# two meals a day???



## Doug P. (Aug 7, 2008)

Our fur child is now 7 months and 1 week old, He was at the vets today for a weigh in,,,93.8 LBS, 28 inches tall . About the last 1--2 months he has gotten "thick" , put on alot of bulk. He is by no means fat, just a good strong build. At what age is it reccomended for a GSD to switch to one meal each day?


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## Puddincat (Dec 14, 2008)

I feed twice a day. I divide up the portion I would give in one whole meal and make it into two meals.


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## elly1210 (Jan 4, 2009)

I have always fed my dogs 2 meals a day, I can't imagine only being fed 1x a day and watching your people eat all the time.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

do you have one those over sized Shepherds? my dogs are fed twice a day.


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## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

I feed two meals a day - Dante is almost 5 years old

2 meals a day isn't going to make a difference in his weight, unless you're over feeding


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## littledmc17 (Apr 9, 2008)

I feed 2x a day 
mine weighs 110 and has for over a year he is all muscle 
there are a few here that will vouch for him

When brady was almost a year he weighed 94 
yours sound like my B-boy


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## ChancetheGSD (Dec 19, 2007)

Chance gets fed 3x a day and Zoey (Pekingese/Pomeranian mix) gets fed twice a day. I would feel guilty feeding once a day when I myself split my meals into 4-6 small meals a day so I don't get the chance to feel hungry. (Otherwise I get sick, I'd imagine my dog doesn't feel much better if he were going 24 hours between each meal)


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## chevysmom (Feb 15, 2008)

Both of mine get fed twice per day...once in the morning and once around dinner time, and they are not overweight at all.


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## Catu (Sep 6, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: Doug P. At what age is it reccomended for a GSD to switch to one meal each day?


Preferably, never. The bigger the dog, the bigger the risk of bloating. Dividing the food in two meals is a way to help to prevent bloat. 

And if you want your pup to loose some weight is preferable to give less food in several meals than in only one, as you are feeding less but giving time to the dog to absorb nutrients better.


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## Superpup (Jun 7, 2007)

What does your vet say about your puppy's weight? It sounds to me like he is ENORMOUS. MY Cody is huge, he is 30" at the shoulder and his adult weight now, at almost 3 years of age is 103-105 lbs, that is his ideal weight... I know for a fact he was not 93lbs at 7 mths, so either your puppy is even bigger than Cody OR he is fat. I would ask the vet.
Since he is so big, I would feed him twice a day for the rest of his life. I feed Cody THREE times a day still and always will. HE is such a big dog that his stomach gets too empty at night and he throws up. When he eats more frequently, 3 times a day, he never throws up.
Just a suggestion!!


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## marksteven (Aug 2, 2008)

i feed 3X daily. last meal is only 1/2 cup. has helped great with weight gain. usually fed late after all physical activity.


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

> Originally Posted By: SuperpupIt sounds to me like he is ENORMOUS.


I agree. It would be interesting to see pics of the pup in question.

My largest male was 29 inches tall and 99lbs. He was never fat. He only weighed about 70 to 75 lbs at 7 months.

Asking the vet might be a waste of breath since most vets are used to seeing fat dogs and don't know what a GSD SHOULD look like weight wise.


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## Doug P. (Aug 7, 2008)

Thanks for the info, as I mentioned our pup is not "fat" but he sure is thick boned and has put on some beef in the past 2 months. I will continue then with 2 or more meals each day . Our vet had mentioned a few times that Jeager will be a large GSD, as he himself use to breed them. Jeagers mother was also large , something like 110-115 lbs and his father was more of a slender build as he had 40 acres to run on.


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## Superpup (Jun 7, 2007)

Can you post a picture of your puppy??
I guarantee your pup's Mom was overweight, no GSD female is 110-115 lbs THIN!!! And as you commented <span style="color: #FF0000">"his father was more of a slender build as he had 40 acres to run on."</span> Their weight is not only controlled by how much exercise they get, but how much they eat. If you are overfeeding your dog, he will be fat. AT this age, 7 mths, puppies are still growing height, not getting really thicker, they don't start bulking up until way past the 1 year mark, unless they are being overfed and that is not bulking up, it is getting fat.







JMHO!!


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## Superpup (Jun 7, 2007)

I agree with TRacy, your male sounds about the same size as Cody, he is an inch taller and a couple of lbs heavier, but almost at the exact same. VERY VERY BIG regardless... it is very difficult for me to imagine a much bigger shephed without them being FAT. I doubt many are as tall as 30" and if they are, 110-115 lbs is FAT!!!


