Should dogs eat kibble every day

By Isabella Storyclaire

last updated November 18, 2024

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How Often Should Dogs Eat?

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Among the many questions new and experienced dog owners face is an especially important one. How often should dogs eat? Diet and nutrition are crucial components to keeping your dog a healthy member of the family for years to come.

Though theres no hard-and-fast rule to how often a dog should eat, twice a day is generally a good place to start. However, more important than feeding frequency is meal portion size. Portion size may vary based on breed, age, and health condition, and settling on the right amount can be tricky.

Dog meal delivery services can make it easy to serve your canine companion delicious, nutritious, and appropriately-portioned meals that even humans can eat. Ollie is a service that delivers fresh, human-grade dog food customized for your pups unique nutritional needs. Ollie works with vet nutritionists to formulate a perfect plan specifically for your dog based on weight, breed, and allergies. Plus they make it easy for us humans all of Ollies recipes are pre-portioned and your pup will be set up with their own feeding schedule so you dont have to worry about overfeeding or underfeeding.

What Affects How Often a Dog Should Eat?

Veterinarians recommend feeding a dog at least twice per day. Dogs with medical issues or dietary needs may require specialized feeding schedules or restrictions on what they eat. Talk to your veterinarian about your dogs eating habits to make sure youre meeting their nutritional needs and healthcare requirements.

Breed plays a large role when deciding how often to feed your dog. Common large breed dogs, for instance, will often require more feedings and more calories per day than medium and small breed dogs.Age is also another important consideration. The caloric requirements for a two-month-old Yorkshire Terrier varies greatly compared to a two-year-old Yorkie.

How Much Should Puppies Eat?

A fresh meal servicelike Ollie helps change your feeding approachas your dog changes ages from puppy to adult so you dont have to worry about portions during different life stages.

Since puppies are growing rapidly, they need more food than adult dogs. Puppy nutrition is crucial for developing a foundation for future growth, as well as their bone and organ development. Puppies must have a specific amount of calcium in their diet, otherwise, they can develop metabolic bone disease or orthopedic conditions like early-onset arthritis. Toy-breed puppies, in particular, are prone to hypoglycemia.

Puppies need small, frequent feedings. For the first few months of a puppys life, they will need small meals of food throughout the day as they transition from their mothers milk to solid food. Starting around four months, puppies can begin eating about three times a day, and after that, puppies will quickly graduate to twice-a-day feedings.

Feeding them three or four times per day makes it easier for puppies to digest and help keep energy levels consistent. However, its important to not overfeed them, since overweight puppies are more likely to become overweight adult dogs.

Toy-breed puppies will need 4 to 6 meals per day for the first three months of their lives. Medium-breed puppies will require three meals per day, and large-breed puppies typically need 3 to 4 meals per day. Though the breed is an important consideration, metabolism and energy levels can vary by up to 30 percent. Therefore, youll need to proportion meals accordingly.

Even though puppies grow quickly, its important to keep caloric intake and food amount consistent from four to twelve months of age. Puppies use fewer calories for growth as they become older. This comprehensive puppy feeding chart has vet-recommended guidelines on how much and how often to feed your puppy.

How Much Should Adult Dogs Eat?

Dont let your dog trick you into more mealtimes with adorable puppy dog eyes. Most dogs only require two meals a day, but if you catch your dog begging, an occasional healthy treat can help.

The trick is to make sure youre not feeding your dog more than is recommended. Food labels can be misleading or confusing. Generic feeding charts may over-calculate how much to feed a dog, or use outdated information.

To determine how much food to feed your dog, you should start by knowing your dogs estimated adult weight. Most large breed dogs will weigh between 50 to 150 pounds, while small breeds weigh under 20 pounds. Knowing the weight of your dogs same-sex parent can also be an excellent guide.

From there, you can use the estimated weight to determine how many calories dogs need per day.

What Sort of Feeding Schedule Works?

Free-feeding, or leaving food available to dogs at all times, is often not recommended by veterinarians. For multi-species or multiple-dog households, free-feeding makes it difficult to account for different diets and to track each dogs intake. Additionally, free feeding can lead to obesity when dogs overeat.

Sticking to a schedule can help your canine companion avoid grazing, feel like part of the family, and can encourage good mealtime behavior. You should plan a feeding schedule by consulting with your veterinarian.

Why Ollie?

