Anyone Feed Just Once A Day?

[Guest zoolaine]

I'll admit I had a little freak out at lunch today. :crazy 3 days a week I work a very long day - leaving at 6:30am and getting home at 7pm or later. On these days I rush home on my lunch break to let the pups out - it is about a 20-25 minute drive so I literally have about 10 minutes at home to let them out, get lunch and head back to work. Usually I come home to a mess with someone pooing. Well today pushed me over the edge with 3 large gooey piles plus 2 pee puddles.

 

After calming down I realized that they obviously need more time between eating and the last time to go out before I leave for work (they hardly ever poop inside in the afternoon) I usually give them about 10 -15 minutes. So I was thinking of only feeding them in the evenings so they could have plenty of time to poop before bed. I don't like this idea and guess could try feeding them when I first get up before showering, etc.

 

I just got a dog door but want to get a dog run set up before I keep it open while I'm gone as I don't want to let them have run of the entire yard.

 

Ok rant over

[Sambuca]

I would try feeding them before they (and you) do anything else. Especially since they can use the doggy door even while you shower. Many people feed once a day and do well with it. If I'm in a rush in the morning I'll often give them a small meal that will tide them over, but not enought that they are going to explode before I get home.

[Guest Audeamus]

I feed Gir and Yaga (she's our cat) before I leave for work around 10 am ish/earlier with school in the mornings and around 10 pm/11 pm/12am ish for dinner. They don't seem to mind too much, so far.

[Guest d0ggiem0mma]

I don't think feeding once a day is fair to the dogs. I know I would be STARVING if I only got to eat once a day!! We feed around 8am and 10:30pm which seems to work well enough.

 

Feeding them before you shower sounds like the best idea. That should give them enough time to digest & potty before you leave. Otherwise... maybe hire someone to do potty breaks on your long days?

[JJNg]

3 days a week I work a very long day - leaving at 6:30am and getting home at 7pm or later. On these days I rush home on my lunch break to let the pups out - it is about a 20-25 minute drive so I literally have about 10 minutes at home to let them out, get lunch and head back to work. Usually I come home to a mess with someone pooing. Well today pushed me over the edge with 3 large gooey piles plus 2 pee puddles.

So it sounds like these accidents happen in the morning and you find the mess when you run home at lunch on your long days? What's your schedule and when do they poop on the other days of the week?

 

When you say "large gooey piles" do you mean loose stools/diarrhea? That makes me wonder if there's more going on that just your feeding schedule and not being able to hold it on your long days. A medical problem causing loose stools will cause an increased frequency and need to go. Or separation anxiety (or any other anxiety) can lead to the same result.

 

My dogs go outside first thing in the morning. Then I leave for work right after I feed them. Sometimes I make it home at lunch to let them out, but often I don't. So they may go all day, from about 9 am until 7-8 pm before they get to go outside again after breakfast. I never have accidents in the house unless someone has diarrhea.

[Guest manawatugal]

I think owning dogs and then leaving them for hours and hours is unfair. They need company and time for toileting. Mine can go 4 hours tops and that's the longest I've left him and sometimes he has accidents - not his fault.

[Guest sja5032]

Chances are they've eaten once a day almost their whole lives They will not starve to death or anything, it may take them a while to get used to it again but you could start by reducing the size of the AM meal and them go to a nice big cookie in the AM so they still feel like they are getting something.

[GreyTzu]

I feed once a day about 4 p.m. or so. Our dogs do fine. They do get a treat whenever they come in from potty time in the yard. So perhaps 5 or 6 small biscuit type treats a day. Although Danger does think he is going to die by 5 p.m. if we are late. :lol

[Hubcitypam]

Chances are they've eaten once a day almost their whole lives They will not starve to death or anything, it may take them a while to get used to it again but you could start by reducing the size of the AM meal and them go to a nice big cookie in the AM so they still feel like they are getting something.

[Guest KennelMom]

We feed once a day (raw), though when we fed kibble we did feed twice a day and if we went back to kibble we'd probably go back to twice a day feeding.

 

I don't think feeding once a day is fair to the dogs. I know I would be STARVING if I only got to eat once a day!! We feed around 8am and 10:30pm which seems to work well enough.

