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This blog post was originally published in February 2015. It has been updated with new information and republished in September 2020.
When we brought home Rodrigo and Sydney, I didn’t think about how often they needed to eat. I’ve always fed pets in the morning and in the evening. I didn't know that puppies need to eat more often (three to four times a day). And when my dogs grew up, I didn't realize that it was an option to feed them once a day – in fact, that sounded cruel. But today, I know better. I'm updating this blog post to share what I've learned over the past five years as a raw feeder.
How Many Times a Day to Feed a Raw Fed Puppy
We've had several puppies over the years, and all of them were fed twice daily without any obvious ramifications; however, I've learned that due to a puppy's fast metabolism, they need to eat more often. If we were to bring home a puppy today, I would feed the puppy at least three times daily until they were 10 to 12 weeks of age, making sure that I was balancing their diet daily and not “over time” as I do with our adult dogs.
Keep in mind that this is for medium to large dogs. Giant breed puppies may have different criteria.
How Many Times a Day to Feed an Adult Raw Fed Dog
We're currently raising four adult dogs, and they eat twice daily within a 8-hour period: 9 am and 5 pm. They get treats, but not a ton, and their treats are primarily single-ingredient protein treats with a few exceptions. Once a week, I fast our dogs; it's a modified fast that looks like:
- my dogs have raw goat's milk or kefir instead of their regular raw meal for the day
- my dogs have bone broth instead of their regular raw meal for the day
- my dogs eat one large meal at the end of the fasting day
I have alternated between a modified fast (with raw goat's milk, kefir, or bone broth) to avoid hunger pukes and a full fast once weekly, when I feed the dogs at 2 pm, allowing for a 21-hour fast. Digesting food takes a lot of energy, and feeding light meals or fasting gives the gut a break and allows a dog's system to focus on detox and healing.
The choice to fast a dog is a personal choice. While my dogs have benefited from fasting (healthy weight, stronger immune system, healthy gut), I understand that fasting isn't for everyone. So if you're not fasting your dog and don't yet feel comfortable doing so, please don't feel pressured to do this with your dog.
What the Veterinarian Says
I contacted Dr. Cathy Alinovi, DVM of Healthy Pawsibilities, to get her thoughts on this question. Dr. Alinovi was kind enough to get us started on a raw diet and consulted with us when we were lost. According to Dr. Alinovi, how often we feed our dogs depends on our dog's age and lifestyle.
Puppy and Toy Breeds (feed 2 – 3 times a day)
A young puppy or toy breed can be fragile and doesn’t do well without being fed a few times a day. Puppies especially are known for being hypoglycemic, as they don't usually have a lot of fat reserves. Therefore, it's good to feed them two or three times a day.
Adult Dogs
Once the dogs are older, it's really a matter of convenience. Certainly, dogs in the wild would eat when they could get food. Some days that might be once a day if they were lucky. Most dogs can stand it. The choice of feeding an adult dog once, twice, or three times a day is largely driven by lifestyle and the dog’s health.
Benefits of Feeding Once Daily
If you’re raising a healthy dog, then feeding once a day will allow you to control when they go poop; it’s easier to develop a system. If your dog has access to an outside yard or you have a flexible work schedule (or work from home), feeding twice daily may make more sense.
If you’re raising a dog with any health issues, I’d recommend seeking the counsel of a veterinarian whom you trust.
Learn More About Fasting Dogs
- Therapeutic Fasting – This Dietary Habit of Wolves Might Be Right for Your Dog Too But Never for a
Cat Why You Should Fast Your Dog- Therapeutic Fasting and Calorie Restriction
- Benefits of Light to Heavy Feeding for Raw Fed Dogs
Thank you for this post!
Since we ditch the bowl (all food comes from training games or passive calming activities) our pup is “fed” 4 to 5 times a day in training games and 2-3 times in passive calming activities (raw on lick-mats or in kongs, she’s too young for me to feel comfortable giving it in bones yet). But she self-fasts most of the day about every 4 days. She seems happy to do so on her own, and then has a calm lick-mat at night before bed. She’s extremely healthy, and strong. But I was worrying about the self-fasting she tends to do, checked with our vet and she said it’s totally fine for Lina to do that, as long as it’s not multiple days in a row.
I also know a couple of dogs who are fed once a day, I always felt uncomfortable with them being fed only once a day when I take care of the – especially as they are both very overweight. But this post and other research helped me to see the once a day feeding is fine, just they’re fed WAY TOO MUCH at that one meal.
