feeding schedules....

[Brandi]

just curious as to everyone's feeding schedules.....

 

When I had my older dog, Juggs and Lucy they were fed on a schedule, of 6 am and 6 pm.  Juggs woofed her food down in 30 seconds flat, Lucy would eat 1 kibble at a time and it would take her an hr or more to eat her ration of food.  When we lost Juggs and Magnet came in our lives we decided to give the community food bowl a try.  We left food down all the time and it actually worked out great.  No one got over weight and there were no fights over the food bowl.  Then Smudge came, she was a little piglet and ALWAYS had her head in the food bowl, so we went back on a schedule of 6 and 6.  All the girls have their own food bowl now and all is well and everyone's happy.

Here is the logic on the community food bowl thing.  I know that standard poodles, labs, and retrievers have a high chance of bloat.  That is one of my worse fears.  When I got my first doodle, Magnet, I talked to my vet about bloat.  He was the one that mentioned to me that little meals, several times a day, would cut the chances of bloat.  Feeding one big meal a day would up the chances.  That is when I approached him about leaving food down all the time.  He said for some dogs it would work out great, others who are "piggys" not so much.  Well, now that Smudge, the baby, is a yr old, Magnet is 2, I am thinking about leaving food down all the time again. 

Does any body leave food down all the time??  What kind of schedules are your dogs on??  And how much do you feed them?  My girls get 1 1/4 cup at 6 am and 6 pm.

 

[Barbie]

I feed Hercules (senior Portie) and Zeus (puppy Doodle) twice a day, but have been leaving a bowl of dry puppy food out for Zeus because he won't eat more than 1 cup each meal. Hercules is definitely Mr. Piggy, but is surprisingly very respectful and obedient and will not eat the puppy's food - even while I'm away from home or asleep. He knows the food is not for him.

Zeus is still not eating enough. What I discovered from experimenting with smaller portions is that he still leaves 1/4 to 1/2 cup of food in his bowl - regardless. I've switched his dog food several times - from very expensive, to less, and less - but no change in appetite. Shockingly, my vet recommended Purina Puppy Chow - said it is actually a good food and most puppies love it (even the finicky ones). He was right. I just started the switch today, and Zeus is now acting like Mr. Piggy - even pawing at me, wanting more.

I know that we all want to give our hairy kids the best quality food, but sometimes you have to ask yourself, "Who determines what is the best food for our dogs on an individual basis, what evidence is there to prove it, and if a puppy won’t eat as much as it should during that crucial growing stage, what are the repercussions?" After yesterday's near-death-like incident with Hercules (in another thread), it dawned on me ... of all the numerous dogs I've known to be on Ol' Roy, store brands, or similar "cheap" dog food, they lived longer than the other dogs I've known to eat only the expensive brands. Why? My guess is that it's in their genes. I know some people will disagree, and years ago, I did also, but I’m now sticking with what I know works best for my dogs.

[Adina P]

Noon and 5pm (each of my two get 1.5 cups per meal).