Hi all. Bracken is now nealy 6 months old and i have read that feeds should be reduced from 3 times per day down to 2. Do i just do it ? Should she maybe have a treat instead of the dropped meal ? Be glad of any advice please.
Re: reducing feeds Hi, I'm not an expert but when I reduced Juno's meals to 2 a day I started giving her a Dentastix at lunchtime and made allowance for it in her daily food ration. You can just cut out the lunch time food although you may get some sorry faces from Bracken at the lack of food. Some would say there's no rush to cut out the lunch at all if Bracken is happy. I think it's just a case of choosing what works best for you and Bracken
Re: reducing feeds I remember Sam being mortified when he cut to two meals per day, I just reduced the size of the meal over a couple of weeks , he ( and Millie ) have a fish4dogs sea biscuit for lunch x
Re: reducing feeds I reduced gradually and then swapped it for a Bonio. Now they rarely get anything at lunch time.....maybe something for their teeth if I'm at home.
Re: reducing feeds I'm at home all day and it suits me to keep feeding them three times a day. I feel it breaks the day up for all of us. In fact, they get their best meal of the day (raw meat) at lunchtime! If it's better for you to reduce to two, though, I'd do what the others have suggested and just give a chew or a treat at lunchtime instead. [quote author=MaccieD link=topic=10675.msg158271#msg158271 date=1429697033] Hi, I'm not an expert but when I reduced Juno's meals to 2 a day I started giving her a Dentastix at lunchtime and made allowance for it in her daily food ration. [/quote] I had some Dentastix given to me and, as much as they're far too processed for my liking, I'd run out of my natural chews, so decided to try one. Never again - the fallout in the bottom department was quite spectacular! So they were passed on to another doggy friend, who very much appreciated them
Re: reducing feeds [quote author=snowbunny link=topic=10675.msg158285#msg158285 date=1429699394] I'm at home all day and it suits me to keep feeding them three times a day. I feel it breaks the day up for all of us. In fact, they get their best meal of the day (raw meat) at lunchtime! If it's better for you to reduce to two, though, I'd do what the others have suggested and just give a chew or a treat at lunchtime instead. [quote author=MaccieD link=topic=10675.msg158271#msg158271 date=1429697033] Hi, I'm not an expert but when I reduced Juno's meals to 2 a day I started giving her a Dentastix at lunchtime and made allowance for it in her daily food ration. [/quote] I had some Dentastix given to me and, as much as they're far too processed for my liking, I'd run out of my natural chews, so decided to try one. Never again - the fallout in the bottom department was quite spectacular! So they were passed on to another doggy friend, who very much appreciated them [/quote] Never had a problem with Dentastix, Jumbones are a different matter though. At the moment though Juno has one of her bones at lunchtime to have a good chew on, not the day before hydrotherapy though to be safe, as it keeps her occupied for longer with the restricted exercise.
Re: reducing feeds thanks so much for all the suggestions and advice. I am at home most days so will probably carry on 3 feeds until she is actually 6 months.....and wait for the sad face ! x
Re: reducing feeds Heh, mine are eight and a half months and I have no plans to reduce to two. I don't think it's a case of you should reduce to two meals but, rather, if you want to reduce to two, you should leave it until they're six months old. It suits us fine to keep on with three meals, so that's what we're going to do unless circumstances change.
Re: reducing feeds Charlie is on 3 meals a day, he gets lunch. I find it works well because I can skip the lunch time feed if I need the food for something else - training or kongs.
Re: reducing feeds Bella is seven and a half months...she gets lunch. On the weekends sometimes she doesn't get a lunch if her breakfast is quite late....but she still gets the same quantity of food throughout the day. Depending on our routine, her meals are not at precisely the same time each day....I have made sure it's unpredictable from the time she was very small. I know a few dogs who can tell time based on when they are served their meals. : And they are OBNOXIOUS in the 30 minutes prior and make quite a nuisance. Bella is generally fed within 10 minutes of us getting out of bed....be it 5:30 in the morning or 8:30 on a weekend. We get up, she goes out to go potty, I go potty and start the coffee, she comes in and both dogs get fed. I pack her a lunch to take to work with her dad....and depending on their day - she eats it somewhere between 10:30 and 2. I am usually home with her about 6:30 in the evening, and sometimes we go run and play and swim for 30-45 minutes, sometimes we just quickly play in the driveway with a tennis ball for a few minutes....but that means that she will get her dinner anytime from 6:30 to 8pm depending on what activities we're doing. She never sits and demands to be fed....she doesn't pace and carry on....well - not until I actually grab the bowls....then all bets are off because she knows in mere MOMENTS she will get to eat. 8) 8) 8) 8)
Re: reducing feeds They only get 4 meals as puppies because their stomachs are too small to take all the food they need in fewer meals. We dropped to three meals without any great difficulty by simply cutting the last meal of the day. Reducing to two meals at about seven months was much harder. The result was that our lunch was accompied by an intense labrador stare reminding us that she had not been fed. In the end we started to give her a Bonio at lunchtime, and reduced her breakfast to compensate.
