Eating how many times a day?? Help

[Colem]

My Sam is still on the thin side (all his ribs and spine). He eats Go! an all natural food made in Canada. It is the best food I can buy him. I have tried Innova however he didn't like it. Anyway that is not the point. He is 51 pounds and about 23 inches. This is the problem. He will not eat in the AM at all. So after we go to the dog park he does eat around 4 cups (with some help from me). I know I should just let him eat around 2 cups at night and then see if he will eat in the morning but it is like I don't want to chance him not eating in the morning and missing out. I guess my question is:

Would 2 cups twice a day be better for him gaining weight than 4 cups once a day????? (the food recommends 2.5 cups a day for a 50 pound puppy if that helps)

THanks for ANY advice!!!!

 

[hanley]

Why not just free feed him & that way he won't get stuffed once a day, or 2cups in morning & 2 cups at night. Boxers have very sensitive stomachs,& have a high risk of bloat, & I would worry about that more than him gaining weight, you didn't say how old your dog is & if he is still a pup, 18mths or younger he still has a lot of filling out, & he will fill out about 2yrs old. If he is eating, don't force feed him, he will let you know when he is hungry. Hanley

 

[boxer]

There are a lot of disadvantages to free-feeding, and it is not an easy way to control a dog's weight (be it under or over-weight). So I personally would never recommend doing that.

If he doesn't want to eat first thing in the morning, how is he if you feed just a little later? Or in the early afternoon and late evening? Some dogs really will only eat once a day - so you get little choice about splitting the meals, but some others simply don't want an early morning feed, but are fine with being fed in the early afternoon plus late evening. If he really won't eat more than once, you really don't have a lot of choice but to feed him that way - but it is worth trying other ways timings than early morning/early evening to see if there is something else that will suit him.

 

[Colem]

Thanks for the response. I actaully try to feed him when I get home from work, but at that point I think he knows that he is going to the dog park so he doesn't eat then either. We have also tried free feeding that that made him really picky and would eat less??

 

[jtjumpshot]

how old are your babies? my 2 just turned a year on 6/7. they eat so much less than they use to. mine are prettty thick though. mine will not eat in the morning also. they won't touch breakfast until around 10-10:30 and they go to the dog park around 7am. They will have their kongs during the day, but they crush dinner. When we get back from the dog park for the second time is when they eat the most.

 

[dexter1]

I had this same problem with the morning feeds. I think the problem was that my dog just wasn't very crazy about his kibble and, unless he was very hungy, would refuse to eat. I ended up just adding a tablespoon of moist food to the kibble and he eats it right up, morning or evening. So, maybe adding some moist, yogurt, etc could stir up his appetite.

BTW, my boxer is 2 years old and only 56 pounds. He is totally filled out, is at ideal weight and only gets 2 cups per day (1 morning & 1 evening of Wellness Venison). 4 cups a day sounds like an awful lot for Sam considering his size.