Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 6:30 pm Post subject: Any labs out there on 3 meals per day beyond 6 months?
Hi,
Sorry if this is daft question, but I was wondering about the 3 meals to 2 changeover at about 6 months. We started changing Max over a bit later than that, nearer 7 months, and we started it gradually. He is on 470g Wainwrights total, so instead of splitting x3, we made breakfast and dinner 190g and gave him 90g at lunchtime, and were going to gradually do away with lunch. After a few days of this we had one night when he was sick - all undigested food - 3 hours after his dinner, followed by a few nights later 2 huge v. loose poo's in the middle of the night in his crate (bless him we didn't hear a cry until too late).
Normally he is good as gold with his food, and is in his crate 10.30pm until 6.30am no probs. So I was wondering if maybe this change is just a bit too much volume in one go particularly at night? I guess there may have been other reasons each time such as something he ate, but it was out of character and a bit too close for coincidence maybe. All other poops fine - no sign of tummy upset and each incident was 3-4 days apart.
I can keep him on 3 meals indefinitely, but wondered if others have had a similar problem, and do some dog's tummies not cope with larger amounts at 6 months+? Is it better for his digestion that we get him onto 2 meals? Max was 26kg at 30 weeks, so average I guess, not small.
I can`t remember how old CJ was when he went from 3 to 2, some dogs make their own minds up when they want to change by refusing the middle meal.
Try giving Max less with his evening meal and/or giving it to him earlier so he has a chance to poop before he goes to bed, CJ is fed around 6pm, sometimes he`ll go last thing sometimes he goes first thing, he has once or twice woken me to go earlier than usual!
Drop the amount slightly. One of the reasons for dropping from 3 to two meals is because as growth has slowed the amount of food needed has dropped.
No there is no reason why you must drop the number of feeds. In the days when I had a diabetic dog I fed 4 small meals a day to level out the sugar intake. But the one thing I will say is that it's far more convenient to cut to 2 meals. (Although mine do get a Bonio at mid day.)
Max's last feed is 6.30pm latest, sometimes from 5.30pm if we are going training at 8 to give him a chance to digest it. Maybe for now slightly earlier will be safer.
His last poop does vary, sometimes he won't go after 6ish, sometimes just before bed.
We dropped him down by 10g after both tummy moments, and he has certainly gone from "needing" a few grams increase every couple of weeks to levelling out in terms of weight.
We'll go slowly for now, not increasing total volume and gradually weighting more towards am and pm,
Can't imgaine him not wanting a meal , but I can certainly tell when he is less "urgent" about it.
I dropped Minnie to two meals gradually at around six months, by reducing her lunchtime meal over a number of weeks, adding to the breakfast/dinner meals.
I did however go back to giving her three meals a day as I found sometimes in the morning she would have "hungry sicks" and if I kept a bit of her Naturediet back for a very late supper just before bedtime, she wasn't sick
She's 3 now and generally has 3-4 meals per day because I am giving her and Jasper, our oldie, various liver supplements etc. and it means I can spread things out more over the day too.
I have otherwise always fed adult dogs twice a day, barring illness (where an older one benefits from smaller, more frequent meals), but there's no harm in feeding more often, that I can see, if it's convenient for all
Leo was 6 months yesterday and over the next week or so I am going to wean him off his lunch..cut it back day by day, if I don't and just take him straight to two meals then I have a feeling he won't settle and will just follow me around waiting day after day...He's a Pointer so alot more persistent than a Lab!!
470g is ALOT of food, I would cut it back to around 350g. Some of the vomiting and diarrhoea could be him getting rid of the excess that he doesn't need..my GSP Leo started on Barking heads a couple of weeks back, unsure of the feeding amounts with him still being a pup so started at 330g and come to the conclusion its too much as every couple of days he's doing a couple of very large, smelly mounds later in the day...I'm cutting it back to 270g from today to see if that makes a difference. Many dogs need feeding well below the guidelines on the bag, Amber is on Arden Grange and has 220g a day but the guideline is 320-360g.
Ellie was switched over younger than 6 months - when she was put onto adult food.
I have cut back on her portion as she was getting 400g of JWB split across two meals when she arrived and we have reduced to to about 300g and she has agained almost kilo in weight in the 3 weeks we have had her. When she arrived she weighed 22.1 kg and today she was 22.9kg at 7 and a half months.
I would say the you've been giving him a bit too much - my split is around 50/50 but with my other girls it was more like 70% for breakfast and 30% for dinner.
If you are are using training treats during the day or he is having Kongs and such like then there is no reason not to lose the lunchtime meal. I also reduce her feed if she is going training ands getting lots of high value training treats.
Thanks Rach and Jules, John mentioned about maybe dropping the volume too - we dropped it a little a couple of weeks ago and have been including his treats in the total per day. I weigh each meal, so we are quite strict with it. His weight is about right - even the weight police at the vet's say he is fine. He has a clear waist and you can see his last two ribs and feel his ribs easily, so I have been loath to cut his food volume so far as he is still growing. I know others have mentioned feeding a little more at night so they sleep well, but we may be better off giving him a little more relatively in the morning when he has the day to mooch about and do what he needs to
He is still on Wainwrights Puppy Large Breed, and I think the volumes on puppy foods are higher overall than for adults from having a quick look at the bags. I have kept him on puppy large breed for now having looked into the whole protein, calcium, phosphorous levels debate. From what I have seen the large breed pup varieties try to keep calcium levels down, to keep growth rates steady - they are certainly lower than on normal puppy or adult Wainwrights. I know that's a whole seperate subject though.....
Isn't it just... After doing my own research I actually think the protein debate is a red herring. If the protein comes from the right sources, i.e. meat rather than the fillers/rubbish, then from what I have read, it's actually not a problem at all.
Even though I cut out a 'proper' midday meal once Blue hit 6 months, I still give a light lunch to my two most days (Blue is now 14 months, and Tom is 8 year's old). It may be just a can of fish in tomato sauce shared with a tiny amount of kibble between the two of them, or a Kong containing maybe apple/pear and a cheese/fish paste to bind it, or a raw, meaty bone. I just adjust their evening meal accordingly.
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, but I can certainly tell when he is less "urgent" about it.
