# why twice a day feeding?



## Alcibides (Feb 14, 2012)

My puppy (10 weeks) likes being fed when we are (3 times a day). We've gone up to a cup a day of kibble (as vet suggested) but why must or should we do it in two portions? Any thoughts? Thanks


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

I think most people agree that small puppies need to be fed smaller portions more often, rather than cutting back too soon. 3 servings a day or even 4 at that age seems reasonable to me. Also, does he really eat a full cup of kibble a day? That seems a bit much; my dog at 14 months and 10 lbs eats between 1/2 and 3/4 cup a day, depending on how active he is. If you feed more meals, from what I understand, he will probably gradually stop eating one of the meals and then it will be time to phase a meal out.

Remember, a vet is not a god-like being whose advice you always have to follow. You know your dog better than anybody else except perhaps the breeder. In fact, the breeder should have given you feeding instructions, what did they recommend?


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## Alcibides (Feb 14, 2012)

*the breeder said*

Actually the breeder also said to up the amount to a cup and serve in two portions when he turned ten weeks. He is big (6 lbs. 2 oz) I think for ten weeks so maybe he needs a bit more? He slept through the night really well last night. Maybe the larger portion is more satisfying. He's just looking for lunch now and I'm not sure why I shouldn't just give it to him. He has no treats yet (tried a liver thing and he threw up; a small bit of rice cake disinterested him) and he loooves his kibble. Thanks for your input.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

My breeder said, and everything I read seemed to be in agreement, that puppies should stay with 3 meals a day (same amount, just spread into 3 meals) until they are quite a bit older. Kodi was very clear when he was ready to drop lunch... he simply stopped eating it. If your little one is looking for lunch, I'd give it to him!


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

Wow he is a big 'un!

Hopefully others will have more advice .


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## Carefulove (Mar 20, 2009)

krandall said:


> My breeder said, and everything I read seemed to be in agreement, that puppies should stay with 3 meals a day (same amount, just spread into 3 meals) until they are quite a bit older. Kodi was very clear when he was ready to drop lunch... he simply stopped eating it. If your little one is looking for lunch, I'd give it to him!


I agree. 
Mine are now eating 2x a day (Bumi is almost 3, Toby almost 6 months), but on the weekends I give them lunch (boiled egg)


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## misstray (Feb 6, 2011)

Brody is a year and he still usually wants 3 meals a day during the work week. He's just starting to occasionally skip the lunch meal. On weekends he usually only eats once or twice. He gets 1/4 cup at each meal. I've not pushed it and removed a feeding because it's not like he's getting fat. I just wish he would cut down a meal so he'd poop less. LOL


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## Alcibides (Feb 14, 2012)

*Thanks All*

Just had the pleasure of giving him lunch. THink we'll stick with 3 meals until he is disinterested in one.


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## anaacosta (Sep 1, 2011)

Leyla is nine months old and weighs 6.5 lbs. She gets 1/3 cup kibble---with some freeze-dried chicken liver crumbled in it---twice a day. Some days I give her apple or melon as a treat. Sometimes I mix in about a teaspoon of wet dog food in her kibble. On weekends she'll possibly have a couple of scrambled eggs with a few kibbles in it. She's been eating that way since she was about 4 months old.


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## CarolWCamelo (Feb 15, 2012)

The notion of feeding a dog twice a day, in my opinion, should be reserved for adult dogs. Twice-a-day feeding often serves adult dogs well.

But a 10-week-old puppy? By all means, I suggest, feed three meals a day, and give a bedtime (or nearly) light snack. Even if your pup is big for a Havanese, that's still a small dog, and the metabolism suggests feeding more than twice a day!

I used to feed my adult dogs three times a day, with a light snack close to bedtime, and that suited them well, till one showed up with diabetes, which tends to require two meals a day and essentially nothing else - that's to match insulin injections twice a day.

I agree with those who are saying, give lunch, and let the pup tell you if/when lunch is no longer wanted!

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 19:50:17 (PDT)


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

Dexter ate 3 meals as a puppy, as he grew older, he would not eat the lunch meal, so we dropped that meal. Puppies are always active, they need the extra food.


