How many times a day should you feed a dog?

Puppies: at least three meals until six months

Young dogs are the one group with a clear number. In a 2021 article for Petfoodology, a blog from Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, board-certified veterinary nutritionist Dr. Deborah Linder writes that animals less than 6 months of age are often recommended to be fed across at least three separate meals per day.

The reason is size and demand. Puppies have greater nutritional needs than adult dogs but smaller stomachs, so like human babies they start with frequent meals and drop meals as they grow. Linder is careful to add that more frequent feedings should not mean more food than the puppy needs to stay at an ideal body condition: the day's amount is divided, not multiplied.

Tufts counts a dog as an adult at a year old at the earliest, and up to 18 months for giant breeds. Until then, the puppy food and schedule your veterinarian recommends is the one to follow.

Adult dogs: once, twice, or more

For healthy adults, the Tufts nutritionists are notably relaxed. Once a dog reaches adulthood, Linder writes, you can keep the puppy schedule or adjust it, and that may look like once a day, twice a day, or more, depending on you and your pet's preferences. So long as the dog is meeting its daily nutritional requirements, how often meals are provided is relatively flexible.

In practice, she notes, most families provide two meals a day, usually one in the morning and one in the evening. The schedule fits human routines, and splitting the daily amount in two means each meal is smaller.

The rule that matters more than the number of meals is the daily total. Two meals means the daily amount cut in half, not a full portion twice. Cornell's Riney Canine Health Center points out that once you know how much your dog should eat per feeding, measuring it correctly is crucial, because heaping portions easily add calories to every serving.

What the Dog Aging Project found about feeding once a day

The question got new attention in 2022, when researchers from the Dog Aging Project published a study in the journal GeroScience. They analyzed feeding frequency alongside health data for 24,238 dogs, and cognitive data for 10,474. After controlling for sex, age, breed and other factors, dogs fed once daily had lower average scores on a cognitive dysfunction scale and lower odds of gastrointestinal, dental, orthopedic, kidney and urinary, and liver and pancreas disorders than dogs fed more often.

Read the finding for what it is. The data were cross-sectional, a snapshot of many dogs at one time, so the study shows an association rather than proof that feeding once a day causes better health. The authors themselves write that future research with longitudinal data can provide stronger evidence for a possible causal effect. It is a reason to ask your vet about the question, not a reason to change your dog's routine on your own.

When the schedule is a medical decision

Some dogs should not be on a schedule chosen for convenience. Tufts notes that a veterinarian might suggest more frequent, smaller meals for a dog with gastrointestinal issues, or a more rigid twice-a-day schedule for a dog with diabetes, and that you should always consult your veterinarian to make sure a feeding schedule meets the goals for your pet's condition.

Body shape matters too. The American College of Veterinary Surgeons lists being fed a single large meal once daily among the factors associated with gastric dilatation-volvulus, the life-threatening condition known as bloat, along with having a deep chest, being older, and being related to dogs that have had it. Great Danes, Weimaraners, St. Bernards, Irish setters and Gordon setters are among the breeds commonly affected. If you have a large, deep-chested dog, ask your veterinarian before moving to one meal a day.

This guide summarizes published guidance from veterinary sources. It is not veterinary advice and does not replace an exam. Ask your veterinarian how much and how often your dog should eat, especially for puppies, seniors, and dogs with health conditions.

What about leaving food out all day?

Free-feeding, keeping the bowl full so the dog eats whenever it wants, is a popular choice, especially among cat owners, Tufts notes. It also acknowledges that some animals need it to meet higher energy needs, such as pregnant or nursing females.

For most households, though, the Tufts nutritionists say this feeding style is not recommended unless all of the pets who can access the food have an ideal body condition score and can keep it with free access to food, because free-feeding can easily lead to overeating and obesity. Cornell's Riney Canine Health Center lists free-choice feeding instead of portioned meals among the most common causes of obesity in otherwise healthy dogs.

Common mistakes with meal schedules

Adding a meal without dividing the food. Moving from two meals to three is fine when your vet agrees, but the same daily amount has to be spread across the extra meal.

Scooping instead of measuring. A heaping scoop at every meal adds up, which is why Cornell stresses measuring each portion once you know the right amount.

Forgetting the treats. Cornell's Riney Canine Health Center says that for dogs on a weight-loss plan, treats should be only about 10 percent of daily calories, and that the average person is estimated to feed around 20 percent of a dog's calories as treats and table scraps.

Two people serving the same meal. A twice-a-day schedule only works if everyone in the house can tell which of the two meals has been given. A shared morning and evening sign, whether a magnet on the fridge or a phone widget such as FedFlip, makes that visible to whoever is about to feed the dog.

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