# When to feed only twice a day and how much?



## Laurie

We feed our puppies 2x a day now (they're 9 and 11 months) and have been since they were around 4-5 months. They get 1.5 cups at both feedings. We also mix a bit of soft food in with their breakfast meal. They are both in the 70 pound range...nicely proportioned.


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## MyBentley

Many dogs switch to 2 meals a day by 5 months. Some start showing less interest in the noon meal.

If your puppy still seems interested in the noon meal, cut it out gradually over 3-5 days. Reduce the noon feeding by half; then divide the other half equally between breakfast and dinner. Finally, just split what would have been given at noon and add to the breakfast and dinner.

Natura (maker of Innova, EVO, California Natural and Healthwise) has a helpful calculator on their website to guage how much food to give your dog.
http://www.naturapet.com/tools/feeding.asp 
If anything, these recommendations usually show on the high side of what I'd feed my dogs. 

Puppies often reach their lifetime peak of the quantity they eat between 6-7 months. When their growth spurt starts slowing down, they don't need to eat as much.


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## sprasad03

I switched to 2 meals successfully but the amount I feel is too low. My puppy right now eats 3.0-3.2 cups a day. He gobbles it all up in 15 mins. He weighs about 40lbs and is not overweight, but I wonder if I should cut it down because the calculators and others feed less. His poops are fine and is energy seems good, so should i lower it?


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## BeauShel

I would switch back to twice a day one cup each time. He is around the age that they usually slow down in eating. If you can slow him down by putting the food in a muffin tin or get one of the brakefast bowls that will help. Some goldens will eat as long as there is food down.


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## Willow52

My Hank is 5.5 mo.old, weighs around 45 lbs. He eats Innova Large Breed Puppy. I give him 1.5 cups twice a day. 

I looked at the Innova site calculator, it says 3 7/8 cups/day for his age & size. By their calculation that's almost 1 cup additional, but he's well proportioned so I'm not upping his amounts.


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## Debbie22

Help, we have a 5 month old puppy, Rosie, she's always hungry!!! She's been waking up at 12:00-12:30 & wants to eat, my husband feeds her three times a day, early am, lunch time & dinner time. What are we doing wrong?


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## Cpc1972

How much is she getting a day and what kind are you feeding her. Chloe was eating four cups divided into three meals. We noticed her height slowing down so we decreased it to three cups a day. She has started to not ask for her mid day meal. So we don't give it to her. But if she starts acting grabby we will give her more.


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## Kora2014

My girl is definitely one that will eat if food is given to her. She already eats from a slow bowl and continues to want her 3 meals a day. I don't know if it's just routine or hunger, but she is up a 5am every day for breakfast. 
I usually go home at lunch to walk and feed her and after she is walked she is jumping and barking for me to feed her.
Then the same thing a dinner. She is walked and then when we get home she is barking for dinner.
I also give her a sardine and lunch or some boiled chicken if we have some. 
So she is getting 3 cups a day with a small protein/fish included. She is in great shape and weighs approximately 70lbs at a year old.
I don't feel like this is too much, but am I mistaken? I couldn't imagine not giving her food a lunch time!


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## momo_

Is there a reason why meals have to split into 2? If they're still getting the same amount, can we keep it at 3 meals? 
My puppy is 6.5 months and he is definitely not showing signs of losing interest in lunch. He's a total pig, would eat himself into a coma if I let him. He's not overweight though, might actually need to put on a few pounds.


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## rabernet

I don't know if it matters more than convenience, Momo. Noah got cut down to breakfast and dinner when he started not acting as interested in his dinner meal. The only days he gets 3 meals a day is on doggy daycare day, because he's a non-stop player, and I figure he's expending a lot more energy than normal. They joke there that Noah's best friends are the ones that can keep up with him. LOL

But his normal amount is 1 cup, twice a day. His dinner meal also has 1/2 cup of steamed and pureed veggies (usually broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, sweet potato and a bit of brown rice) with coconut oil, Grizzly salmon oil, 1 raw egg and 1 capful of Bragg's ACV all mixed together. The veggies I feel help keep him feeling satisfied, and because of some of the studies that suggest veggies may actually aid in cancer prevention in dogs. And it can't hurt, so why not? 

I can't imagine Noah being on more than 2 cups a day with normal activity - he is nice and trim, and could actually stand to be a wee bit thinner. He has a waist, but not the waist tuck he needs and I can feel a bit of fat over his ribs. 

Noah turned 5 months old this past Monday.

Oh - and Noah is eating Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy


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## Janice&Ollie

Hi, I have a 6 month old boy he has very large paws and have recently changed his feeding to twice a day, he weighs 23kg and is not carrying extra weight, I feed him 1 cup of dry food plus half a carrot and I raw egg in the mornings and 1 cup dry food half an apple and about an egg size of turkey mince at night. Am I giving him enough food, he is happy and full of energy. I worry though I would hate to think I was starving him. (he is on Royal Canin Golden Retriever Junior dry food) Thank you any advise would be great.


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## Prism Goldens

If you're going to give raw egg white, you should probably add a vit b that has biotin in it. 
2 c a day may not be enough- maybe add another 1/2 c a day and see if that puts a little more weight on him!


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