Breakfast, dinner or both?

[The Food Group]

Sherlock is almost 2 years old and Noah is 1.5 years old.  In the past week, I've started to only feed them once a day in the morning.  They don't seem to miss dinner and I think having two meals a day was throwing them off.  They would pick a little bit, but I usually ended up throwing most of the food away.  Now that I only feed them once a day, they actually eat!

[Melissa & Porter]

Porter has a Lab's appetite, I guess. He eats breakfast, lunch and dinner (one cup each meal), no leftovers. He even eats before going out to pee in the morning, his choice-not mine.

I'm glad your new system is working for you.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I feed Jack twice a day; sometimes he doesn't eat his a.m. meal until dinnertime, and sometimes he eats it all as soon as he gets it; there doesn't seem to be any pattern.
For standard doodles, it's preferable that they get their day's quantity of food split into two separate meals, since consuming lots of food at one time is one of the factors that contributes to the risk of bloat. I think for dogs who gobble their food, it's very important to give it in two (or more) separate smaller meals. For picky dogs, it probably doesn't matter as much, and for certain picky minis who shall remain nameless, whatever gets them to eat is the way to go, lol!

[Mommy2Max]

".....and for certain picky minis who shall remain nameless, whatever gets them to eat is the way to go, lol!"


The above statement made me laugh. You could easily have been talking about Max. Max is now 15 months old. He is a mini LD and topped out at about 21lbs.

I just had this discussion with a friend who owns a dog boarding/daycare. She was telling me how it isn't good to free feed Max. He was so picky when he was younger and I worried about his weight being substandard. Long story short, free feeding is what got him to finally eat. He is no longer a picky eater and I no longer worry. He gets a cup of food a day and if I put the entire cup in his bowl he'll eat half twice a day on his own accord. I wish I had his self control! ;)

My personal opinion is that one should do whatever works for them. Sometimes "the rules" aren't one size fits all. Just like children, dogs have their own personality and they don't always do what "they" say they should do. LOL

*PS. That is Noah in the photo right? I have a friend that has a rust mini LD. They could be twins! So sweet!

[Tina J.]

My three get breakfast, lunch and dinner and if any of the meals are more than 15 minutes late, they start looking for them... lol

Tina J.

[Susan, Zeke. Lily & Jasper]

My two are both standards and for the reasons Karen mentioned I feed them twice a day. Lily always eats all of her food as soon as it is offered. Zeke will sometimes not eat his breakfast if his routine is disturbed or he needs to poop. He will usually finish it up sometime during the day and always eats all of his supper. Feeding twice a day works well for us and I guess that's the key. Find what works best for you and your dog.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Ned chooses to eat only once a day - in the night after lights out! The others do eat each time we feed them.

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Lucca eats twice a day but many times he'll skip a meal and I end up tossing it.

[Ann Kendig]

Since I have changed their food due to food trials they don't eat like they did as they really don't care for the food. I usually feed twice a day. Hopefully we'll get to switch to something they like soon!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Jane I think it is FINE if they eat once a day. Taquito used to always eat only once a day until recently (who knows why, my dog is weird). Peri eats 2x a day because she is not picky in the least and is a PIG.
Lucy the cairn (mom's dog) eats only once a day - she is picky. I know lots of dogs that eat only once a day - they are the smaller dogs though usually....

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I fed my mini poodle once a day, too.

[DeeDee and Sheila]

Whew, I am glad to hear about all these eating differences. My mini, Sheila, is not real food motivated--unless it's real baked chicken. I am going to try liver this week. But I don't want to train her to NOT to accept canned Innova w/ shredded cheese on top, because don't you think it has some nutrients in it puppies need? I use the real cooked stuff for training and then give her some extra after she has trained. She just gobbles it up.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Ned eats once a day. With the new guy though, we can't leave it down for him, so he is going to have to eat when it is put down or lose out.