Puppy Feeding....Can I switch to twice a day?

[jasonm]

I was told by my trainer that it was ok to switch over to feeding my puppy twice a day. Our schedule is such that we feed her at 5:30am when we get up, she goes in the crate at 8am. I let her our at 12:30pm and my wife is home at 4:30pm to let her out. We were feeding her at 5:30am, 4:30pm, and 9:00pm with her in bed at 11pm.

His training is based on the pack mentality. You eat before you feed your dog so they know their place in the "pack". With our schedule we were thinking of feeding her at 5:30am and 7:00pm. Any ideas would be apperciated. I haven't talked to my vet yet about this. I figured I'd post it here and ask first.

[brunie's mom]

How old is your pup now?
Most pups often are not that interested in the lunch meal by the time they are 4-5 months old, and it can be cut out anytime after about 18 weeks.

I really never did understand this "pack" business. Of eating before the dog,etc. Honestly I think it's a bunch of crap.

I've had dogs for over 30 years and have fed them in the a.m. and in the p.m..... most days they eat before us. I like to have the dogs fed and out for a walk after they eat...and then I feel like eating my breakfast myself.

I do not allow any mooching or begging. If I want to give them something of my breakfast or dinner I do, if I don't ....too bad.

Feed the dog when it is convenient for you...do not worry about "pack" structure,etc. Work on obedience...this helps to show leadership...not what time the pup eats.

Gina

[ElsasFamily]

Originally Posted by brunie's mom

Feed the dog when it is convenient for you...do not worry about "pack" structure,etc. Work on obedience...this helps to show leadership...not what time the pup eats.

Gina

That deserves an AMEN!!! And a simple enough solution to your dilemma.

[rhylmarova]

I am glad you sad that, Gina. I have been struggling to feed us first and than only the puppy. Firstly, due to the time and mainly just because I like to have all ready before I sit to have my breakfast or dinner. Thank I can really enjoy it. So I just ditched it hoping I wont cause to much mess with it. Seems to be doing fine. The puppy stays downstairs when we have dinner and plays on its own.

To the original OP. My puppy is 18wks and I have been noticing recently that he doesn't 'wake up' midday-ish to remind me of food. He will just go until dinner. So I am starting to feed twice a day this week looking at what it does.

Renata

[spidey]

Amen to what Gina said. And as people here have said before: the way you establish a healthy working relationship with a dog is BY WORKING, all these things like who goes through the door first and who eats first seem like a smokescreen or a crutch to avoid having to do the hard work. If you raise your dog properly, with fair, consistent, firm rules, if you train a little every day and get into classes (AND STAY IN THEM) as soon as possible, if you actually learn a bit about dog psychology (Jean Donaldson's "The Culture Clash" is a great way to start) so you understand the differences between the way dogs think and the way people think, you won't need to do relatively meaningless things like feed yourself before your dog, because your relationship will be clearly established in your dog's mind and yours.

[gomer9855]

I read a book book once that instrcuted me to put som cheerios in a small bowl, fill up my dogs bowl, then pup my bowl of cheerios inside my dog's bowl and pretend to eat it. Makes my dogs think I'm eating their food, so eating first.

It sounded like C*AP to me (like everything else in the book) when I read it, but I thought, what the hey, I'll try anything once. Did it for a couple weeks, made no difference. But I wasn't having issues with my dogs. Sure was a pain in the butt though! I found making them sit-stay while you put the dishes down worked good. Keeps them off my back and learn to stay all at the same time!

And yes, my dogs eat before me (or at the same time, anyway). My puppy begs like crazy (not my fault! She did it when we got her!) so I can't stand to eat when she's out of her crate. So I put her food in her crate and lock her up.

[marsol]

The weather seems to affect the mealtimes too..in Texas, it is so hot during the summer Sydnay would barely eat breakfast and then PIG OUT at night. Now that it is cooler she eats about 1 - 2 cups in the AM and 2-3 cups in the PM (Wellness & Nutro Ultra). She is 8 months old and 67 lbs..she is taller than our friends three year old (75lbs) and still kind of lanky...so I let her eat up to 6 cups a day..but not over. Of course, there are the treats she gets when she trains too.

[jasonm]

Originally Posted by brunie's mom

How old is your pup now?

She's 10 weeks old. She is really picky. We only leave the food down for 10 minutes and if she hasn't eaten she goes without it.

She eats her breakfast fine and when we get home she eats fine but at the 9pm feeding she doesn't seem interested. We are feeding her 3/4 cups 3 times aday. I figured we could do 1.5 cups twice and day.

Is this not good for a 10 week old? I'd like to do the best for her and try and fit our schedule into it.

[spidey]

What if you reduce the feeding amount for each meal? This could be simply that she's not a "three meal a day dog" (mine never wanted three meals a day), or it could be that you're overfeeding her and she doesn't actually need 3/4 cup 3 times a day, but needs 1/2 cup three times a day.