Does anyone feed just once a day?

[brodysmom]

Mr Picky has decided he doesn't want to eat breakfast anymore.

The last 3 mornings, he hasn't eaten his morning meal at all. I even tried to entice him to eat by adding stuff he likes (a bit of liver chips) which I know contributes to his pickiness. He takes a sniff and walks away. So I just bagged it up and threw it in the fridge and then took it out later. By then he must have been hungry and he ate it.

So the past few days he has just had one meal a day. I don't give very many snacks so he's not getting anything to eat from bedtime through the night and clear until about 4pm. That's a long time to go without eating.

Should I just stay with one meal a day or keep offering breakfast and then just sticking it in the fridge if he refuses it?

Man, those of you who have easy keepers are LUCKY. He has always been a nightmare to feed and keep weight on.

He's also pretty active. We take 3-4 walks a day and each of them are about 1/2 a mile, in addition to him running up and down the stairs chasing his ball and racing around here. I'm just worried that he isn't getting enough to eat.

Advice?

[Kristi]

I've thought about feeding just once a day. W/ raw, I feel like they never feel "full" b'c there is so little food. Even when they chow down on boney meals, they still are starving after, despite the extra mental exercise of eating. Hmph.

I know a few breeders that just feed their adults 1x a day, and that's on kibble (lazy!). If he will eat a bigger meal when he has his 1 meal a day I'd say go for it, I mean, you can't exactly force him to eat...lol. Some dogs will eat just to eat (mine) b'c they love it, but others actually need to seem and feel hungry??

Are you sure he might not have some impacted teeth making eating painful? Well the only way to know that, would be a dental x-ray. But, I know that can make a dog a very picky eater as well.

[brodysmom]

Thanks for the input Kristi. I don't think he has impacted teeth as he will chew a bully stick very vigorously or work on a beef rib with gusto and enthusiasm.

I think he is just picky and thinks he has better things to do than eat.

I will take some pics, but I don't think he's too thin. He's just not an enthusiastic eater.

[rachel]

Pixie will more often than not only eat once a day. Dosent matter what I offer her, she just dosent want to know first thing in the morning.

[mchis]

Last summer I fed raw once a day. Worked out okay. Once in a great while I'll do one meal during the day but typically we'll do 2 now. I'd not hesitate doing one meal a day if he's happier with it....but that's just me.

[brodysmom]

Ok, I'll just feed once a day and see how it goes.

Do you guys think his body condition is OK? I think he looks to be in good weight but I see him every day. Just took these, do you think he's too thin?

[Hollie]

I feed once a day at teatime. I started doing it when I started raw, Feodore is so picky and fussy that he won't eat his raw meals until he is really hungry, if I offer him two meals a day he refuses breakfast anyway. I feed about 5pm so I get food out of the freezer when I get up and it is de-frosted in time for tea. When I fed kibble I free fed because Feo was such a sparse eater, but I can't do that on kibble days now, or Eva would eat her body weight in food.

Brody looks just lovely to me Tracy. He has a nice tucked up tummy and a lovely glossy coat.

[Lucy]

I've only ever fed once a day. Obviously when they're pups I would feed more often but as soon as they were old enough I moved them to once a day. That was with kibble and when I went on to raw and back to kibble and now on raw again

I've always thought they get such small portions anyway, any smaller and it seemed pointless, but I guess I'm probably looking at it from a human POV?

I usually switch up their meal times, an hour or so each way but I don't feed in the mornings really. If someone has had a loose stool or if one brings up bile (which is VERY rarely) then I'll give them a little something. I've found this works particularly well with Kiki, who as you may remember, is a nightmare with organs lol.

I think Brody is in fab condition! I don't think he looks too thin at all and his coat is honestly amazing! I wish my hair had a shine like that haha.