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## morriscsps (Aug 17, 2010)

Lunch is good for him. He is a baby. Human babies eat every two hours when they are little. 

As for the amount, you have a big 'un.  My Jack is a big 'un, too. He will be 2 in July, weighs 17 pounds and eats 1/2 cup of kibble twice a day. 

I have actually changed it to a heaping 1/2 cup 2x day because he was too bony. I didn't like how much his hip bones were sticking out. So Jack may weigh more than 17 lbs now. I have no idea where he puts it. He eats almost as much as my 45 lbs. Aussie. Maybe Jack burns it off just by trying to keep up with her.

You are doing fine.


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## Alcibides (Feb 14, 2012)

CarolWCamelo said:


> The notion of feeding a dog twice a day, in my opinion, should be reserved for adult dogs. Twice-a-day feeding often serves adult dogs well.
> 
> But a 10-week-old puppy? By all means, I suggest, feed three meals a day, and give a bedtime (or nearly) light snack. Even if your pup is big for a Havanese, that's still a small dog, and the metabolism suggests feeding more than twice a day!
> 
> ...


THanks so much. I'd be interested in what counts as a bedtime snack? I tried two kong liver cookies and Lucky threw up. The vet suggested rice cakes which seemed as boring to the dog as they are to me. He's eating so well and responding so beautifully (e.g. with potty training, putting his toys in his little toy bin, and playing fetch) to praise without a treat that we are wary about introducing treats. Will he be looking for them everytime he does something right? Will he be wanting them instead of kibble? Seems a bid decision to introduce snacks but if we did, what do you recommend?


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## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

Alcibides said:


> THanks so much. I'd be interested in what counts as a bedtime snack? I tried two kong liver cookies and Lucky threw up. The vet suggested rice cakes which seemed as boring to the dog as they are to me. He's eating so well and responding so beautifully (e.g. with potty training, putting his toys in his little toy bin, and playing fetch) to praise without a treat that we are wary about introducing treats. Will he be looking for them everytime he does something right? Will he be wanting them instead of kibble? Seems a bid decision to introduce snacks but if we did, what do you recommend?


Timmy is 20 weeks old and I try to feed him 3x's per day, 1/3 cup at each feeding. He generally doesn't like eating in the morning so he'll get an early lunch, a little more than 1/3 cup if he skips breakfast and eats again at about 5:30 or 6:00. I don't give Timmy snacks, or training treats until he eats his meals. We generally do some training after lunch and go for a walk. I'll do a second training session early evening, or my daughter do. He gets to chew on a flossie, himalayan chew, or get's a chicken breast jerky (from Trader Joe's) before bed time and he looks forward to that, kind of settles him down. I know in the beginning he was getting tons of treats between potty training and the other basics, but I made sure those rewards were nutritious usually boiled chicken breast so if he didn't eat at his regular times because he ate too many treats at least it wasn't junk. I've have started cutting out a lot of treats especially when he does his business, he just gets a lot of praise. He also responds to commands like "sit" and "down" without treats as well since sometimes I don't have them with me and he needs to comply like when we're out walking. I think once these commands are mastered you can start weaning them off treats every time the do something. I'm sure someone with more training experience will chime in on this topic too.


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## CarolWCamelo (Feb 15, 2012)

morriscsps said:


> Lunch is good for him. He is a baby. Human babies eat every two hours when they are little.
> 
> As for the amount, you have a big 'un.  My Jack is a big 'un, too. He will be 2 in July, weighs 17 pounds and eats 1/2 cup of kibble twice a day.
> 
> ...


Nice post!

At two years old, Jack, of course, is an adult dog. Same as Camellia, at five years old.

When Camellia came to me, she weighed 7.7 kg (about 17 pounds). I kept changing her food; didn't like the kibble she was on. I kept weighing her on the vet's scale. Eventually, got her up to 8.6 Kg, rock-solid stable at that weight, and both my vets and groomer like that weight on her. I've finally settled on a particular brand of kibble that clearly suits her well (Natural Balance Original Ultra for Adults and Puppies). I feed the dry, but use the canned (chicken recipe) to put her pills in. And I feed treats - Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Lamb roll - did that for years (same stuff) with my Australian Terriers, for training purposes.

