I have long advised friends and family members to keep their dogs’ mealtimes vague, in order to prevent “clock-watching” and demand behaviors from dogs who are anticipating their breakfast or dinner. Not for me, those dogs who wake me by barking for breakfast, no matter whether I’m sick or worked until 3 am the night before. Not for me, those dogs who start pacing, drooling, or staring at 4 pm every afternoon. By keeping mealtimes somewhat unpredictable, within a range of an hour or two, I haven’t ever had to deal with those anticipatory behaviors – even when Daylight Saving Time changes. I’m not one of the people who posts memes and pictures of my dogs freaking out about dinnertime twice a year!
Oh, sure, either of my dogs might do a little happy skip in the kitchen, as I walk toward the dog food area – which happens to be next to the microwave in which I heat my coffee. But if I tell them, “Not yet!” they resign themselves to waiting – alertly, but not underfoot. Or, dog forbid, whining under their breath.
Another Dog Is Throwing Things Off
Things have gotten a little testy over the past two weeks, however. I have been dog-sitting a 14-year-old deaf dog, little Leila, who belongs to a dear friend. Leila has strong opinions about mealtime – and spins and chases her tail for attention, and barks, barks, barks, when she is certain she’s going to starve without food. I have a hard time with barking – but what am I going to do? She’s old, and deaf! Easiest just to feed her when she starts up! Naturally, my giving into her demands has resulted in some incredulous “WHAT DID SHE JUST DO?” behavior from my two dogs. “SHE got fed and we did not? Perhaps WE should skip about and make noises!”
Taking my own advice when it comes to my own dogs, I’m ignoring the noises and skipping about. Otto gets it, and retires to the floor with a groan and a politely wagging tail. Woody is more persistent, and keeps trying a charm offensive, coming to me every time I sit down at the kitchen table with my laptop or at my desk in my office, and placing his heavy head in my lap, looking up at me with imploring eyes and that seductive slowly wagging tail. “Pleeeeaaassse? We are so VERY hungry.”
Prepping For Otto’s Surgery
Worse: Over the past two days, it has been necessary to skip Otto’s breakfast. Yesterday he had a chest x-ray, in preparation for today’s general anesthesia: He is having yet another tooth removed – he has somehow suffered another slab fracture of a molar (this is his third), so the tooth has to be removed. Also, the vet is going to scope his throat; he’s been having a lot of regurgitation, and we have been treating him for acid reflux and a possible esophageal ulcer. And when Otto has to go without breakfast, I don’t feed Woody, either; doing so would be just mean.
“Some experts recommend making dogs fast one day a week all the time,” I tell my dogs. “You are going to live. Mealtime is just delayed.” So the moping and charming persists for hours.
Do you have set mealtimes, or do you wing it with your dogs?
With dogs with medical issues, it becomes a challenge to not feed on time. Bile vomit can arise from many medical issues not just GI related. Caution is definitely required for senior dogs and medically challenged dogs.
My dogs get fed 3 times a day, in the past I had 2 dogs that needed this, I found it so convenient that I still do it even though they went to the Rainbow Bridge 10 years ago. I usually feed within a 30 minute timetable and the rarely pester me. If I won’t be home for their feed time I either feed them early or they wait until I come home depending on what time I am leaving the house. I have 4 dogs now, if one has to have no breakfast or any reason my other dogs still get their breakfast, I put the dog going to the vets in another room with the door shut. The think getting fed an hour early when the clocks go forward is wonderful, they don’t react when the clocks go back an hours. Dogs love routine but when something happens that the routine has to change, they cope very well and I don’t have any problems with them.
8:15 AM for breakfast, 5 PM for dinner. At home or on the road… in our kitchen or a hotel room… 8:15 AM for breakfast, 5 PM for dinner. Only Sunday is different when they’re in church at 5 PM. Home by 6:30 and dinner at 7 PM on Sundays.
Everything is a routine in our family. My wife says I’m CDO (alphabetical version of OCD). I learned it from the WW2 vets that raised me. “Do everything the same way every time. That way, when you get shot, the next guy can step in and pick up right where you left off. The mission gets completed no matter how many guys it takes to get it done.”
And the dogs seem to appreciate the regular routine. We’ve had some hilarious moments together when they’re trying to remind me that’s dinner time :).
I am a physician so I know human physiology better than dogs. I have read often than it is better for human health to eat at regular times everyday. It creates a reliable cycle daily (an “internal clock”) for your stomach, gallbladder, and pancreas to start making digestive enzymes and hormones, when mealtime approaches. It is much better for the body, than eating at all different times.
I would guess it is the same in dogs, but I’d like to have a vet weigh in on this. So . . . If I were hungry and was creating stomach acid and pancreatic enzymes to eat, I’d hate to have someone say “No, wait. You will eat later.”
I love my dogs and look at their mealtimes as a great joy for them (as a previous commenter said.) At 5:00pm my dogs start dancing and coming up to me wagging their tails, and I feed them! I love their happiness about things, and it makes me happy too! My dogs bring me so much joy that I cannot stand to feel that “YES, I SEE that you are telling me that you want to eat, but I WON’T let you.”
