# Question about feeding a 10 month puppy



## ccl16rt (Jun 24, 2010)

My work schedule is going to ****. I have been having problems feeding my puppy on time, twice a day. Is it bad for him if I feed him once with the daily amount instead of twice a day and splitting the total daily amount into two servings?


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

I wouldn't feed a pup that age once a day- can you get a pet sitter or friend to stop by and feed him a meal?


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

Stosh said:


> I wouldn't feed a pup that age once a day- can you get a pet sitter or friend to stop by and feed him a meal?




I agree with Stosh. It is better for the pup all the way around to be fed twice a day. Can you imagine how you might feel if you had to eat a days worth of food in one sitting....and I would be concerned with bloat. JMO


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

I used to work really strange rotating hours and just tried to get close to their normal eating time. Even now I don't worry about it if I have to feed early or late, so long as they get fed twice a day.


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

jakeandrenee said:


> I agree with Stosh. It is better for the pup all the way around to be fed twice a day. Can you imagine how you might feel if you had to eat a days worth of food in one sitting....and I would be concerned with bloat. JMO


Ditto


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## ccl16rt (Jun 24, 2010)

Ok, thanks all. I tried two different auto feeders and he broke both just to get to the food... I guess, I'll just do the best I can and feed him twice even though the hours may not be very good...


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

I have a crappy schedule too but that's NOT A PROBLEM!  Really.

I haven't found that a strict MUST feed at 7 am then MUST feed at 5 pm matters at all.

I just try to feed at a consistant, twice a day time, that does work for me. My dogs seem to do fine revolving around my schedule, no matter how crazy it is for me. 

So I try to either feed them 2 meals around 10 to 12 hours apart. The 'when' I feed isn't as important as that I break up the meal. In fact sometimes it even works out better to have 3 smaller meals closer to 8 hours apart when I work an afternoon shift. So I feed in the am, then before I go to work, and when I get home. 

It's the amount/calories in a 24 hour period I am looking at. And I never want only one large meal in that time period.


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## Lesley1905 (Aug 25, 2010)

I can't always feed my dogs at the exact same time either. As long as they get fed 2x a day they are happy


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## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

We feed all of our dogs once a day starting around 6 months. Have been doing so for many years. Why does everyone say with such conviction that twice a day is best? Do you have studies saying this is a fact, or is it just because it seems nicer to do?
The vet I worked with for years did a research study with the Army while stationed in Germany on feeding scheduling. Believe it or not, the final result was that the dogs in the program (all GSDs, Boxers and Dobermans) did best when fed every other day! 
We feed once a day (at random times, we don't like the dogs to be checking their watch so to speak) and usually fast one day a week. 
Anecdotally speaking, our personal dogs have all lived to a nice old age (12-14 or so)and have been healthy and hardy. I'm sure a good bit of that has to do with buying dogs from good stock, but some has to do with their living conditions I'm sure.
The only time we feed more than once a day is if we have a dog that has been stressed and needs to gain weight. They can manage a calorie bump better if divided up. Or if we have a pregnant or lactating mom who needs extra calories to keep up with pups and milk production.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

Heck, none of ours are fed at the exact same time everyday. There are even days that we go visit family in the afternoon and don't get home till evenings (IE: holidays), so they either eat early or late. Generally we opt for later. As a rule of thumb though, ours eat between 7 and 8 am, sometimes as late as 9 (rarely) and then dinner is fed between 6 and 7pm. Usually closer to 7pm. If we go out though, it could get pushed back to 9pm easily.

The youngest gets a lunch at around noon - 1. 

If the only issue you're having is having to push it back an hr or two, etc, then that's not a big deal. He'll survive.


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