Anyone Feed Just Once A Day?

[Guest zoolaine]

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.

 

Yes I suspect Zuki more than the others - and maybe Jupiter too. Zuki does have a long history of popping in the floor. She really likes the doggie door so I hope once I get the dog run up it will help her. The pooping 90% of the time is in the mornings. I was gone 6.5 hrs this afternoon and no accidents. I think I am going to try 2 cups at night and 1 cup in the morning and see if that helps.

[Guest Tes623]

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.

[seeh2o]

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 WhiteWave]

I feed once a day at night to all my adult dogs whether we feed raw or kibble. My Greyhound puppy (16 weeks old today) eats 2x a day, morning and night, although he is starting to leave his morning food.

 

Casper is locked up b/c I don't trust him loose with the other dogs when no one is home. The rest are in the living room loose. I have a flap on the back door and leave it propped open. It solved my poop problem! They can come and go as they need too, the flap keeps the air in and the heat out. I was considering a doggie door, but since we have a Great Dane, it would have to be big enough for her too. So if it was big enough for her, it would be big enough for a person to climb thru so makes no difference to leaving the door open. My neighbor is home pretty much 24/7 and watches the property and dogs. If they fart, she knows it!

[krissn333]

Sometimes I'm gone for 10 hours in a day and I can't come home to let them out. That's just the way it is. If I'm going to have a really long day I can usually call and ask my mom to come by to let them out for me. They're just fine for 10 hours though - all they do is sleep anyway

 

I have found that they need 2 chances to go outside in the morning though - right when I get out of bed they go out, then they come in and eat breakfast and they hang out while I shower and get dressed. When I'm dressed I let them back out and come back inside to finish my hair and makeup. Simply put, some of them need to poop before they eat breakfast (Ace definitely...she won't even LOOK at her bowl of food until she's been outside ), and some need to poop afterward (the iggies). The rest of them don't have much of a pattern, it just depends.

 

They all eat less in the morning than they do in the evening - even if I gave them the same amount of food at breakfast and dinner, they'd leave some of their breakfast behind. So, I now feed them less at breakfast.

 

Breakfast is around 6/6:30am, Dinner is 6/6:30pm. They get a cookie when I leave the house in the morning, and usually have a couple in the evening.

[MTFSTHNDS]

I feed mine raw twice a day. They do have a dog door and can go out any time they need to. I do have to close the dog door to get my car out and have forgotten to open the dog door before leaving. I have only found one puddle on the floor after doing that.

[Guest zoolaine]

Sometimes I'm gone for 10 hours in a day and I can't come home to let them out. That's just the way it is. If I'm going to have a really long day I can usually call and ask my mom to come by to let them out for me. They're just fine for 10 hours though - all they do is sleep anyway

 

I have found that they need 2 chances to go outside in the morning though - right when I get out of bed they go out, then they come in and eat breakfast and they hang out while I shower and get dressed. When I'm dressed I let them back out and come back inside to finish my hair and makeup. Simply put, some of them need to poop before they eat breakfast (Ace definitely...she won't even LOOK at her bowl of food until she's been outside ), and some need to poop afterward (the iggies). The rest of them don't have much of a pattern, it just depends.

 

They all eat less in the morning than they do in the evening - even if I gave them the same amount of food at breakfast and dinner, they'd leave some of their breakfast behind. So, I now feed them less at breakfast.

 

Breakfast is around 6/6:30am, Dinner is 6/6:30pm. They get a cookie when I leave the house in the morning, and usually have a couple in the evening.

 

sounds like we have a similar schedule. Mine go out first time in the morning around 5:40am, then I was taking a shower, feeding them about 6:10, putting them back out after they ate and leaving for work at 6:30. I switched it around so they go out at 5:40 then eat right away, then back out around 6:15-6:25. I have to put them out in shifts because they will run and go crazy which isn't good right rafter eating.

 

I also reduced their food amount so they get about 1/3 in the am and 2/3 with dinner. Still have had 2 piles each day

[Guest KennelMom]

Maybe you're feeding too much food? We've had a couple dogs that would just increase stool volume with the more food they were fed...Prajna and Rocky would NEVER gain weight, just poop and poop and poop extra food right on out.