 

I've found, hunger has a lot to do with WHAT I eat, not how often. Standard America Diet - higher carb, esp a lot of grains/refined & processed foods and I'll be on the hunger roller coaster all day as my blood sugar goes up and down. Higher fat/protein, lower carb with no processed foods/grains and I'm perfectly fine eating once a day....it's just hard to eat enough calories in one meal, so I usually do two (though I'm forcing three now that I'm preggers )

 

Besides, dogs aren't people. They would be hunters/opportunistic eaters if left to their own devices, designed to gorge when possible and then go many hours or even days between meals. Actually, maybe they are more like people than I thought b/c that's pretty much how humans should be able to function too. Probably why dogs and humans have been so successful together for so many thousands of years.

[JAJ2010]

I feed once a day in the evening, but they get a morning cookie, an afternoon potty cookie, then other multiple chewies at night. They always seem to have something in their belly with the high treat ratio.

[Guest Swifthounds]

We feed once a day (raw), though when we fed kibble we did feed twice a day and if we went back to kibble we'd probably go back to twice a day feeding.

 

I don't think feeding once a day is fair to the dogs. I know I would be STARVING if I only got to eat once a day!! We feed around 8am and 10:30pm which seems to work well enough.

 

I've found, hunger has a lot to do with WHAT I eat, not how often. Standard America Diet - higher carb, esp a lot of grains/refined & processed foods and I'll be on the hunger roller coaster all day as my blood sugar goes up and down. Higher fat/protein, lower carb with no processed foods/grains and I'm perfectly fine eating once a day....it's just hard to eat enough calories in one meal, so I usually do two (though I'm forcing three now that I'm preggers )

 

Besides, dogs aren't people. They would be hunters/opportunistic eaters if left to their own devices, designed to gorge when possible and then go many hours or even days between meals. Actually, maybe they are more like people than I thought b/c that's pretty much how humans should be able to function too. Probably why dogs and humans have been so successful together for so many thousands of years.

 

. Absolutely.

[Guest zoolaine]

3 days a week I work a very long day - leaving at 6:30am and getting home at 7pm or later. On these days I rush home on my lunch break to let the pups out - it is about a 20-25 minute drive so I literally have about 10 minutes at home to let them out, get lunch and head back to work. Usually I come home to a mess with someone pooing. Well today pushed me over the edge with 3 large gooey piles plus 2 pee puddles.

So it sounds like these accidents happen in the morning and you find the mess when you run home at lunch on your long days? What's your schedule and when do they poop on the other days of the week?

 

When you say "large gooey piles" do you mean loose stools/diarrhea? That makes me wonder if there's more going on that just your feeding schedule and not being able to hold it on your long days. A medical problem causing loose stools will cause an increased frequency and need to go. Or separation anxiety (or any other anxiety) can lead to the same result.

 

My dogs go outside first thing in the morning. Then I leave for work right after I feed them. Sometimes I make it home at lunch to let them out, but often I don't. So they may go all day, from about 9 am until 7-8 pm before they get to go outside again after breakfast. I never have accidents in the house unless someone has diarrhea.

 

 

This morning for example we got up 7:30 about half pooped then, they had breakfast about 8 and have been in and out a few times since then. Zuki has always LOVED to poop :lol She did have some giardia - however you spell it - and coccidia but her last few fecal have been normal. I have tried a lot of different foods with her and so far nothing gives her a firm poop. I gotta get a dog run soon, although I'm still trying to teach most of them to use the dog door.

[NeylasMom]

I feed once a day although like Heather I feed raw and when I fed kibble I fed twice a day. I don't see any problem with feeding only once a day, although I do wonder about changing the feeding schedule to accommodate what is potentially not a food issue, but an issue with how long you are gone.

[nancy14]

Skorch would go into cardiac arrest if he only ate once a day. He supervises his breakfast around 7:30 and his dinner ar 5:30. He stands next to me while preparing it and prances around til I get his bowl in his high feeder. The girls are ready to eat but not as excited as Skorch. Once a day wouldn't work for us.

[Guest kydie]

nope never have,, I feed 3 times a day,,, O.K.,, the 3 times, started when one was diagnoised with IBD,, but always have fed 2 times a day,,,, I have worries about bloat

and would never leave my pups for 12 or 13 hours a day,,, if I have to be away and DH gets called to work,,, I have a dog sitter that comes 3 hours after the last one of us leaves the house to stay until one of us gets home,, I have no problems finding a sitter,,, my dogs are well mannered and I pay WELL!

