# Feeding Schedule?



## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

So Eevee puked twice yesterday morning on her morning walk. It looked like it was just foamy bile, so I figured it was a hunger puke. She also whines/cries a lot during the night and tries to eat everything she can get her mouth on during her morning walk!

This tells me that I gotta adjust her feeding schedule. Last night I fed her dinner an hour later than usual, and she was very good today on her morning walk, although she did cry during the night.

What's your feeding schedule? Do you feed on a strict schedule or do you feed whenever within a certain time frame?
I actually read that feeding on a strict schedule may be the cause of hunger puking, because the dog's body eventually becomes conditioned to expect food at a certain time, and starts producing acids on an empty stomach.


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## *Ranger* (Oct 17, 2011)

I feed only at night and it seems to work out well. When I first switched, two of my dogs had hunger pukes daily for about a week. I never feed at the same time, usually between 2:00pm and midnight, depending of my work schedule and they never have problems anymore 
I feed them a little while after out nightly walk and then they sleep like the dead


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

There are a few people here that feed at random times during the day and I'll let them give the pros to doing it that way.

I feed on a schedule because it seems to work best for me and my dogs. I feed in the morning around 9am and then around 3pm (Duncan eats again at 9pm due to me needing to make sure his urine stays dilute due to a health condition). But, my Pointer, who is fed PMR is fed at those two times and seems to do great with it. If I fed her late at night I would always wake up to little piles of bile vomit in the morning. It seems that feeding her earlier in the day had done away with that.

You may just have to try a few things to see what works best for your dog. Good luck! :smile:


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## DaneLover228 (Nov 29, 2011)

I don't feed on a schedule. I feed in the morning and in the evening. The actual times vary. Monty had hunger pukes a couple times at first, but it was because he was used to eating 8 cups of kibble a day that just sat in his stomach. After the first few days, the hunger pukes stopped.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

All of mine are fed once during the day, on work days that is right around 7:45am, before I go to work...on weekends or days that Im home the time can be between 7am if we are going somewhere or 1pm if we are having a lazy day!:smile:

Keeva will of course be fed multiple times as she is little, but no one else will be changed. I like having them fed once a day, and that no matter when it is they are happy!:thumb:


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

I feed twice a day, around 7-8 am and then between 5-6 pm.


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## lucky (Jan 8, 2011)

I feed once a day too, on college days my husband usually feeds her after he has dropped me off so about 10am, on weekends/days off etc she gets fed anytime between 10am - 4pm depending on whether we are going out, she can't ride in the car on a full stomach, she tends to puke :l


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## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

Thanks guys :smile: I decided I'm going to feed her anywhere from 6-9 in the morning, 12-2 for lunch, and 6-9 for dinner. I'll cut out the lunch when she's old enough to have two meals a day


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

liquid said:


> Thanks guys :smile: I decided I'm going to feed her anywhere from 6-9 in the morning, 12-2 for lunch, and 6-9 for dinner. I'll cut out the lunch when she's old enough to have two meals a day


How old is she now?

I stopped giving Rhett 3 meals when he was about 6 months old, well he stopped asking for it, and so I moved his breakfast to a larger amount...and around 9 months old he went to 1 meal a day, only because he wouldnt eat his dinner!:wink:


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## nupe (Apr 26, 2011)

Unosmom said:


> I feed twice a day, around 7-8 am and then between 5-6 pm.



I do the exact same schedule...seems to work for Buddy and me also..


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## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

Scarlett_O' said:


> How old is she now?
> 
> I stopped giving Rhett 3 meals when he was about 6 months old, well he stopped asking for it, and so I moved his breakfast to a larger amount...and around 9 months old he went to 1 meal a day, only because he wouldnt eat his dinner!:wink:


She's 5 months right now  She gobbles up every meal! Did Rhett just stop eating all three meals? I plan on waiting for Eevee to decide when she wants less meals, I wouldnt want to keep her hungry :smile:


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

liquid said:


> She's 5 months right now  She gobbles up every meal! Did Rhett just stop eating all three meals? I plan on waiting for Eevee to decide when she wants less meals, I wouldnt want to keep her hungry :smile:


