How often should dogs eat?

It seems like a simple question: How often should dogs eat? But, like any other conversation about dog food, it can get contentious.

For many years, the common recommendation was to feed dogs twice a day - breakfast and dinner. Pretty straightforward and seemed reasonable to most people.

It seemed reasonable. Almost everybody has done without lunch on occasion. Perfectly acceptable for dogs, too. Exceptions were always given for puppies and seniors, dogs with medical conditions, etc. 

Learning more

In the last couple of years, we’ve seen a shift. Some veterinarians specializing in nutrition started recommending once-a-day feeding. And now the Dog Aging Project has found some correlation between dog health and once-a-day feeding. The study found that those dogs we

re overall healthier and had less cognitive decline than dogs fed more often.

As the authors point out, correlation does not equal causation. There are lots of other factors to consider. Dogs often need to take medications only with food. That could skew the results. Presumably, dogs who require prescription medications would be less-healthy than dogs who don’t. 

Size matters

Another consideration is the size of the dog. Small dogs are more prone to hypoglycemia and may need to eat more frequently. At the other end of the scale, large and giant dog breeds can develop bloat. Feeding smaller, more frequent meals is believed to help avoid the issue.

This study didn’t address the overall calorie intake of dogs fed more often vs. the once-a-day subjects. Numerous human and canine studies have found some health benefits in calorie deprivation, so that could also be a factor.

Grazing time

There was no particular mention of free-feeding. That’s the practice of leaving food out all the time and allowing the dog to eat what and when they like. We’ve never been fans of free-feeding. Aside from the impracticality in a multi-dog household, it’s also difficult to housebreak a free-fed dog. You never know when they have to go, because you don’t know when or how much they ate.

Need to know

We’ll be keeping an eye on future research on the topic. As dog owners, we always want to do what’s best for our dogs. But we’re not eager to change a regimen that’s working. And we’re dreading having those puppy-dog eyes staring at us if/when an established mealtime doesn’t happen.