Anything wrong with feeding an adult dog 3 times per day?

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

So, the time period when we "could" have switched Winnie from 3 times/day feedings to 2 times/day has long since passed. She is coming up on 1 year old in a few weeks :-)  She has always been a good eater (hence my Slo Bowl discussion a while back), and has showed absolutely no signs of disinterest in any of her meals. Last week we tried feeding her 1.5 cups twice a day instead of 1 cup 3 times a day, and she ended up with diarrhea. It could have been from something she ate outside, but the timing of it is suspicious.

Is there anything inherently wrong with continuing to feed her 3 times a day? Does anyone else do it? 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Nope, there's not a thing in the world wrong with it if it works for you and Winnie. In fact, for dogs with digestive issues, it may be better to feed smaller meals more frequently than 1 or 2 larger meals per day. JD is fed 4 times a day due to his IBD.

The only problem with it for many people would be one of convenience. 

[Mary ann & Lincoln]

funny, I just said to my husband at lunch that when it is time to switch to 2x a day Lincoln will go nuts! He loves his food and has an internal clock for noon and 5pm. He is only alittle over 4 mos, so we have some time yet. I may stick to 3X a day unless he loses some interest in his meals and doens;t get too heavy.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I feed twice a day, it is just easier but the same amount divided in three would be fine.

[Shari Becker]

My vet said you can do it however you like. We fed Lexi 3 meals a day until she was almost 1.5 because she was always so hungry, and so active. What I started finding though was that it was really inconvenient for me. I HAD to come home in the middle of the day to feed her. If someone watched her, they had to feed her lunch. And we Lexi was getting kind of pesky with her food. She was coming into the kitchen all day, picking up her bowl and then throwing it down on the floor as if to say, "Feed me now." We switched to two meals over a particularly busy week, and she did just fine. No change whatsoever.  She stopped tossing her bowl around all day, which was really what I was hoping. Now she just throws her bowl on the floor around 5 PM, which I can tolerate.  

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

A Doodle Throwdown! :-)  Most of the time Winnie lays quietly by her food bowl when she is hungry. If she thinks she is going to starve to death, she sits up and casually glances back and forth between her food container on the counter and the bowl on the floor.

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

Thanks, all, for the input! I think we will stick to the 3X/day schedule-it's not an inconvenience for us at all. (Yet)

The doggy daycare that she goes to Mon/Wed/Fri kennels the dogs individually over the noon hour for rest and they are more than happy to feed her during that time. Tuesdays my husband goes home over the noon hour, and Thursdays I don't work until noon. So, it works out perfect! We go for long off leash runs weekend mornings. And, like me, she is always looking for food after exercise!

[Jen, Lachlan, and Declan]

I'm still in the 3 times a day camp with my guys, too. They both tend toward sour stomachs if they get too empty, so it's easiest just to feed them smaller meals three times a day (plus bedtime snack). I have a sitter who comes to let them out every day when I'm at work, so she gives them their lunch.

[Deborah Brown]

I think a lot of dogs start losing interest in the midday meal and they it is the time to cut down to two.  But mine really eat all day long since we are always working on some sort of training.