No he got where he was SUPER hungry in the mornings, after his breakfast...then bored with lunch, then once he would eat it he was SUPER hungry again...then bored with dinner....so cut out his lunch and added it to breakfast and he was SO much happier!:smile:


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## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

Scarlett_O' said:


> No he got where he was SUPER hungry in the mornings, after his breakfast...then bored with lunch, then once he would eat it he was SUPER hungry again...then bored with dinner....so cut out his lunch and added it to breakfast and he was SO much happier!:smile:


Hm, I'll watch for that then! It'd be soo nice if I could cut her meals to twice a day, lol! Less work is always nice :tongue1:


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## shellbell (Sep 24, 2011)

I feed on a schedule. Being gone for work for 10 hours five days a week, I kind of have to. They eat at 5am and 5pm.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

liquid said:


> Hm, I'll watch for that then! It'd be soo nice if I could cut her meals to twice a day, lol! Less work is always nice :tongue1:


I cant imagine that all dogs would do what Rhett did, Brody still seems irritated that he doesnt get 2-3 meals a day!LOL :lol:
But I think once they hit 6 months old that there shouldnt be a problem and you should be able to back down to 2 times per day!:biggrin:

(Others might say differently...but I dont think it is/would be a problem!:wink


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## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

Scarlett_O' said:


> I cant imagine that all dogs would do what Rhett did, Brody still seems irritated that he doesnt get 2-3 meals a day!LOL :lol:
> But I think once they hit 6 months old that there shouldnt be a problem and you should be able to back down to 2 times per day!:biggrin:
> 
> (Others might say differently...but I dont think it is/would be a problem!:wink


Lol, aw poor Brody! :biggrin1:
I think 6-7 months might be ideal. I'm gonna watch her food habits to see when she's ready though. Time for me to start googling!


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

I stopped three meals per day at 4 months of age. Really no reason to feed three meals a day to puppies older than 4 months unless they are small/toy breeds. 

I would cut it back to 2 meals per day at this point so you can feed larger meals which will satisfy her more and satiate her longer. Which will help with the whining at night, etc.

As for feeding schedules...we have NO schedule. Yesterday I fed at 3pm, today at 6pm...tomorrow I wont feed them at all. That way their body's are never "preparing" to eat. The body will prepare itself when food comes at approximate times, which is why the hunger pukes are so common in most dogs. They're used to being fed at a particular time of day/night...plus kibble just sits in a dogs system for a long time as its much harder to digest than raw, whole foods.


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## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

DaneMama said:


> I stopped three meals per day at 4 months of age. Really no reason to feed three meals a day to puppies older than 4 months unless they are small/toy breeds.
> 
> I would cut it back to 2 meals per day at this point so you can feed larger meals which will satisfy her more and satiate her longer. Which will help with the whining at night, etc.
> 
> As for feeding schedules...we have NO schedule. Yesterday I fed at 3pm, today at 6pm...tomorrow I wont feed them at all. That way their body's are never "preparing" to eat. The body will prepare itself when food comes at approximate times, which is why the hunger pukes are so common in most dogs. They're used to being fed at a particular time of day/night...plus kibble just sits in a dogs system for a long time as its much harder to digest than raw, whole foods.


So as of right now she gets 11oz each meal, 3 times a day. If I wanted to cut it down to 2 meals, should I increase the amounts in both meals? 16.5oz each meal? Breakfast and Dinner.

*Edit:* I just gave her breakfast. 16oz consisting of one chicken back, and a bunch of chicken hearts/gizzards :smile: She's happily chomping down right now in her crate. I just hope this isnt too much food for her all at once, but she (hopefully) should be okay!

Also, how did you eventually get your dogs to fast without issues? Do you feed more the day before you plan to fast or do you stick with the same amount of food?


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## kady05 (Jul 29, 2011)

Funny that this thread was started, as I was about to post something similar! I've come downstairs to small piles of bile the past 2 mornings, and I know they're from Wilson (he's always been my "puker", Piper has literally thrown up one day of her life). Not sure what's up with him.. he's been raw fed for probably close to 2 months now. I'm seriously considering feeding once daily.. have done it a couple times when I gave them cornish hens and they had no issues with it. 