Here's something I learned that I'm finding marvelously useful - I use a digital kitchen scale and I weigh the food! Learned to do that so as to feed a diabetic dog (Australian Terrier Kumbi) stable amounts, so I could adjust insulin doses correctly. It's surprising how far off we can get if we only measure the food!

With young puppies, I don't think I'd bother to weigh the food, because the food requirements may keep changing. Maybe I'd begin to weigh once they're a year or so old. Checking on a vet's scale is wonderful!

I count calories before settling on a particular amount (weight) of kibble - I'd have to go look up my current calorie count for Camellia!

Then add the calories for the canned food I put her pills in, and for the occasional (now small amounts) of treats used for classical conditioning and training.

Once I get into a routine, it's settled, proven by Camellia's rock-solid stability on the vet's scale! (I weigh somewhere around once a month).

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 06:24:10 (PDT)


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## morriscsps (Aug 17, 2010)

If I remember correctly, Jack at 10 weeks had 1/4 cup 3x a day. 

I think it was around 4-5 months, we dropped lunch and gave him a heaping 1/4 cup 2x. We gradually moved up to 1/2 cups 2x. Jack has never had a problem with inhaling his food in under 30 seconds flat. He always acts as he is starving.

You are doing great!


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## CarolWCamelo (Feb 15, 2012)

morriscsps said:


> If I remember correctly, Jack at 10 weeks had 1/4 cup 3x a day.
> 
> I think it was around 4-5 months, we dropped lunch and gave him a heaping 1/4 cup 2x. We gradually moved up to 1/2 cups 2x. Jack has never had a problem with inhaling his food in under 30 seconds flat. He always acts as he is starving.
> 
> You are doing great!


Yes! Doing great!

If you're going to be really finicky, and try to establish rock-steady weight control (I don't recommend doing this till a pup is at LEAST six months old, maybe a year old) - it's good to count calories, and, as I mentioned, I think, weigh the food.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, my digital scale! When its battery wore out, after about 1.5 years, I didn't have a spare handy, so I was stuck then with MEASURING instead of weighing, and at that time, I discovered how wonderful it is to weigh instead of measuring! I was never sure just how many calories (or how many grams - I weigh in grams, being in Canada) - I was actually feeding. (HAHAHA!) How to upset a really persnickety Human DogMum!

All this is to preface the following remark. I changed foods SIX times, for Camellia, during her first year with me. I was vacillating about which food would be best for her, partly because of her allergies.

EACH time, I needed to find out how many calories there were - usually, it's given per cup - in the food. It was DIFFERENT for each food! So that's something you could look up, usually on the web site of the company that makes the food.

I'm wildly dyslexic with numbers, so it was a bit agonizing to work out how many calories per cup (from the web site), then, how many GRAMS the CUP of food weighed (I weighed a cup of food on my digital scale, then subtracted the weight of the cup - haha!), figure out how many calories Camellia HAD been eating (with her weight steady), and tried to match that number when I changed the food.

Especially, I noticed the difference between the foods I was (and am) feeding Camellia - because my previous dog was diabetic, and HIS food was far less calorie-dense than Camellia's! So I fed HIM TWO CUPS a day!

Diabetic dogs need to have foods moderately high in protein, slightly low in carbohydrates - and high in fiber, if I remember right. And LOW in fat content, to protect against pancreatitis.

It turns out I'm feeding just under half a cup of kibble to Camellia per meal, twice a day. Eventually, I should look up the calories I worked out, and I could post that when I gather the information.

Camellia is a BIG Havanese, too. I swear, she lost a quarter-pound of hair when my groomer first clipped her down! (I keep her clipped down partly because she's pretty constantly in brush by the roadsides, but also, so the special shampoo and spray she gets can reach the skin easily to replace her missing skin barrier [against environmental allergies].)

So, the moral of this novel is, check how many CALORIES (usually called Kcal) there are in a cup, and work out from that how "much" you're feeding your dog.

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:06:17 (PDT)


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