Feeding - once or twice a day???

[Sam]

I have tried looking through previous discussions and can't find an answer so here goes......

Ollie is 11 1/2 months old (a medium labradoodle). He has never been a big eater, he certainly doesn't inhale food. I can put his breakfast down and it still be there untouched at dinner time. I have tried taking his food away after half hour for next time but then I must admit I feel guilty and leave him some biscuits incase he gets hungry....
I feed him morning and night - which is what we have done ever since we got him from the breeder. Today I fed him this morning and picked up the food after half hour. I put it down again around lunchtime and he ate it within half an hour.
He is on a raw food diet - eating about a cup of kibble, raw mince and maybe some cottage cheese, grated veg etc.
He is not underweight at all. He weighs 20kg which is just over 40lbs (I think) which is around the top of the range the breeder said he would get too.
So my question is should I maybe be feeding him only once a day and at what time (morning or night), should I leave biscuits out for him to pick at??? My breeder told me that I could start feeding him once a day from about 20 weeks of age but then I read here somewhere that it is preferable to feed them two meals a day - which I have continued to do.....
This is as bad as having kids.....................lol..........
Thanks
Sam

[Tammy & Gracie]

My Gracie never was a real good eater as a puppy. After she was 1 year, I switched her to feeding 1x daily, in the morning. She still did not eat very well or consistantly. Then I got the bright idea to try 1x daily but feeding her after work, around 5 PM. She has been eating well ever since. She only gets extra snacks if she has earned a treat.

[Sonja]

My vet told me that by feeding twice a day it helps to prevent the dreaded, and possibly deadly bloat. I once had a large golden mix who suffered from bloat regularly until we fed him several small meals instead of one big one. He had multiple emergency room visits before that. With our new puppy we are following our vet's advice, even though she is smaller. We are also giving a lot of treats during the course of training, so I'm never sure when she is hungry. She seems to eat what she needs, and doesn't always eat all the meal we put down for her. I've also heard mixed reports on taking up the food they leave behind, or leaving it for "self-feeding" . I think there are equally reasonable arguments either way on that issue, but one trainer was absolute in telling me not to leave food down...so, as with everything I've discovered, there are no perfect answers...yes, like kids, we hope we get it right, but we do the best we can.

[Adina P]

All but one of my dogs gets fed once a day. I switched my youngest to twice a day many months ago because he has more risk factors for bloat:

-- Size..he's a large dog
-- Deep chest
-- INHALES food

If you have a picky eater or light eater, you can try putting his food down for 5-10 minutes and if he doesn't touch it, cover it up and refrigerate it. Then put it out later and repeat. If after several days he still doesn't eat within 5-10 minutes...let us know.

[Sam]

Thanks everyone. The day after I posted this Ollie became a 'super'eater (but only for the day.....lol..), as though he was trying to prove a point that he can when he wants.....
I have started picking up his food if he doesn't touch it within 30 mins and we'll just go from there. His breakfast is in the fridge waiting for dinner tonight as I type. I suppose as long as he doesn't start losing weight and remains active its just the way he is. I bought some pet chicken mince today for a bit of a change (he normally eats regular pet mince) so we'll see if that tempts him.
Thanks again.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

One of my Siberians, Storm, lived to be seventeen, which is old for a husky. She periodically fasted herself, sometimes for two or three days. She was such a gorgeous dog that I would tease her that she was just watching her weight. I ( mostly) resisted the urge to hand feed or tempt her with goodies. I eventually quite worrying ( mostly). She always had at least one other dog for company during her long life and on the days she did not want to eat she would lay by her bowl and guard it because although she didn't want it, but nobody else was going to have it either. I always picked her bowl up fairly soon after the other(s) finished, so she did not have to lay there and guard it. Try not to worry too much about your dog eating. Dogs like humans often eat too much, but unlike humans there are no known cases of dog bilimia or anorexia. If you offer fresh food at a regular time, Ollie will establish his own schedule and it might not include eating everyday.