[4My2Greys]

Zoolaine I wonder if the time they have to potty after their breakfast is really sufficient. If you feed at 6:10 and leave at 6:30 that only gives them about 20 minutes to eat and food to start digesting and moving through their system. I too have to leave mine for fairly long 10 to 11 hour days due to a long commute. I get up about 4:15 let mine out and start their breakfast. They get fed around 4:45 to 5:00. I wait about 30 to 40 minutes after eating before letting them out again. I've been doing this for the 6 years I've had mine and only had the occasional accidents when one has been sick. In fact I took in a greyhound from a former adopter because after years of no problems he started pooping in the house when they left him. Like you they would come home at lunch to let him out but when they'd arrive home at the end of the day they would find his crate soiled. They were feeding him once a day and it was my belief not giving him adequate time to fully eliminate. I offered to bring him to my house and work with him. I started feeding him twice a day like my own and putting him on the same pottying schedule as mine. Now get this I never came home at lunch to let him out and was gone the same long hours I work everyday and had absolutely no accidents from him in the 2 week period I kept him. He had been pooping everyday at their house. They ended up relinquishing him back to the adoption group because of their family life and hectic schedule and they weren't willing to give him the time needed. I kept him for another 3 weeks or so until he got moved on a transport to a group up in Long Island. I'd really love to know how he is doing.

Edited July 30, 2011 by 4My2Greys

[Guest Maire]

Maybe you're feeding too much food? We've had a couple dogs that would just increase stool volume with the more food they were fed...Prajna and Rocky would NEVER gain weight, just poop and poop and poop extra food right on out.

My Sam (Big Samoan) is 93#. I usually feed him a total of 4 cups in am& pm. A lot of the time he doesn't want breakfast, but is hungry in the evening. Not sure how much to feed him at one time, but usually give him about 21/2 cups. He is maintaining his wt well.

[Guest happygrey]

Is it possible to have a neighbor, friend or petsitter come by on those 3 days to let them out mid morning or in the afternoon? Just until you get your run set up.

 

Like another poster mentioned, I've had dogs that would get sick on a really empty stomach, so I'd hesitate to feeding just once a day. I do find that 2 of our 3 dogs like to go to the bathroom before and after eating. Only one can go before and then wait till the next walk before pooping again. (He does not like to poop in the yard.) But all 3 of them always poop before eating.

Edited July 30, 2011 by happygrey

[krissn333]

They might need to sit a little bit longer after eating breakfast before their second out...mine eat and sit for about half an hour/40 minutes or so before they go back out. They don't spend much time outside, maybe 10 minutes tops. Then they come back in, the little ones go in their kennels, everyone gets a cookie, and I walk out the door.

[HopeForHounds]

I've always fed twice a day until 3 months ago. I leave for work early and Daddy fed the dogs around 8:00. But, almost every day one or two wouldn't eat and I'd come home to bowls on the counter. Peanut won't eat if Daddy stays in the room (she will when I'm away, go figure) and Jake was just not a morning dog If we left the bowls down, Grandy would be as big as a house - seriously! Grandy already needed to lose weight plus Jake and Peanut were losing weight. So after talking to our vt we started feeding once a day. Everyone digs in and finishes right away and we've had fewer stomache issues. I do give them 2 large dog cookies before I leave for work. Plus everyone's weights are back to where they should be.

[Guest DorasMom]

Is it possible to separate them to find out who the culprit is? I had 5 hounds and was having the same problem but always at night. Last out was at midnight and even when I was up at 6am for work there were messes.

After separating them all at night the accidents stopped, immediately. It was almost as if they were smart enough to know when they would or wouldn't get caught! After about a month I put them back together and no more problems.

[3greytjoys]

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.

 

Our hounds do too. No matter what food our hounds are on, some will vomit bright yellow stomach bile when they go too long without food. That stain is worse than poop.

 

Many high quality kibbles require less quantity of kibble per pound of body weight. A higher nutrition packed calorie of food may help. Our current multiple varieties of kibble range from 350 calories per cup up to 510 calories per cup. The ingredients have a lot to do with results.

The lower 350 calorie food usually = larger quantity of food required per meal = larger quantity poop, and higher overall cost to feed each dog. Everyone should read their dog's food bag to ensure feeding proper amount per dog.

[Guest zoolaine]

This morning they ate breakfast about 7:30ish and I noticed Zuki did poop on the first outing of the morning before eating. I noticed around 10:30 she let herself out of the doggie door and had mushy poo. I think part of the problem like someone mentioned is finding a food she can tolerate better and we have tried a lot. All the Kirkland varieties plus the both types of grain free that Costco sells and currently is on Iams but I think that is contributing to the massive piles. I am going to go buy some California Natural today and give that a go with her.

