[icybabe]

My pup Harry ia 11 weeks old and has been given 3 meals per day.
dried.
When is is advisable to cut dow to 2 meals per day? and should i reduce the amount slowly until he eventually just has 2

 

[Basil]

Hi most people recommend cutting to 2 meals at around 6months of age.

I didn't cut it out gradually i just decided at about 5 months to stop giving him lunch (mainly because he was sleeping through it ) and then gave him a little more brekkie and dinner to compensate.

 

[bld]

We reduced from 4 to 3 at about 12 weeks and he is still on 3 meals a day (at 18 weeks) I was planning to keep this until around 6 months but I'd like to hear what others say.

 

[-Angela-]

We reduced from 4 to 3 at about 12 weeks and he is still on 3 meals a day (at 18 weeks) I was planning to keep this until around 6 months but I'd like to hear what others say.

That is pretty much what I did with Minnie-Moo. I did reduce hers gradually as she was always up for a meal so I started reducing the lunchtime meal and adding more to the other meals, a couple of weeks before, so when I removed lunch completely, it had only been a little bit of food.

 

[...]

I'm the same as the others. Pickle is 11 1/2 weeks now, so I am gradually reducing her mid morning and afternoon meals now and giving them closer together, so by the time she is 12 weeks old, she will just have one mid day meal. Then at 6 months old, I'll gradually up her brekkie and dinner and reduce her lunch. Although most days my dogs get "lunch" even into adulthood. It tends to just be a bonio or something like that though, just to tie them over. :wink:

 

[MarleyandFlynn]

Jules could you give me a bit of advice on cutting out the fourth meal?

Marley is on 7 am, 12 noon, 5 pm and 9 pm. I thought I would just cut out the 9 pm, but now Im not sure how to go about it!

 

[Quarrybank]

Jules could you give me a bit of advice on cutting out the fourth meal?

Marley is on 7 am, 12 noon, 5 pm and 9 pm. I thought I would just cut out the 9 pm, but now Im not sure how to go about it!

With Bailey, I gradually reduced the 9pm feed (& increased the others) over the course of a few days, then last friday, I cut out the late feed, so Bailey now gets fed at 7.30am, 1pm & 7pm.
The first day I think he expected it, but now he doesn't bother at all.

 

[MarleyandFlynn]

Thats really helpful thanks, I had better start tomorrow!

Marley waves to Bailey!!

 

[tjlab]

Lexi and Henri have asked me not to take any notice of this topic and say they would cry if I cut them down to 3 meals. :lol: :lol:

I wont be cutting mine down until 18 weeks, never do unless they wean themselves off of a fourth meal.

Trace x

 

[MarleyandFlynn]

Oh lord, I think I must have misread your instructions Trace, I thought that is what I was supposed to do! Back to the folder!

Marley will be very happy to know he can still have four meals!

Can you take a degree in puppy management?

 

[...]

Jules could you give me a bit of advice on cutting out the fourth meal?

Hiya, Sorry I didn't see this earlier.

It isn't absolutely essential to cut out a feed. If you are happy to feed 4 times a day and so is the pup, then you can continue for as long as you like. I just find that by about 12 weeks, I'm out and about with the pups so much, that one feed always gets slept through or forgotten about, so I tend to squeeze the two middle feeds closer together. It is also around this time I find the pups are ravenous in the morning and they settle better if I give them a bigger helping first thing.

At the moment I'm feeding 1/3 (of total daily ration) at 6.30-7am, then 1/6 at 11.30, followed by the other 1/6 (often used as clicker training treats) usually at about 1.30.....and last 1/3 feed at 6.30-7pm. Over the next few days I'll shift those middle feeds closer and closer together, so all rations are more or less equal. What time you give that last meal depends on you and your pup. My older dogs get fed at 6.30-7pm, so it makes sense for Pickle to be fed when they are, plus it means she then has a poo before going to bed and is nicely settled all night then. However some have faster or slower metabolisms, so you just have to fiddle about until you find the right time.

Some pups will eat as many meals as you care to give, for as long as you care to give them and others will naturally leave a meal out, or start to look disinterested in one, although I have to say, I've never had a Labrador refuse a meal, even if it is only 2 mins after the last one :wink: :lol: .