But if I look at my grandmother, she eats One meal a day. It’s something she’s done forever, and she is SUPER Healthy – like so many people believe she’s my mom. So I know one meal a day can be fine, it just needs to be done right.
There is such a wide range on this, and I also believe it’s important to work with the dog in front of you. One dog’s gut can do great one food but another dog’s gut may not – same with people.
I appreciate your posts always suggest to work with a professional and to work with what works for Your dog. I really like your blog!
Hi there. When I adopted the first dog from the shelter (Janine), I faced the same problem. I read on the Internet that a puppy should be fed 5-6 hours a day in small portions. And on another site I read that it is worth feeding him only 3 times a day. In general, I concluded that it is worth looking at the mood of the dog. If the dog looks hungry, it should be fed. On average, I fed the dog 4 times a day. I think this is the best option.
Thank you for the information and your brilliant ideas!
Our 14 year old often has the bike vomit. Special diet food for him and often an antibiotic or endosorb for D
Now getting B 12 shots every week for a month to restore his stomach flora
Other than the stomach issue, he eats and runs and plays / acts like 5 year old dog
So interesting that you share this, Adam. I had a chat with Rodney Habib a couple of weeks ago and he said nearly the same thing. That we need to shorten the time period during which we feed our dogs. I’m going to be releasing the video we made (me interviewing him) during National Raw Feeding Week. I find the thought fascinating and have started feeding my dogs an hour or two earlier than I usually do.
Rodrigo might actually benefit from a smaller eating window (intermittent fasting). Many bloated Americans eat crappy food yes, but they also eat all damn day. Those who have implemented a shorter eating period each day have been able to give their digestive system a break from working all the time, leading to a better functioning gut. Just a thought. Appreciate all that you do.
Hi Sway…
Smaller dogs may need more meals a day, but larger dogs may do great on one meal a day. I know plenty of people who feed a full meal once a day and their dogs are fine. They don’t feed their dogs less food, they just feed the entire day’s worth of food in one meal. I also have friends that have dogs that often self fast and those dogs are very healthy too.
Feeding this way incorporates a fasting period every day. It’s similar to intermittent fasting for humans. I believe that our guts aren’t meant to be processing food all day long, they need a break to allow the gut and the immune system to reset. Before I started fasting my dogs, I decided to fast to see how it would feel. I do intermittent fasting and as a result, I’ve lost weight, I have more energy, focus, and a much better attitude (I used to be in therapy for depression). So now I fast my dogs (a raw goat’s milk fast) once a week. All day on Saturday, they eat three meals of raw goat’s milk. Doing this has improved Rodrigo’s environmental allergies, improved Sydney’s joint issues, and all of my dogs are at a much healthier weight. I don’t feel comfortable not feeding them anything, which is why they get raw goat’s milk which is very healthy for them.
I wouldn’t suggest that anyone fast their dog for a week. I’m not obese, nor am I a health nut. I just want to do what’s best for my dogs and I work with a holistic veterinarian and nutritionist to make sure that I’m doing a good job. My dogs aren’t suffering. Ultimately, we all have to do what’s best for our dogs, I can only hope that before people do things, they do their homework and they work with a certified professional.
Have a nice evening.
Feeding only once a day is ABUSE!
Period.
Be HUMANE and feed at least 2 times a day.
Can we starve you for the rest of your life and just give you one meal? Many dogs cant fit all their nutrients in, in that one feeding and then you stretched their stomach out so far because they know they’ll starve a whole day and they get even more hunger pain from that. You know how it is when you eat a lot a few days in a row and then have nothing. Your stomach hurts even more. People make me so frustrated doing all this crazy crap to their pets. FEED your dog already my god. And this crap about immuno-system and gut resting crap… jury is still out on all that – there is NO proof of any of this. Just more hype on the internet. But HUNGER is not in question. THEY DO GET HUNGRY 4-5 hours after eating. Let’s starve you like this for a week and see how you do. You’re probably all obese or health nuts (such polar opposites on earth, no one is truly balanced) so you
re taking out your messed up health beliefs on these innocent animals who suffer because of it.
That makes sense, thanks for sharing, Niles.
I was told by my vet to take the total food amount for the day and break it into 2 or three smaller meals. it’s better for the digestive system and tummy since he’s a toy size Miniature Pincher. Feeding him once a day was a bit much for him to eat especially since he would gobble it up in two breaths. Later he would search for more food. so to keep from overfeeding him I do the 2 or sometimes feeding times. Preferable twice a day.