At this point though, I feed twice daily.. once at around 6:45-7am, then again at around 4:30. I don't think I could feed at random times.. I'm so scheduled, it'd drive me nuts LOL.


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## barneysmom2510 (Oct 12, 2011)

I feed my dogs in the morning between 6:30-7 they are already making so much noise because the are excited to eat. By 4:30 they are circling around and getting excited so they eat between 4:30-5.


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## CoverTune (Dec 20, 2011)

DaneMama said:


> The body will prepare itself when food comes at approximate times, which is why the hunger pukes are so common in most dogs.


Isn't it good for the body to be prepared to eat?


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

liquid said:


> So as of right now she gets 11oz each meal, 3 times a day. If I wanted to cut it down to 2 meals, should I increase the amounts in both meals? 16.5oz each meal? Breakfast and Dinner.
> 
> *Edit:* I just gave her breakfast. 16oz consisting of one chicken back, and a bunch of chicken hearts/gizzards :smile: She's happily chomping down right now in her crate. I just hope this isnt too much food for her all at once, but she (hopefully) should be okay!


Well, yes you'd want to make her other meals bigger. I would suggest slowly phasing out her third meal by making it progressively smaller and smaller. I would also say while phasing the third meal out you make ONE of her meals bigger, leaving the other one the original size. The evening meal is usually the best meal to make larger, since going overnight without food is usually when dogs have a hard time without having food in their stomachs. Which is why a lot of people see the hunger pukes early in the morning right before they feed their dogs breakfast. 

This way having a small breakfast and a large dinner will set her up to going to one meal per day instead of two eventually (if you want to). I have five very active dogs that get fed once per day, usually at night. I've never had issues with them "crashing" etc from not getting a morning meal. They all have tons of energy LOL! I recommend feeding one meal per day because 1) Less work, 2) you can give larger portions which is better for mental stimulation as well as chewing since you give larger things. 

As far as what you gave her already this morning, I would just give her a very small meal midday, and a very small dinner. Then tomorrow start phasing out the third meal like I said above. If she gets diarrhea or vomiting from the increased portion this morning (doubtful) I would fast her the rest of the day and feed her only tomorrow morning a small meal of bone in chicken. 



> Also, how did you eventually get your dogs to fast without issues? Do you feed more the day before you plan to fast or do you stick with the same amount of food?


Very gradually, took plenty of time to do fasting/gorging meals with them. First step is to only feed once per day gradually. Once you have them fine on a once a day feeding schedule, you can eventually start feeding a larger meal one day, and a smaller meal the next. I'd only suggest doing this once per week or so. Pick a day per week and feed a small meal, then the next day feed a larger one. 

My dogs can now all handle eating a gorge meal (eating at least 3 times what they're normally getting) with fasting without issue. This is a handy "tool" to use when you get awesome scores like a whole venison carcass that you really can't break up. Well you can break up a whole deer carcass but its way more fun to let dogs eat the way they're meant to! Pictures below:



CoverTune said:


> Isn't it good for the body to be prepared to eat?


From what I know, its not a good thing for dogs. Its what ends up causing the hunger pukes. Physiologically the body only needs to be "informed" that food is coming only a few minutes in advance. Thats how fast the body starts to work, prepare the stomach, lubricate the mouth (drool LOL), etc. So when its food time I say to the girls "Its time for DINNER DINNER!!!!" And they proceed to go nuts, the drool starts flowing, etc. Good times :thumb:


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## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

Wow, thank you DaneMama!
I'm going to give her a small lunch portion and a snack, and then do a normal-sized dinner potion. She hasnt shown any ill effects from the big breakfast so far, (no diarrhea or vomiting). It seemed like she really enjoyed having more food at once. She went ahead and laid down to relax right after, which never happens! She's usually up looking for more :smile:

All of the information you provided is really helpful, I'm actually going to save it in a word document so I can come back to it when I decide its time to do gorge meals with her!
Those pictures are awesome. Maybe one day I'll score a huge slab of meat like that :thumb:


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