# Is it important to feed 2x per day?



## Jacksons Mom (Jun 13, 2010)

... or is it perfectly fine to feed once a day?

I used to just leave food down all day, Jackson was never a huge eater and ate properly (not too much). Sometimes too little. But we have ants in the summer who find every little morsel left of dog food left out... so in early June, I began scheduled feedings with Jackson. I like it better because I know exactly when he's eaten and how much. I began with 1/4 cup of dry Acana Grasslands in the AM and 1/4 cup in the evening.

He's never real interested in eating in the mornings though. I've been mixing his morning meals with wet food and then he eats happily but when we visit and sleep over at my dads house (with their 2 dogs) they only get their "dinner" (dry mixed with wet, or something else like chicken, etc) at dinner-time (5 or 6pm)... no morning feedings, although there is kibble out all day that rarely gets touched by all 3 dogs.

When Jackson & I are back at our regular house is when he gets food in AM and PM. I've noticed though since he's been eating in the morning too, he often poops 3x a day whereas it used to mainly be 2x a day. If I'm home... he will often go for a second time around 1pm.

Anyways, is there any important reason a dog should be fed twice daily? Or would feeding him 1/2 cup at dinner be sufficient enough? He always did well with the once a day dry/wet mixed food feedings.


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

I feel that the following types of dogs benefit from more frequent, smaller meals more than one meal per day:

Large breeds
Dogs at risk for bloat
Puppies
Dogs with sensitive tummies


Unless your dog fits any of those, I don't think once a day feeding should be an issue.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

We have dogs that are large AND prone to bloat LOL

We only feed once per day for Shiloh and Emmy.

Bailey eats twice a day on a regular basis, Akasha eats twice every other day or so. 

We base our feeding routine off of weight, the bigger dogs eat more often because they require more food. With that being said, I think larger dogs are better fed once per day so they can have larger chunks of meat to chew on so they don't swallow things whole (happens on a regular basis with our gulper). 

You would be fine to feed your dog once per day.


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

danemama08 said:


> With that being said, I think larger dogs are better fed once per day so they can have larger chunks of meat to chew on so they don't swallow things whole (happens on a regular basis with our gulper).
> .


Which is applicable in raw feeding, but not kibble feeding. It's my understanding that feeding more frequent, smaller meals when feeding kibble may help decrease the risk of bloat. 
Granted, this is not applicable to the OP, but isn't that the case with giant breeds on a kibble diet?


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## Doc (Jan 17, 2009)

I feed all my German shepherds 2X a day - morning and evening. They are on a raw diet.


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

CorgiPaws said:


> It's my understanding that feeding more frequent, smaller meals when feeding kibble may help decrease the risk of bloat.
> Granted, this is not applicable to the OP, but isn't that the case with giant breeds on a kibble diet?


Yes, I think you are right. I have always fed my large dogs twice a day, and they are kibble fed. I feed Duncan 3 times a day due to him being a pup. Once older, he too will be fed 2 times a day.

I would think it would be fine to feed a smaller dog once a day.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

CorgiPaws said:


> Which is applicable in raw feeding, but not kibble feeding. It's my understanding that feeding more frequent, smaller meals when feeding kibble may help decrease the risk of bloat.
> Granted, this is not applicable to the OP, but isn't that the case with giant breeds on a kibble diet?


It doesn't matter whether you feed raw or kibble how many times you feed daily to "prevent" bloat. When reality is bloat (GVD= gastric volvulous and dilation) is far from preventable. There is no known cause of bloat other than breed or morphological predispositions. You could practice all the tricks in the book to prevent bloat, but still end up with a bloated dog. The only way to truly prevent bloat is to get a gastropexy (tacking of the stomach surgery= 99% effective) done. I know this because all of the foster homes in our rescue are well educated on these "tricks" and we still end up with sick and dead dogs. I went to a seminar on bloat at Alameda East (ER vets on Animal Planet) and the case studies that they have are just mind boggling. Even dogs that have nothing to eat can bloat. All scenarios are applicable, so there really is no prevention of bloat. This is why I will *always* have a gastropexy done on any Dane I own.

Its just something that happens in large/giant breed dogs. :frown:

If anyone has any other questions about bloat, gastropexy, etc don't hesitate to send me a PM. Its something that I know my fair share about!


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

danemama08 said:


> If anyone has any other questions about bloat, gastropexy, etc don't hesitate to send me a PM. Its something that I know my fair share about!


Wouldn't it be better to discuss it in open forum so we all can learn?


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

RawFedDogs said:


> Wouldn't it be better to discuss it in open forum so we all can learn?


Of course! Just didn't want to hijack the thread LOL

If anyone PM's me I will post it up!


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## buddy97 (Mar 29, 2010)

danemama08 said:


> The only way to truly prevent bloat is to get a gastropexy (tacking of the stomach surgery= 99% effective) done.to send me a PM. Its something that I know my fair share about!


correct me if i am wrong here. my understanding has always been that tacking will prevent the gastric torsion that can follow bloat, but cant really do anything to prevent the onset of bloat.

on topic, i feed at least 2x per day. it helps me stay in tune with how my dogs are feeling and i also just dont like the idea of my dog waiting 24 hours between meals.