Hi Samantha – this is a better question for someone with a small dog or your veterinarian. My dogs weigh between 60-75 pounds. I fed them twice a day when they were 5 months old, but I don’t know if this is something that is great for all dogs, no matter the size, or if this is strictly for bigger dogs.
My dog is 5 months old, with a busy work schedule I’m curious to see if it is okay for me to transition her to 2x a day vs. 3 x a day.. she is a smaller breed
Hi Scott
I wish I would have done the same thing because the daily fast has so many health benefits for dogs.
So once my boy reached 18 mos old I started to only feed once per day. Sometimes I vary his feeding schedule by a couple of hours, sometimes i’ll switch it up and feed mornings instead of evenings.
When I made the switch, there were a couple of times he threw up stomach acids/bile (that yellow stuff); I think he expected a meal and his body already started producing the acids in anticipation. This hasn’t happened in quite some time though (he’s 3-1/2 now).
100% raw-fed from the time he was weaned. When he sees me preparing his food the drooling starts in earnest 🙂
No. Dogs will eat all the food & maybe get sick. They are use to a feeding schedule. They are very smart. So if you have a a schedule to feed them in the am & PM keep it. They need consistency.
I did exactly what you did. I think it’s fair. Nothing wrong with that my dogs are 6 and 12 they were 8 weeks when when I had them.they doing very well. Give them love is important.
I suggest feeding your dog on a schedule that you know will work for both of you. And I like to exercise my dogs before eating because their body is in calorie burning mode which is great for Sydney, who can lose some weight.
I’m currently feeding my dog 2 times a day and I’ve decided to switch to 1 once a day for reasons you indicated.
I’ve been feeding him for the couple years on a raw diet for the last couple of years – when he was a kibble junkie I was feeding him twice a day.
The dog is a male Labrador Retriever.
When would be ideal time to feed him?
Is it best to exercise on an empty stomach and then feed him him in the evening?
He’s a consistent pooper in the sense he poops when we go out to exercise.
its a hunger puke, when a dog gets used to eating at a specific time every day their bodies will start to produce bile in anticipation of the meal and vomit bile because there is an excess
Many raw feeders feed their dogs once a day. It gives the gut time to rest and helps improve the immune system. For picky eaters, I’ve found that adding bone broth or green tripe to the meal temps a picky eater.
My 18 month old shepherd has never been a great eater at all. She can go weeks with eating 2 meals then decides not to eat breakfast. Within the last 2 weeks she ate breakfast 3 times. So I decided to hold off on breakfast and just give her dinner. I’ve been told shepherds are picky eaters.
Any suggestions?
I don’t see why not. I feed my dogs twice a day.
i feed my dog two meals per day. the first is at around 12pm(lunch) and the last is 7pm. he is a deerhead chihuahua. we wake up at 8am in the morning and we try feeding him 9am breakfast of leftoverfl food from yesterday or offer him his dog food, but he doesnt want to eat. he seems healthy and fine. is it fine to feed him only twice a day at lunch and dinner time?
Actually, feeding our dogs once a day is best for some dogs because it allows their gut to relax. When the gut is always working to digest food, then the immune system doesn’t get to spend time getting stronger. By feeding once a day or fasting once per week, the gut and immune system can get stronger.
Twice a day is best otherwise they are hungry most of the time. It is better for their system just like ours to process food not all in one lump bunch. And think about it, we wouldn’t want to be hungry all the time waiting for our one meal. Hope this helps
I feed my Bulldog 3x a day thinking that the smaller portions should help keep bloat/ stomach torsion away in a big chested breed..what do you think?
So are you saying that your dog is pooping in the house? If so, this is what I did when we had this problem with one of our dogs. Instead of letting him outside and trusting him to do his business, I took him for walks. After a while, he stopped pooping in the house.
Be sure to treat the spot with a pet stain enzyme so that your dog can’t smell the scent and re-offend.
I have a 5 year old chihuahua, I let her out every morning and when I let her back in she sneak off and poops. She eats a small amount 2 times a day. Any suggestions would be great.
Thanks, I’m new to this and my dog sometimes does the same thing. I will try giving leaving him some overnight since I be at work.
I would recommend reaching out to your vet for a final answer. I’ve always been told that dogs should be fed 2 or 3 times a day. My dogs eat twice a day and may have a smaller third meal of duck necks or lamb bones.