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

I've never seen a pup as young as 7 months really getting "thicker" either. They usually look like spiders. All legs and a slight looking body.

Siren is 25 1/2 inches tall (so granted a few inches shorter than the pup in question.) BUT she only weighs about 65lbs(She is 9 1/2months old.). I can not imagine 30 more lbs even with 3 additional inches.

And you can see a definate "waist".


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## Tetley's Mom (Dec 1, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: Doug P.Our fur child is now 7 months and 1 week old, He was at the vets today for a weigh in,,,93.8 LBS, 28 inches tall


OMG! I would love to see a picture of this fur child! He sounds like one heck of a big boy!


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## Doug P. (Aug 7, 2008)

Tracy,,,I will take a few pics of our boy this weekend infront of one of the garage doors,,,the door is 7ft tall,,,9 foot wide,,,I will measure the height of the door handle also to give you a bearing on how tall jeager is,,,and for Jeagers mother,,no she was not "fat" she was what I thought was "long" and tall. I have mentioned that our vet told us at Jeagers 9 week old visit,,,12 week old visit ,,,15 week visit,,,"he is going to be a large GSD" ,,But I was wrong about our boys age,,,he will be 7 months on Jan. 30th,,,,sorry about that mix up. it does not matter weather Jeager turns out to be small,,,or large,,,just want him healthy and happy.


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## KC_Pike (Aug 18, 2008)

Im feeding my puppy 3 times a day...I heard this was best for young pups. At what age did you guys start feeding twice a day?


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

I started feeding 2 meals a day at just over 6 months. Which also is usually the age when they start requireing(sp) less food per day anyway.


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## GSD07 (Feb 23, 2007)

I started feeding twice a day since the day I brought both pups home, so at 8 weeks.


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## debbiebrown (Apr 13, 2002)

i always feed my young pups three times a day. i think they need food more frequently to utilize and grow properly. after they are about a year or so old i go to twice a day, unless of course i feel they are needing more because of acitivity or certain issues.

debbie


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

I do twice a day unless the puppies are looking thin, then I give a third meal. 

Milla (Violet) is my skinny one, five months on January 7, and 39.1 pounds today. Ninja (Amber) is thicker and weighed in at 47 pounds Monday. She is not fat. Her bones are thicker, her body is thicker. She was born bigger, she gained quicker. Their mother was a 58 pound lightweight at 1 year, and is currently 70 (and could lose about two pounds). Their father is 79 pounds. 

Cujo, the Gigundo dog out of my first litter, was thirteen ounces at birth, gained slower than all the other pups, spent his first year skeletal with skin issues, eating only enough to subsist, and is currently at 96 pounds, not fat, but 29 1/2 inches. 

I cannot even imagine a 110 pound female. Are we sure it is not a king Shepherd or a Shilo?


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## Doug P. (Aug 7, 2008)

Tracy,,,are you always this rude ? As I have mentioned above our vet raised GSD's so I would only be guessing , but , yes I would say he knows what a GSD should look like. I feel I am not wasting my breath asking him about our GSD. In fact after reading these rude responses Friday, calling my GSD "FAT" without even seeing him, GEZZZZ!!! I took Jeager to our vet and asked him if HE thought Jeager was "FAT". He replied " no he is not,,,,he is just a large boned boy, keep feeding him the way your our now" So, this advice from a vet who is "EDUCATED" and also has been a GSD "BREEDER" sounds just fine to me. Also this will be my last posting on this forum as I have NO USE for such rude and ignorant people .


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## Catu (Sep 6, 2007)

I don't think anybody, less say Tracy was rude here. There are comments about people who compares their own dogs height and weight, they meant to help you. I am as curious as other and came back to this thread expecting to see the pictures because those speak better than numbers.

And... IT'S A DOG, NOT A SUPERMODEL!!! What if somebody called him fat? Why in the world should it offend you in any way???? IF he is overweight (notice the "if") then you can get hints to help him loose some weight and if he is not then we can learn what a dog of your size does weight. If someone implied your dog is fat is because we can have an adult discussion here, we talk about penis and not "wee-wees", someone can think your dog weights more than the average for his height and it is not as talking you are beating your dog or using him as bait for dog fighting.


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## Superpup (Jun 7, 2007)

Will you post a picture of him standing so we can see him from the side and possibly from above?


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