Feeding schedule when do you go from 3 times a day to 2?

[llggood]

OK Gracie gets fed at 7:00 AM, 3:00 PM, and 8:00 PM. She has been eating a little less at each feeding which makes me think maybe I should go to twice a day?

[Tiger's Mom]

I think I switched Tiger to 2 meals a day when he was around 6 months old. I might not do the same for Annika though as she is tinier . . .

[avidscrapbooker]

My Scrappy is 5yrs old, so he's definatly full grown. I believe he's a little over 5lbs, not much. He is fed at 8am and again at 6pm. Does anyone think he should be eating more often? He sometimes lays down infront of his food bowl during the middle of the day and looks at me. Should this mean he's hungry? Or maybe just tired and resting in a quiet spot (he wont sleep in his kennel!)

[Tiffany06]

I see the same with Tiffany. She is now 5 months old and is not so sure about lunch. Also, she is no longer sleeping all night. She always wakes up a around 4:45 to go potty. She always has to go then she goes back to sleep after I take her out. Any suggestions - I'm beat! YAWN

[yorkieusa]

I've always fed mine three times a day and sometimes a snack at night. I just make their meals smaller if they seem to gain too much weight, but I feel like they need their food that often in order to not be empty.

[avidscrapbooker]

Thanks for the advice, will try 3 small meals vs 2 normal meals... plus a snack before bed! I'm always up for a bedtime snack myself.

[Patti]

Thanks I was wondering too. I feed Cali at 7 2 and 10 and she is 1 year old today. I think I will keep her on that schedule for now.

[KellyV]

I think I switched to 2 meals a day when Pixie was about 7 months or so... She gets fed around 7:30 am and 5:30 pm

Up until then I was running home on my lunch break to feed her. With the price of gas it just got to be too expensive to do that all the time... If I could stay at home with her all day I probably would've stuck to three meals, but I have to work if she wants to eat!

[Lacy's Mom]

Of course, every dog is different, but the rule of thumb is:

Puppies younger than three months of age should be fed four times a day at regular intervals: morning, noon, evening and bedtime. At three months, the bedtime meal can be eliminated. At six months, the noon meal can be eliminated. After one year, you can switch to once-a-day feeding.

I actually just leave dry dog food down at all times and occasionally (3 or 4 times a week) give a packet of soft food between three of them, more as a treat. Open feeding doesn't work for all dogs because some eat more than they need and too much weight can lead to health problems.

[Lady of Yorkies]

My dogs are very picky eaters. I buy big bags of dry food and they will eat most of them real well for about 2 days and then go to picking again. I switch because I feel they are too thin. I am looking for something they will continue to eat well. I free feed. They can go help themselves whenever they want and still they are skinny. The vet isn't too concerned but does say they are a little thin. My mentor uses puppy food and her dogs are a healthy weight in my opinion. I have switched to puppy food and they are just as picky now as before. The only time they will gobble it down is when I add canned food or cottage cheese. I don't like giving wet food because of the build up of tartar on their teeth. She also puts a scoop of powdered puppy milk in their food. Mine seem to love this but it is expensive. I am considering using goats milk instead and seeing how they do. Also, her dogs coats are like show coats long and luxurious(sp?). I don't know how often she bathes them but I only bath once a month, I don't want to strip out the natural oils.
Anyways, what I was getting at is that my dogs are skinny even tho I free feed. Sylvia