I have 3 dogs. One is a beagle and he is 13 years old and I feed him once at around 5:30. My second dog is a terrier mix and she is 7 months and I feed her the same time I feed my first one. The third is a pitbull puppy and she is about 11 weeks and we feed her once in the morning and once at night. People always tell me I’m not taking care of them right for only feeding the first two at night. Is this is okay and normal feeding habits?
that exact morning sickness happened to my magick a couple times i think on sunday mornings after a busy saturday but i already feed him three times a day with treats in between so i guess maybe he just needed more food on those double extra active days. it hasnt happened in a long while though. i certainly appreciated your input. trying to decide if he should be fed twice a day now that he’s going on seven months
Actually I was just slowly converting the dogs (and my cats) at home to once a day meal, it’s effective per these last 4-5 days. So they are still adjusting, like at night, they still flock in the dining room expecting that I would toss them dinner. But I guess it’s working fine, so far.
I’m a late bloomer lately, my schedule’s been killing me. I usually wake up around 10-11 AM, toss them homemade wet food for lunch around 1 PM (it’s more like chicken soup with beans, carrots, rice, eggs). And at night, around 10 PM, I just set them some bowls of dry dog food. At first they’re not fond of the idea of consuming only dry food (kibbles), since I’ve always been giving them homemade wet food. They hardly touch some brands of dry food (and usually it’s the expensive organic-holistic brands. Darn!), but after a couple of try-outs I’ve found out some brands that they would want to nibble for dinner. They’re not the holistic ones, but since I gave them homemade lunch I thought it might be okay to have regular dry food or them. After all they all rescued mutts, been living on dumpster’s leftover food anyway, maybe their tastebuds are conditioned to detect strong flavors or MSG (I know MSG is not okay. But hey at least I balanced it with healthy lunch :p).
Anyway I don’t know if I’m doing this the right or the wrong way, but they seem okay and healthy. So yeah. One meal a day could work.
I can’t speak to chihuahuas, because I’ve never had one. We brought home Rodrigo and Sydney at 8 weeks old and Scout and Zoey were 6 weeks old. I fed them 2x a day their entire lives. The only thing that I was careful about was making sure they ate at the same time (or as close as possible) every day. Our dogs eat between 5:30-6am and between 5:30-6pm. The only issue we’ve had are hunger pukes and that’s when there is too much acid in an empty stomach; I can count the number of times this has happened on 1 hand with our four dogs: https://keepthetailwagging.com/do-dogs-vomit-when-theyre-hungry/
I was told by the original breeder that I just got my 7 week old chihuahua from to feed her every 3 hours cause she has problems with low blood sugar, so thats 8 times a day. But tomorrow I have to go back to school and have nobody to watch her whole gone, is it okay if she misses 2 meals (6 hours) then gets the third meal at the 9th hour once I get home?
For raw fed dogs, I don’t think it’s a good idea to feed them more once a day if they’re not already used to it. I think it’s best to find someone who can feed them twice a day. With the weather warming up; it’s not safe to allow raw food to sit out for a long period of time.
Have a nice trip.
We normally feed our 2 dogs (pom and small lab mix) twice a day. But we are going on a trip for 12 days and do not have a house sitter. If we only had the pom, we could leave a giant bowl out for him to “graze” but that won’t work for the larger dog. My son said he can come once a day to feed them. Would he just feed them twice the amount for once a day?
thank you all for your comments .
That’s a pretty clever idea. Before we got dogs, I read in a book that it’s a good idea to turn meal time into training time like what you’re doing.
What a great article. Thanks for sharing the input of your Dr. too. Our little guy doesn’t really much like eating. We sometimes have to be creative to make sure he gets enough food. Like putting it in a puzzle game or something like that to keep him interested. 🙂
We used to feed Haley twice a day, but she occasionally had an issue with vomiting a yellow bile type substance on some mornings and she wouldn’t want to eat until around noon.
My vet suggested feeding her something before bed so she didn’t have an empty stomach all night. Now I feed her three times a day and luckily she hasn’t had any more issues with an upset stomach in the morning. So much for a poop schedule, though.
If I change our dogs schedule, I think I’ll feed them 3x a day instead of 2x a day, but I honestly don’t see that happening. 2x a day works so well. Our dogs don’t have a poop schedule – I’m jealous.
Hi Wanda – what food are you referring to? A raw food diet? Thanks!
For as long as I have had dogs, they have been fed twice a day (with occasional treats in between). I had never realized that some people only feed once a day until I was asked by my vet about Luna. I think I fell into that routine mostly out of convenience because that was when I was eating. However, after living with a food hound, I don’t think feeding her once a day would be an option because she gets so jealous if you are eating and she is not. Just to note – Luna’s poop schedule is pretty regular at twice a day too.
I was told that this food was good to feed my dog Rosie who has diabetes ????