Edited July 31, 2011 by zoolaine

[JJNg]

Have you tried adding fiber and/or a probiotic to try to help firm up Zuki's stools? For fiber you can just add a spoonful of plain Metamucil to each meal. There are a number of probiotics available, which has been discussed in other threads.

[GeorgeofNE]

I'm just wondering if they ever get walked? I only ask because walking really seems to get George moving!

 

I realize they're going out, but perhaps on those long days you could try to squeeze in a walk? I get up ridiculously early so that George gets a long walk (I don't have a yard) and hopefully drain the "tank."

[Guest giantsfan]

I'm just wondering if they ever get walked? I only ask because walking really seems to get George moving!

 

I realize they're going out, but perhaps on those long days you could try to squeeze in a walk? I get up ridiculously early so that George gets a long walk (I don't have a yard) and hopefully drain the "tank."

 

I do the same thing in the summer. Get up really early for a decent walk, feed them and then let them out for their last time at least an hour after they've eaten. Our dogs easily go 9.5-10 hours and aren't necessarily rushing out to go to the bathroom when we get home. (and we feed 2x a day)

[Guest zoolaine]

I'm just wondering if they ever get walked? I only ask because walking really seems to get George moving!

 

I realize they're going out, but perhaps on those long days you could try to squeeze in a walk? I get up ridiculously early so that George gets a long walk (I don't have a yard) and hopefully drain the "tank."

 

 

I usually try to take them for a walk in the morning but rotate who gets to come. It has been so blood hot (86 degrees at 6am) that we haven't been going this summer.

[Guest shed_gal]

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.

 

Hi I am new here so just adding by two bits worth. Our grey Zahra only eats once a day as did our last grey. That's all she seems to want to eat but after saying that she gets a feed when we get home from work (around 5pm) and then a supper at around 8pm. We are lucky hat we have a sliding door that is locked open when we are not there so both the dog and the cat can come and go as they please.

[3greytjoys]

Any time there is a change in dog food, it's good to make a gradual change over 4-6 weeks. Then try to stick with the same food for at least 4-6 months to allow the hound time to adjust to the new food. Many dogs' systems don't adjust well to frequent changes.

 

 

Transitioning from Original Kibble to New Kibble:

 

Week One: 75% Original dry kibble with 25% New dry kibble.

Week Two: 50% Normal dry kibble with 50% New dry kibble.

 

Week Three: 25% Normal dry kibble with 75% New dry kibble.

 

Week Four: 100% New dry kibble.

[Guest zoolaine]

Any time there is a change in dog food, it's good to make a gradual change over 4-6 weeks. Then try to stick with the same food for at least 4-6 months to allow the hound time to adjust to the new food. Many dogs' systems don't adjust well to frequent changes.

 

 

Transitioning from Original Kibble to New Kibble:

 

Week One: 75% Original dry kibble with 25% New dry kibble.

Week Two: 50% Normal dry kibble with 50% New dry kibble.

 

Week Three: 25% Normal dry kibble with 75% New dry kibble.

 

Week Four: 100% New dry kibble.

 

 

I'm way too impatient for that Today there was only 1 pile and I think it was smaller too - good progress

[Guest verthib]

I don't think it's fair to them to only eat once per day. Also, the person who mentioned they probably ate once a day while racing is incorrect. They are fed twice per day. The thing that alarmed me about your post is putting them on a run. Putting greyhounds on a tie out or run is extremely discouraged, particularly if you are not around to watch them. I would feed them when you get up, shower, get ready, then let them out to do their business. I highly suggest a pet sitter/dog walker to come mid-day so they have more than 10 minutes to go out over your lunch break. Good luck.

[Guest sja5032]

I don't think it's fair to them to only eat once per day. Also, the person who mentioned they probably ate once a day while racing is incorrect. They are fed twice per day. The thing that alarmed me about your post is putting them on a run. Putting greyhounds on a tie out or run is extremely discouraged, particularly if you are not around to watch them. I would feed them when you get up, shower, get ready, then let them out to do their business. I highly suggest a pet sitter/dog walker to come mid-day so they have more than 10 minutes to go out over your lunch break. Good luck.

 

 

LOL I only worked in/ran a racing kennel for 6 years, they ate once a day. The probably was because it is possible said dog was not in a racing kennel for a long time.