Feeding dogs a diet made with natural, real ingredients can do wonders for their overall well-beingit can promote heart health, increase energy level, make their coat shinier, their breath smell better, improve eyesight and even impact poop. With Ollie, all the prep work is done for you so you dont have to worry about when, how much, or life stages when it comes to feeding. Were providing 50% off to the AKC audience for their first trial box, delivered straight to your home.

Ingredients: Ollies food is made only with whole, human-grade ingredients sourced from reputable farms and approved by vets. They never use fillers, by-products, artificial flavors, or preservatives in any of their recipes. Each recipe is cooked by hand at low temperatures in small batches in a USDA-regulated kitchen so you know your pup is getting the best.
Easy Schedule:All of Ollies recipes are pre-portioned and stored in the freezer plus you will receive a puptainer to keep your pups food fresh in case you feed your dog before your morning coffee. Ollie also takes care of us humans, Ollie is delivered directly to your door in as little as 2 days, on your schedule.
Health Benefits: The proof is in the results. Ollie dogs have reported shinier coats, decreased allergies, improved appetite, and more.

Ollies freshly cooked food is the simplest way to keep your dog happy and healthy at any age. Our five delicious recipes were formulated with vet nutritionists and ensure mealtime stays fresh and exciting for your pup. Visit Ollie.com, tell us all about your pup, and well create a custom meal plan just for them.

Are You Feeding Your Dog the Right Amount?

Why the Right Dog Food Amount Matters

If you feed your dog too little, they can suffer from nutritional deficiencies.

However, If you feed your dog too much, it will eventually result in obesity and its related health issues, like:

Giving your dog the right amount of quality dog food can help support your pets overall health and keep them feeling their best.

How to Find the Right Amount of Dog Food for Your Dog

You need to account for several factors when determining exactly how much your dog should be eating.

Consider the Important Factors

The correct meal size depends on factors like:

Type of food
Number of meals
Body weight
Metabolic rate
Amount of exercise

Look at the Feeding Guide on the Bag

To start the process, take a look at the feeding guide on your dog foods label. They are usually presented as a table that looks something like this:

Unless stated otherwise, these amounts give you the total that is recommended for your dog over a 24-hour period.

Most adult dogs should eat two meals a day, and puppies often require threeor more feedings, so youll need to divide the amount in the table by the number of meals you are offering.

Take Your Dogs Lifestyle Into Account

Combine this information with your knowledge of your dogs lifestyle to come up with the initial amount of food to offer your dog.

For example, if I had a relatively inactive 35-pound Corgi who had a tendency to gain weight, I might start with a little less food than the table recommends. On the other hand, if my dog was a 35-pound Border Collie who never sits still, I would feed a little more.

Consider Using a Calorie Calculator

Another option is to try using a calorie calculator for dogs, but keep in mind that while these often spit out a precise number, your dogs actual needs may be as much as 25% more or less.

Determine Your Dogs Body Condition Score

Whichever method you pick, youll have to use a scale orbody condition scoring systemto fine-tune the amount of food you offer.

Your veterinarian can help you decipher your dogs body condition score (BCS) and determine an appropriate calorie amount.

In general, dogs who are at a healthy weight:

Have an hourglass figure when you look down on them from above. The abdomen should be narrower than the chest and hips.
Are tucked up when you look at them from the side. This means that their chest is closer to the ground than their belly when standing.
Have ribs that are not readily visible but are easily felt with only light pressure.

Keep a Record of Your Dogs Weight Change

Check your dogs weight every 2-4 weeks and keep a diary of your results. If your dog is inappropriately gaining or losing weight, adjust your portion sizes appropriately. Make sure to discuss these changes with your veterinarian so they can ensure that there are no underlying conditions.

Reassess the Portion Size if You Switch Foods

Every time you change dog food formulas, you will have to go through this entire process again, because the number of calories in the food will be different.

Always Talk With Your Veterinarian

Talk to your veterinarian if you have any questions about your dogs health or diet. They can help you determine exactly how much food to offer based on the specifics of your dogs case.

Featured Image: iStock.com/Chalabala

Do Dogs Get Tired of Eating the Same Food Every Day?

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My black Curly-Coated Retriever, Wave, loved his food until one day, he didnt. He was healthy and active, and nothing had changed in his life. He just seemed to be bored with the food he previously devoured.

