How often do I give my dog food?

Question

My dog is a sheltie.
He is 3 years old, and since we just leave a bowl of food he eats whenever he wants and goes to the bathroom whenever he wants.
I think that he should eat "dinner" and go poo before everybody goes to sleep.
I don't want him to be constipated during the night.
I've heard you give the dog food twice a day, but is it twice a day of three tiems a day?
I've also learned that you give the dog 30 minutes to consume the food. Is that true?

Answer 1

For a three year old dog twice a day should be sufficient. Three times a day is for growing pups. If you want to "control" the elimination more then feed breakfast and dinner.
Dogs should rest for about 30 minutes after eating to prevent bloat. Deep chested breeds are more prone to it; I do not think Shetland Sheepdogs are.
Usually if the dog rests after eating, he will want to go out and empty his bowels 30 minutes later.

Answer 2

Feeding twice a day at 'set meal times' better mimicks a dog's natural diet, and allows him to appreciate his food more. 'Free feeding' i.e picking from food that's always available is more likely to encourage overweight. 30 minutes is plenty of time to allow a dog to eat. Ten minutes is enough for many! If you want to move from a free feeding schedule to set mealtimes, putting food down for half an hour at a time, and taking it up after this time regardless of whether it's been eaten will show a dog what the new schedule is going to be, and he'll learn to eat the food when it's available.

It doesn't matter so much how many times a dog eats during the day, but it does matter how much he eats. There should be feeding guidelines on the food packet - feed your dog the correct daily amount for his ideal weight, this can be split into as many meals as you like but two (morning and evening) is preferable.

As for pooing - it's better to establish some kind of routine so that your dog doesn't just poo wherever he likes, which may not be wherever you like! Allowing him access to an appropriate place little and often, at set times should be fine. It's also good to establish a command so your dog knows what's expected of him, something like 'be quick!' or even 'go poo!' then reward your dog when he does it right so he understands, you know, the usual training techniques. It's absolutely a good idea to get your dog to poo or at least wee before bedtime so he's able to make the night!

Chalice

Answer 3

Twice a day is the minimum for good health. Once a day feeding can cause stomach ulcers. Three times a day is good, but only if the amount eaten over the whole day is appropriate for the dog. A dog will go poo when they have to and not before. Walking will help speed things along, but don't hold your breath. Sorry, bad pun. Don't wait for the dog to go. He may feel better waiting for morning.

30 minutes to eat? My dog takes about 1 or 2 minutes. If he hasn't eaten everything in 30 minutes, pick it up. He may be getting too much food.

Answer 4

Free feeding works for some dogs, but my Sheltie put on too much weight by 4yrs. old free feeding. So I started feeding her twice a day.

He won't get constipated if he's not allowed to go out after say 10pm. You can always pick up the food by 7pm.

Or feed on a schedule. Adult dogs should do fine eating twice a day. I leave the food down for 20 minutes.

With multiple dogs scheduled feeding is much easier.

If the dog is overweight it is much easier to put him on a diet by measuring the food that he gets. I keep a measuring cup in the bag of food.

Answer 5

Twice a day, morning and evening for the food. Leave the food down for 15-20 minutes. If he doesn't eat, too bad, it goes away till the next feeding. He'll figure it out pretty quick that he needs to eat when the food is down. It's not good to leave food down for a dog to graze on all day long. Cats do okay with this because they have a litter box they can use whenever, but you want your dog to be on a potty schedule that works for you. First thing in the morning you should take your dog out to do his business. Once you establish the food routine, the potty routine is sure to follow. Also consider a crate for his sleeping quarters, but that might be tricky to introduce at his age. Good luck!

Answer 6

I feed my dogs twice a day. They usually go to the bathroom 4 times a day. Once after they eat in the morning, once around 1 o'clock, another after dinner, and one before you go to bed. Hopefully your dogs will get into there routine and let you know by barking or coming up to you to let you know that they have to go out. However you can't always use that instinct when you may think they're hungry. And it doesn't matter the amount of time you give the dog, as long as they're eating and drinking regularly, it will show healthy normal behavior.

Answer 7

I have bred Shelties before and once my dogs hit 1 year old I feed them 1 meal a day ( look at the bag to determine the size of your dog and how much to feed)
I myself feed in the morning I also pick up the water also at about 8 p.m I put them out at about 10-10:30 and g to bed about 11.
I have don't this with all my dogs except the very small toys who are known for sugar drops and need food more to keep up the sugar level.

Answer 8

None of my dogs are puppies anymore so I just feed them once a day at 8 or 9 PM, they eat everything. But sometimes they don't so I just leave the buckets and they eat the leftovers in the morning or when they get hungry.
The thing is that I have a big yard so my dogs stay outside, I don't have to worry about when they go and stuff.

Answer 9

ALL adult dogs regardless of breed/mix should be fed twice daily. It is far better for their health and digestion to feed morning and night.

Also take your dog out on a regular basis to go potty..he'll soon learn a sched. that works for you and him.

Most dogs are fine to go out say at 10:00pm and then come in to bed until morning.

Answer 10

I would suggest feeding your dog once in the morning and once at night. I would also suggest giving your dog a couple of carrots or any sort of vegetable at lunch.