Our pup is now 4 months old and we reduced her meals from 4 to 3 per day at 3 months. At 6 months the Dog manual recommends twice a day. Is there any scientific reason for this? It seems a long while without food (I wouldn't want to skip lunch myself) And each portion would be so large! I'm considering keeping to 3 meals, but wondering if this is not to her benefit. I would like to know what other dog owners do at 6 months and older, thank you!
At 6 months I continued to feed at lunchtime for a while and gradually reduced over a period of time. For example, I might have given her a stuffed Kong which would have been less than she would normally have but would fill a gap, and I increased the morning and evening feeds accordingly. Now she'll get a snack at lunch, maybe a chew of some kind or a fish skin. I don't know if there's a scientific reason but it's not imperative. If it suits you to keep giving food at lunch then go for it.
Hey Elsie, the only reason is because, as your dog grows up, she is more able to tolerate larger amounts of food in her belly. There is certainly no reason that you have to go down to two meals. My two older dogs are nearly three and still have three meals a day, plus kongs. I feel it breaks their day up a bit more.
My puppy is 7 months. She has 3 meals a day plus 3 kongs and treats for training. This all comes from her daily allowance. Her lunch and tea are relatively small meals. I find this works well for her.
Thanks for the reassurance. I will continue to give her food allowance over 3 meals with treats as she does enjoy her food!