Then why have a dog, just to exert YOUR power over them? Get a fish
My dogs feeding schedule is the same time each morning & evening without fail.
When I was on a relaxed time frame, my female dog would vomit yellow bile.
This is a healthy dog otherwise…
I asked my vet when I took her in for a check up for this reason, we had the conversation on feeding.
My vet asked if I had a feeding schedule…yes, but it maybe that I am late about an hour in the morning and also in the evening sometimes.
He told me to not do that because bile irritates the stomach and when they have to wait too long in between feedings bile will result and she will vomit.
Ever since I took his advice, all is good.
So, in the best interest of my dogs health, without fail feeding time is spot on everyday.
As far as one not being feed due to surgery…I also have two dogs and when one had to be spayed and the other neutered, I took them in very early morning before their normal feeding time …..so, when I got home, the other dog would be fed at its normal time…pretty simple!
Our English Lab/Mastiff gets fed at a fairly regular time. Being an extremely chill dog, he lays down and waits for his dad to finish “decompressing” from his day in the evening. Mornings, he gets fed after the coffee’s made and before my husband makes his lunch.
He is (to put it mildly) an enthusiastic eater, so we had a potter friend make a bowl with raised ridges to slow him down (you can buy them too). They do work very well.
Our lab mutts toss the ridge bowls in the air, we are using muffin tins which helps slow them down.
With all of my pets throughout my life I have never had an exact meal time. Generally within a few hours time but not written in stone. Currently we have 2 male German Shepherd mix pups. I take them out to *potty* after I have finished my morning routine then feed them breakfast. Back out approx 45 mins later, 4 hours later lunch and out, again for dinner, then out 1or 2 times before bed. They are doing great with this routine that is not an exact time schedule. I say, to each their own. If you want to have a set time, great! If not, all good! 🙂
Mealtimes are flexible but within an hour or so…I’m fortunate, my 3 year old Shih Tzu is not that demanding about food. We “ditched the bowl” and feed in all different ways; you have to be more imaginative with raw but can make it work!
I do hope Otto is ok – have you tried mashed green (unripe) banana to help with the acid reflux? That helped my Shih Tzu (and me!). She is only just over 7kg so had a tsp a day for 3 weeks, then twice a week (approximately, I don’t always remember!). Previously she couldn’t go more than 4 hours without bringing up foam and bile but this has sorted her and she happily goes 10 hours through the night now without food. I mash or blend the bananas (sometimes grocery store staff will produce really green ones from out the back if you ask!) and then freeze in ice cube trays. Hope this helps someone, it was a human nutritionist whom told me – I like things to have bern tested on people first!
We have always had approximate meal times, with dinner somewhere in a two hour range and occasionally a bit longer wait. Really cuts down on the stress when I am delayed, the aggravation with Daylight Savings and is especially good when we travel – lots of dog sports means we are often on the road when some dogs may be eating. Works for me, except I do feed the others even if someone has to miss a meal. I put the dog who can’t be fed in the car, come back and feed the others, then take the dog who was in the car for a short walk.
Sending Best Wishes to Otto for positive results.
I do the same thing about putting one dog in the car. The only time I can’t feed one of my two dogs is if one is going to the vet’s for something, so the dog left behind gets fed but the other dog doesn’t have to see him eat. Works well for both dogs, but then again my dogs are in and out of the car going places at least once a day, if not more, so they are used to their car crates.
I have been following the Absolute Dogs folks recommendations about Ditch the Bowl (as well as Ditch the Routine). So dogs get food at irregular times, and not as a meal, but here and there as training treats or enrichment (Kongs, likimats, puzzle toys) or scatter feeding, as when noises pop up outside, and so forth. So not two big meals, but food here and there as is useful. One thing I do for Ditch the Routine is to not walk twice in a row in the same location; I pop a dog in the car and drive to a different neighborhood, park, etc. All this has increased the desire for food for the dog that has always been a bit iffy and choosey about his food. For the other, this was never a problem! This non-routine routine seems to be working well. Hardest part is keeping track of whether they are getting too much food.
Interesting. Although I walk in different directions, I walk my dog in the same neighborhood, covering about four blocks. Last night I had to walk back from a friend’s house, same neighborhood, but farther away. He pulled and acted like an idiot till we reached four blocks out and suddenly, perfect loose leash walking. Hmm. Lesson learned…thanks!
I use a similar feeding strategy. I measure out the daily kibble ration (based on what I will supplement with Kongs, training treats, canned food, etc) and put it in a few containers around the house. The goal is to empty the containers each day. Sometimes I just dump one of them on the floor or even in a bowl near the end of the day, if needed. If I give an unexpected Kong or excessive hi-value training food, I omit the kibble.
My dogs aren’t super active, so I need to be mindful of their kcal intake. This works for us.
My 14 yo will certainly die if she doesn’t get fed, pretty much on time. You can see her drop 10 pounds in a matter of seconds and in minutes, she will be transparent. She is fine if we are not home on time LOL. We have had her 4 years, she was pretty thin when we got her and still keeps her girlish figure. On the other hand, the11 yo only has to walk by food and she gains a pound.
Hmm, seems your 11-year-old and I have that in common!