In contrast, my current dog, a brown Lagotto Romagnolo, does a Snoopy dance of joy every time I feed her. Mealtimes are the best times of the day. Im convinced that no matter what I put in her food dish, she would eat it as quickly as she could.

Research on dogs and their appetites shows that my own dogs are not unusual when it comes to their food choices. Dogs like routine, which includes consistency in their food. They have fewer tastebuds than we do by a longshot 1,700 for the average dog compared to 9,000 for humans, so they may not be as discriminating as we are in what they choose to eat. Most dogs are as content to eat from a trashcan as they are a gourmet meal.

If Your Dog Refuses Food

However, for some dogs, there comes a day when you give them a dish of their previously adored food and they lift their noses, lay on you a sorrowful look, and walk away. If and when this happens, what should you do?

First, check the food to see if it may have expired or spoiled. Expired food can lose its flavor, as well as its nutritional value.
Second, check your dog for any underlying health or behavioral issues that could affect his appetite. Stress, separation anxiety, dental disease, diabetes, nausea, and pain can cause loss of appetite. You might also see an appetite reduction in senior dogs.
Third, consider whether your dogs boredom is with the food or with life in general. Mental and physical exercise, including dog sports, therapy work, or search and rescue, may invigorate your dog and stimulate his appetite. Food puzzles and feeding toys may also liven up mealtime enough to make it more exciting.
Finally, if it appears that your dog may simply be tired of the same old food, even though youve been providing a nutritional, well-balanced, high-quality diet, you might want to give a fresh dog food diet a try. After all, variety is the spice of life, and fresh food can introduce some enticing new smells, tastes, and textures to your dogs diet. Fresh dog food delivery services, such asOllie, work with canine nutritionists to develop yummy, personalized meals for dogs.

Spice Up Your Dogs Diet

As the Merck Veterinary Manual reports, dogs require specific dietary nutrient concentrations based on their life stage. Energy requirements are quite variable. Animals with the same body weight can have a 3-fold variation in daily kcal requirements affected by age, neutering status, physical activity, environment, and underlying abnormalities.

Before you make any major changes in your dogs diet, its important to consult with your veterinarian or a veterinary nutritionist, advises Dr. Jerry Klein, AKC chief veterinary officer. Make any changes very gradually. Sudden changes in diet are likely to result in gastrointestinal upset.

After getting professional advice, you might want to start with a simple change. Some dogs become bored with the smell, flavor, and texture of their food. Change out one ingredient, such as swapping any chicken-based food for fish or lamb. You can also add fresh ingredients to the dogs kibble. Both steps may awaken those sensitive noses and make an old dish more exciting.

Whenever you make changes, whether small or large, the most important responsibility involved with feeding your dog is to be sure youre feeding a complete, nutritious, balanced food with the right amount of protein, fats, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Try Going Fresh

There are fresh dog food companies today that use human-grade ingredients and avoid fillers, artificial flavors, and preservatives. The best ones work with veterinary nutritionists, and they will customize a diet that meets the needs of your dog. You can subscribe and have the food delivered to you conveniently in the correct portion size to be refrigerated or frozen.

Ollieoffers fresh, human-grade food, made with natural ingredients like chicken, beef, carrots, lamb, and blueberries. The recipes were developed with a board-certified veterinary nutritionist to create balanced and complete, human-grade recipes that abide by the AAFCO standards.

Your dog will have new flavors and aromas to try, and since there are few or no preservatives, the food may be tastier and more appealing. There are a variety of ingredient options you can try on your dog to see what he likes best for example, chicken, beef, or lamb, which can contain butternut squash, chickpeas, cranberries, kale, carrots, blueberries, and sweet potato.

Different ingredients offer different benefits healthy weight, shiny coats, increased energy, clean breath, good digestion, and regular stools. But if the food isnt palatable to your dog, the benefits wont matter. It makes sense to go with a fresh food provider that allows you to try different options with your dog and see how he reacts.

Fresh food companies like Ollie also save you the time required to cook your dogs food at home. It may seem simple to do the cooking yourself, but unless you cook using recipes developed by a veterinary nutritionist, you may be shortchanging your dog when it comes to balance and nutrition. The right fresh food provider will combine convenience with quality, nutrition, and safety.

As dog owners and dog lovers, we know that life is infinitely more delicious because we live with our dogs. Lets make sure their food remains infinitely delicious, too.