her the 2nd meal a few hrs earlier or later?

[Sally]

Duncan eats twice a day. he sometimes has no desire for his breakfast right away but it become more of a brunch. about 10 or 11am. He eats dinner after our evening trip to the dog park which in the shorter months is about 5:30 or 6 but in the summer can be as late as 8. He always poops at least 2 x a day and sometimes 3. Lately it's been first thing in the morning and then again at the dog park about 4pm. But during the warmer months he'd go first thing in the a.m., about 1pm and then sometimes the third poop would be at the park around 4 or 5 pm. He almost never poops at bedtime.

I feed kibble both meals (blue buffalo) and in the morning he gets a small spoonful of nonfat plain yogurt or sweet potato puree or a little scrambled egg. 

[Melissa & Porter]

I work from home and hate eating in front of Porter without feeding him...so he gets fed 3x a day!  He poops once or twice in the morning, depending, and again in the afternoon.  Never at night.  My guess is Lucy's nighttime poop is food related more than timing.  However, exercise after dinner could help make her poop before bedtime.

[Sara Schultz]

Thanks to all who chimed in. Sounds like most here feed twice per day. I appreciate the input and suggestions several of you offered.

 

I've thought of making sure Lucy's evening feeding is more like 4 or 5 p.m., then getting her a good little walk around 9 or 10 regularly for a week or two to see if it helps. I also like the suggestion to only leave the food out for 30 minutes to get her to go ahead and eat.

 

I may try yet another food for her at some point (so far, she rejected Wellness, didn't like Solid Gold much, and liked Nature's Balance pretty well), but right now, I'm just going to alter the one variable and see how it works. I forgot to mention that I usually add some Greek unflavored yogurt in with her kibble, which helps her to eat up! (I tried some low-salt chicken broth for a little while, but it gave her unbearable gas!)

 

I've read a bunch in the food group and will keep learning with you all there.

 

Thanks!

Sara and Lucy

[2SCdoodles]

My doodles are two years old, and they eat twice a day.  I rotate their foods, but they have always eaten some type of raw diet along with carbs.  I know many find this quite controversial, but my dogs have beautiful teeth, coats, and finally my vet has agreed that they are thriving on this diet despite his initial skepticism. 

 

They currently eat Honest Kitchen varieties with Canz Country Pet raw meat both morning and night.  They have very regular bathroom habits. 

[Joyce & Wilson]

I feed Wilson twice a day..  just 1 1/2 cups each time as per pounds etc. on bag.  I dont think I could go all day only eating once a day!!  LOL

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

Cooper eats twice a day, at roughly 12 hour intervals (in the morning after play at about 8 and the same at night).