Have you ever asked yourself, “how often should I feed my dog?” Most dog owners feed their dogs twice or three times a day while some give only one meal a day. Experts would recommend twice a day feeding session for your dogs above five months old—one meal for breakfast and one for dinner. However, for puppies that are under five months, they are suggested to be fed up to four times a day or as indicated by the local veterinarian. If you’re unsure of your answer, you might want to know the suggested frequency of feeding and how much food should be consumed by your pets. Here are some methods that will help in your dog feeding sessions.
#1 Letting Your Dog Make The Decision
This method goes out for your dog who has a healthy weight and is highly active during playtime. You can use this free-choice feeding method to allow your dog to burn more calories as you leave food out on his plate and let him graze on his own. However, make sure to feed your dog dry food so that it won’t spoil if you plan to leave it on the bowl. This is also applicable to your nursing dogs. They need to have many calories in order to produce a continuous flow of milk to feed their pups as well. But you might want to be cautious about leaving food outside the house because it could attract other insects like raccoons and rodents. If you have more than one dog, make sure to put the bowls in separate areas to avoid a fight over the food. Remember that this method is strictly not recommended for dogs that are diabetic.
#2 Control Amount of Portions
If you have a dog that binge eats, you can take advantage of and use this portion control method. Consult your veterinarian first on what your dog’s ideal weight should be and then prepare a meal schedule as well the amount of food that should be fed to your dog. Your veterinarian will be able to calculate the exact amount of food that you will include in your meal schedule. Also, you need to take into consideration the 8-12 hour intervals when you feed your dog once or twice a day. If you are feeding your dog commercial dog food, split the amount suggested on the bag, or you’ll end up giving your pet more than what is prescribed.
#3 Take Note of The Time
If your dog is highly active, whether inside or outside the house, and you don’t want to leave the food out in the open all day long, you can take advantage of this time-feeding method. This method is about giving your dog a period of time, 30 minutes, perhaps, to eat and finish the food. When he reaches 30 minutes or more, throw everything out of the bowl, including food that was not consumed. If you are looking for a more natural way to feed your dog without taking much of your time, then have a scheduled feeder that you can also control the correct amount of food to be fed. INSATCHEW has a Smart Pet Feeder that automatically feeds your pet at the expected time whenever you’re not home. It also has video monitoring features that enable pet owners to see their pets during mealtime and can even record videos as well as taking pictures that can be shared with friends at any time!