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## Guest (Jul 30, 2010)

Doc said:


> I feed all my German shepherds 2X a day - morning and evening. They are on a raw diet.


Hi, Doc. Which raw diet are your GSDs on? If you don't mind me asking, and if you don't mind sharing? (with my apologies to the OP for going off topic just a bit)

I offer food to my 3 large dogs twice daily on a schedule. However, one thing I've noticed is that when we are having a heat wave, they will not want to eat so much. I feel the same way myself in that when it is sweltering outside I would not want to eat that much either.

I don't know how much of my info is at all helpful to the OP, though.


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## Jacksons Mom (Jun 13, 2010)

Thanks for the all the amazing info. 

I love learning new things, so don't worry about hijacking the thread, lol. You can gladly inform people of whatever they need to know in here. 

I feel like the general concensious is that most people feed 2x a day. I did a little trial run Wednesday and Thursday and did not feed breakfast and he still pooped around 1pm, so 3 poops a day anyways. Maybe he's just bound for 3 poops a day? lol. He's eating Acana Grasslands. 

What is the ideal fiber content in a food for less poop? I mean, it's not a huge deal, I've been home with him more due to a car accident 3 weeks ago. But with two meals per day, you'd think it would be 2 poops per day. He only gets 1 treat usually from the time we wake up until 1pm, and that's when he comes inside from potty in the morning.


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## Doc (Jan 17, 2009)

I feed chicken backs and chicken quarters and throw in pork spare ribs when I find them on sale.

All of my dogs eat between 2-3 pounds per day. So 1 to 1.5 pounds each feeding.

I do not feed the Prey Model - but rather a modification of it. I also supplement with Nzymes, Mega C, and Grizzly Salmon Oil. My dog's hips are "Good" so I am not supplementing Glucosemin or Chondrin at this time.

In the morning, the dogs get around a pound of chicken backs and 1/2 cup of Honest Kitchen. In the evening they get a chicken quarter (approximately 1 pound) and 1/2 cup of Honest Kitchen (Embarq).

The dogs poop 1 or 2 times a day - very small amounts with little smell. I do not drive myself crazy trying to balance every meal and weighing. I just watch my dogs and see if they are getting too skinny or too fat. They tend to gain a few in the winter and stay trim during the spring-fall.

I like the chicken backs and leg quarters - most of the time they have small amounts of organ meat attached. All lab work and vet exams indicate that this is a good diet. So everyone's happy :smile:


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

buddy97 said:


> correct me if i am wrong here. my understanding has always been that tacking will prevent the gastric torsion that can follow bloat, but cant really do anything to prevent the onset of bloat.


Torsion always happens first in GVD (gastric volvulous and dilation...aka "bloat" in the general term), then bloating. When the stomach torsions (flips over on it self) blood flow and escape routes for gas are cut off. Depending on the severity of the twist of the stomach cases can vary. From extreme cases where the stomach has turned greater than 90 degrees, major blood flow restrictions, tisse damage and necrosis, the dog needs er surgery asap or death comes quickly and painfully if the stomach were to rupture. Minor cases include those where the stomach twists less than 90 degrees which still restricts bloodflow but not nearly as bad. Sometimes these mild cases resolve on their own but most of the time they still need surgery and the likelihood of them getting GVD again is much higher. 

The gastropexy surgery prevents the torsion or twisting from happening which is the deadly part of GVD. Just plain old bloating is a normal thing and is pretty much harmless. There really is no way of preventing bloating from happening even in a dog that has a pexyied stomach. But at least you'd have the peace of mind knowing that your dog would never torsion. Hope this helps to clarify things!


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## yuffie (Jun 22, 2010)

i feed my dog yuffie only once a day. she is small too at only about 11 pounds. i used to feed her kibble called organix twice a day and she would only "graze" it over the day and sometimes not finish it when it was time for her next meal. when i started to add cooked chicken or other meat to her kibble, she would eat the whole thing when i gave her a meal. then i switched to the raw feeding after doing some research on it and only feed her once a day. the reason for it is because she is small and its much easier to find cuts of meat like drumsticks and thighs in a one meal serving so i don't have to physically cut up the meats myself. on the kibble yuffie pooped about 3x a day. on raw she only poops about twice a day and the poop is like 1/3 the size from before. hope my info helps. she did fine switching from 2 meals to 1 a day and i feed her when its most convenient so i don't have a set time of day either.


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## frenchies (Jul 24, 2010)

buddy97 said:


> correct me if i am wrong here. my understanding has always been that tacking will prevent the gastric torsion that can follow bloat, but cant really do anything to prevent the onset of bloat.
> 
> on topic, i feed at least 2x per day. it helps me stay in tune with how my dogs are feeling and i also just dont like the idea of my dog waiting 24 hours between meals.


IMO a combination of at least 2 meals a day plus at least an hours rest after eating, plus a VERY careful food regime helps large dogs, but I do agree Danes are vulnerable. I fed a homemade diet to my 13 Rotties back in the 80's when the choices for kibble was very limited. no problems, they were great... healthy and had a ton of energy. Bloat is a terrible condition and if you have proven results with the things you are trying, please talk to all of us.


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