How many times a day to feed

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

Rosey (12 mos). & Bandit (8mos) currently eat 2 times per day, 6 am, 6pm.  My husband thinks we should start feeding them 1 per day just in the evening.  I would like to continue to feed them twice, especially when they are so young and active.  Bandit is still on puppy but Rose has been on adult for a while. Any suggestions/recommendations?

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

ha ha Murphy sounds just like Bandit. In the morning DH just has to ask "Are you ready to EAT?" and it is a dive right off of the bed and he's running into the kitchen. Which is a lot because the only thing he likes better than eating is sleeping:) Also, true to his name he will look to steal food, at first he would always try to steal food right from Rosey's bowl. Her being such a good girl, just kinda let him. But he has totally learned that is not okay. His latest, if I try to eat a snack on the couch he will get on the couch next to me and do his best to be cute and when that fails he BARKS at me!!! ugh, he is lucky he is sooooo cute:)

I am amazed how many DP's (doodle parents) cook for their dogs!! That is wonderful! I would have to tell my family I made it just for them!!

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

Yes, even the idea of asking him if he wants to eat is enough to make us laugh, because we already know the answer to that by the fluff of fur that goes flying by us at lightening speed.

I am really pretty firm with discipline when it comes to "begging" or him looking for our food however. With him being so food obsessed and eating real homecooking, I think it would lead to his stealing or sneaking our food, so we wanted to set clear limits for him with food, as in what food is ours and what food is his.
And yes, they are so darn cute, it really is hard to do, especially when they sit there so patiently and just stare at every mouthful.
Barking however would be a deal breaker for me and there would be an immediate discipline, as I would feel like it was a bit like pack leader behavior and him telling me he wants it and wants it NOW! I just feel if Bandit enjoys food so much, why take that joy away? And it says a lot that he leaves Rosey's food alone, cus I know how hard that is to achieve. Good for you Bandit.

[Susan]

I have Lola, our Dalmatian, on a diet, and feed her 1 cup of Fromm in the morning. I also put one cup of Fromm out for Marlow. Lola will clean her bowl by 4:00pm and Marlow won't touch his (Lola also doesn't touch his bowl which I find funny). When I feed them their evening meal around 5:30-6:00pm, Marlow is ready to eat. He only gets one Three Dog Bakery cookie in the morning for breakfast and nothing else. He is content to only eat once a day......his choice. I decided to leave the 1 cup from the morning out all day since Lola had free fed since we had adopted her so many years ago. The snacks frm the table were the cause of her being overweight! Since I made my DH adher to my rules she is actually losing a little weight and at 14 years old that is a great thing! Now if only I could :(

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The general rule of thumb is to switch from 3 feedings a day to 2 between 4-6 months old. So it won't hurt if you switch Rigger to 2 meals a day now.
The other thing you could try would be to stay with 3 meals but reduce the amount of food at each meal. I don't know what he was eating before you switched to the Orijen, but chances are it was less nutrient dense. Either way, a healthy normal puppy will not starve himself, so don't worry if he isn't eating as much as the guidelines say he should.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The Orijen is definitely more nutrient dense than the B.B. Please keep us posted on how it goes!