[Guest TDotGreys]

We feed our non-Greys once per day, in the morning. They were getting crazy for water at 3am if they were fed in the evening, interrupting everyone's sleep. Since one dog is crated to sleep, and one literally will empty two big stainless bowls if left unsupervised, we don't leave water out all night. So... Now they eat when we wake up - late morning, even afternoon on weekends - and everyone is happy. A little evening biscuit or leftovers from dinner at night makes them feel like they ate, but doesn't make them thirsty.

 

Yes, it is possible to feed once per day (evening if you like) and it will possibly work better for your schedule and the dogs. I bet they don't like pooping in the house. On our once per day morning schedule, we get poop in the morning immediately after, and generally that is the only poop of the day. Occasionally one dog will poop in the evening, but it is never urgent and a 12 to 14 hour period of holding it would never be an issue.

 

Caveat: we feed HIGH OCTANE food and our 30lb dogs get 1 cup each, and our 50lb dog gets 2 cups. It is possible with a more voluminous food, you would not get great results because of the sheer volume of stool. YMMV.

[Guest zoolaine]

I have only been gone about 6-7 hours when I get home at lunch to the dog poo all over. I don't think that is an unreasonable amount of time for an adult dog to hold it. Puppy - no, Senior - no

[Guest mountain4greys]

I feed once a day, their choice, not mine.

 

Every hound we adopted started eating twice a day. After they were here a while, they would quit eating breakfast. Now this was weird to us, since all 6 came at different times.

 

But I keep watching their weight, and everything has turned out fine. As a matter of fact, when we feed a foster breakfast, my crew won't even get off the couch to see what the foster's eating.

[Pippin]

I feed once/day (mornings). It works for my greys. Zoe's food (IG) is out all day, and she's the only one allowed in the kitchen, so she's the one who's eating it.

 

My greys have been left alone for up to 10 hours without any accidents.

[Guest d0ggiem0mma]

One of my dogs gets physically ill if he has to go too long without eating. I'm sure if he were eating raw it wouldn't be a problem, but on standard kibble I don't think most dogs tolerate once a day feeding. If you give lots of treats and chews between meals that's a little different. I would be more concerned about a dog going 24hrs between eating anything.

[Guest alannamac]

Maybe they stress because you're up and leaving so much earlier than you usually do? Do you always leave at 6:30? and do you feed them something unusual as a treat those mornings that might also affect things? Perhaps a tiny walk 5 min after a small breakfast so they can relieve themselves before you go will do the trick.

 

(If I let Bandit outside in the yard, he doesn't necessarily go to the bathroom as much as he needs to, but a tiny walk really stimulates things and he takes care of everything)

 

For Bandit I've always given light morning snack of roast chicken (about 1 cup) and a milk bone with peanut butter and a really short walk (just til he poops....5min) in the morning. I come home at lunch so he might get a really tiny piece of meat or another milk bone as a snack, but his main big meal is not until 6 or 7pm.....then there's plenty of time for him to have a bathroom break (walk) when he's ready before bed.

[NevadasMom]

I feed once a day, in the evening when I get home from work. Trolley has gotten into a nice pooh schedule. She usually poohs twice a day- once before I leave for work & once at night after her dinner. I do give her a few treats in the morning to fill an empty tummy. This schedule works well for her. She's usually happy to eat, but not acting like she's starved.

[Guest avadogner]

We feed once a day here in the afternoon. Each hound gets a giant Kong stuffed with kibble, PB and treats when the DH leaves for work in the morning. We are a bit generous with treats too. My hounds seem happy with it. Ava has been a poor feeder since she turned 7. I have to coach her through her bowl and wipe her mouth every few bites. The Vanilla Ensure gets in her snout and in her lovely silver hair. She is the princess afterall.

Ava & Augie's Mum

[JJNg]

Zuki has always LOVED to poop :lol She did have some giardia - however you spell it - and coccidia but her last few fecal have been normal. I have tried a lot of different foods with her and so far nothing gives her a firm poop.

I imagine it's hard to tell who the culprit(s) is with multiple dogs, but do you think most of the accidents are from Zuki? A dog with soft/loose stool is going to need to go more often, and that may be the source of the problem. Yes, an adult dog should be able to hold it for 6-7 hours, but only if they have normal, firm stool.