# Feed once a day?



## cloey70 (Jan 6, 2008)

Clifford's appetite seems to be slowing down, and doesn't like to eat breakfast, but loves dinner. Should I stop trying to give him food in the morning? I have him on a feeding schedule of 1/3 cup in morning and 1/3 at night. I feed him Canidae All Stages, and he seems to like it. Just not sure if I should quit breakfast and go to one meal a day.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

> Clifford's appetite seems to be slowing down, and doesn't like to eat breakfast, but loves dinner. Should I stop trying to give him food in the morning? I have him on a feeding schedule of 1/3 cup in morning and 1/3 at night. I feed him Canidae All Stages, and he seems to like it. Just not sure if I should quit breakfast and go to one meal a day.[/B]


My past maltese Benson used to gobble up his food twice per day when he was younger, but after he was around 1yr old he preferred to graze throughout the day. I would give him around 3/4 cup total but he would rarely finish it all. He never tried overeating, but I know some dogs would.

My new puppy London acts like I starve her by giving her 1/4 cup twice per day. :wacko1:


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## carolicious (Feb 25, 2008)

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you should be feeding London at least 3 times a day at her age, I still feed Coby 3 times a day. You usually switch to two times a day once they hit 6 months. The reason for this is that they can go into hypoglycemia if they have to wait a while in between meals. I strongly recommend you feed her 3 times a day instead of two.


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## The A Team (Dec 1, 2005)

My dogs are all adults but I feed them canned food once a day around 5pm, I also leave dry kibble available at all times....and it gets eaten throughout the day. 

In the morning after everyone goes and does their pee pees I give treats - good for you treats....so I kind of figure that is sort of a small meal. (they're piggy's and I probably give them too many :blush: )


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## harrysmom (Sep 28, 2007)

I feed Harry and Teddy twice a day. Since Teddy is only 4 1/2 months old, I leave dry Merrick food out for him in his ex-pen all day. 
I also give some healthy treats in the morning stuffed into their kong toys to keep them occupied while I get ready for work. 

Debbie


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## jessluvsfairys (Mar 19, 2008)

So should food be left out all day for the puppies or given two to three times daily instead. I'm confused and it wasn't even my question, lol. :huh:


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## carrie (Aug 24, 2004)

i free feed.


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## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

> i free feed. [/B]


I have always free fed Ollie as well and, from what I understand, it's recommended to do this with small breed puppies/dogs. Their tummies are so small and it's better for them to graze or have small meals throughout the day--especially for hypoglycemia in small puppies. 

Ollie does a wonderful job regulating his own food intake--I just leave it down all day and in the morning take away anything that's left and refill w/ a clean bowl. He occasionally will graze, but mostly he will eat about 1/4 canned in the a.m. (that I plop on top of his kibble--this keeps him from getting nauseous from an empty stomach) about 1/2 of his kibble in the afternoon and the rest early evening. When his bowl is empty and it's bedtime I'll refill it with just a few kibble in case he wants it, but he rarely eats after a certain time. His poop has always been VERY regular, so no issues there. His weight is perfect for his size.

I also love this because sometimes I can get busy during the day and distracted, but with his food always down I don't have to worry.


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## mbradfordc (Mar 21, 2008)

I just got a 4 month old Maltese and Ive been feeding her Eukanuba puppy food. She weighs about 3.8 lbs.
How much should i be feeding her, and once or twice a day?


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## carolicious (Feb 25, 2008)

> I just got a 4 month old Maltese and Ive been feeding her Eukanuba puppy food. She weighs about 3.8 lbs.
> How much should i be feeding her, and once or twice a day?[/B]



definitely more than once! she'll suffer hypoglycemia if only fed once. You should be feeding her at least 3 times a day. Just look at how much is recommended for a puppy her size and divide that portion into 3 or 4 portions. Like others have said, my vet also recommended free feeding for puppies so small. However to help with potty training, we always did 3 meals at certain times but we also added a few extra kibbles if he finished so that he could come back and get a few bites throughout until the next period if he felt the need to. You might also look into a different food as well, Eukanuba is not the best quality. Look around the food section of the forum and you'll see what people recommend the most.


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## cloey70 (Jan 6, 2008)

Clifford is 6 months old now, and I like keeping him on a schedule, so I can predict potty time, and to help in potty training. If I free feed I can never know when he has to go. I ordered some all organic treats that you sprinkle on the food called Carnivore Crunch. I hope this can keep it on schedule this way.


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## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

> Clifford is 6 months old now, and I like keeping him on a schedule, so I can predict potty time, and to help in potty training. If I free feed I can never know when he has to go. I ordered some all organic treats that you sprinkle on the food called Carnivore Crunch. I hope this can keep it on schedule this way.[/B]


just an FYI--free feeding never caused any disruption on potty training.


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## Harley & Dakotas Mum (Jun 11, 2005)

H & D get breakfast & dinner. I also leave a small bowl of kibble down for them during the day - which I then throw out at the end of the day because they don't touch it! LOL


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## cloey70 (Jan 6, 2008)

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Well when I first got Clifford I was free feeding him, and it was causing major confusion. Then I joined here, and everyone especially JMM aka Jackie told me a schedule is the way to go to predict potty times. It makes sense, and in any potty training book you read or internet a schedule is the way to go. I always take JMM advice seriously, and since I have changed him to a schedule I can literally predict when he poops to the hour. So, fyi free feeding on puppies can cause confusion on the owner on when to take potty breaks, especially when you are not with them 24 hours.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

I feed meals. If he will eat a little in the morning, decrease his AM portion and increase his PM. I would have him eat at least a little in the morning so he has something in his tummy (or you may end up with empty-tummy vomiting).


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## Baby Missy's Mom (Mar 23, 2008)

Baby Missy is one now so I free feed which amounts to 3/4 cup per day. She usually finishes it by bedtime. When she was a puppy it was different because what went in had to come out. Needless to say I monitored it very closely so we could scoot out the door about 1/2 hr after she ate. The breeder recommended this routine as she felt you had less potty training accidents. It seemed to work. Good Luck! :biggrin:


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## ShilohsMom (Jun 25, 2007)

Mine get fed twice a day at exactly the same time.


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