I've always free fed my dogs, and now that they're on a feeding schedule, I'm learning as I go. I'm hoping someone can give me advice to help me speed up the process of what will work best for my dogs.

I followed the recommended feeding guidelines on the bags. In the mornings, my dogs don't eat much, but in the evening, they look for more food. So do I measure out the amount of food they should have each day, offer it in the morning, and then offer the remaining in the evening? Or should I offer half of their daily ration in the morning, and then regardless of whether they eat it all or not, offer the other half in the evening without the remaining amount from the morning? Or do I just fill their bowl, let them eat what they want out of it and pick it up after ten minutes without any measuring? I know sometimes their hunger can change from day to day, and one day they might barely eat, and the next day they might eat a bit more, so that's why I'm wondering about this last option.

My dogs have never had a tendency to get overweight. But then we adopted an American Eskimo in October that was badly neglected. He was underweight, and since living with us on a free feeding schedule, he's gotten overweight, so I'm hoping the scheduled feeding will help bring that down a bit (and an increase in exercise now that my daughter has a new bike and can run him alongside it).

My last question involves the amount to feed, if it's recommended that I measure their food rather than let them eat however much they want twice per day. I was following the guidelines on the bag, but they're kind of vague, and my dogs seem to be looking for more food in the evenings. So I went to the dog food calculator on Dog Food Advisor and put in their ideal weights and the calories in the food. The calculator is saying to feed them more than the bag recommends. I'd like to think that calculator is a little more accurate since it takes into consideration their weight, activity level, and calories, but I'm not sure and wanted to get other opinions on it.

Jessie, I was shocked when I looked at the feeding guidelines on how much puppy food to feed. They are saying 6.5 cups a day for a 4-6 month old that will be 60 pounds, wow, that is a lot....ok this is what I would feed for the pup....I would split his feeding into 2 meals, I would feed 3 cups a day, you can feed 1 cup in the morning and 2 in the evening. Or 1.5 and 1.5, depending on his hunger levels. If he doesn't finish in the morning add to what was left over in the evening, so he gets 3 cups total for the day. At a year you can either switch him over to adult or continue with puppy up to 18 months old. At a year you can cut back to 2 cups depending on his size, weight, muscle tone.

With your older dog, same idea, I feed once a day to my older girl, but can feed twice, 2 cups max a day, either 1 cup in the am and 1 cup at night, if your dog doesn't finish am add to it for the pm, and have it no more than 2 cups per day. Or you can split half cup am and 1.5 cups in the pm. The adult core original actually has more realistic amounts to feed compared to the puppy, how much does your eski weigh? the 2 cups may be too much.....

Huskies tend to eat less than other dogs. They have good metabolisms and their bodies run very efficient. I do as renee suggested. I don't feed in the morning. Mine don't show signs of hunger in the morning. I feed a cup at noon and a cup before bed. If she doesn't eat the cup at noon then she gets offered the full two cups at night and whatever she doesn't eat, if any, then it gets picked up and she will only get offered a cup at noon the next day and we carry on this way.

Thanks for the feedback! I figured that's the way it should be done, but I wasn't sure. I prefer to feed my dogs once per day, but with the puppy, I was told they had to be offered food at least twice per day. It's easier on me to put all the dogs on the same schedule, and it also ensures there's less fighting. That's why the adults are offered two meals per day even though they're not really interested in food until the evening.

At what age can Suka be offered food once per day?

Jessie, I would wait until at least 8 months old, my girl at 6 months needs the 2 meals. It really depends on the dog too, if they act hungry all the time you may need to always feed 2 meals. Light on the am side and heavier on the pm side.

I'll be sure to stick with two meals for the time being then! Jack seems to like it that way too. It's not too much trouble to feed them in the morning. It's just an adjustment period for me until I get used to it as part of my morning routine.

I was looking into getting a 1- or 2-cup pet scoop because I hate using the kitchen measuring cups, but in my search to find a good one, I learned about kitchen scales. They're more accurate for measuring the proper amount of a food item, and some people even use it to weigh their dog food to make sure they're feeding the right amounts. I love the idea! I bought one from Amazon. I'll have some trial and error as I figure out the proper amount to feed them, but after that, it should be easy.

Mine eat twice a day, once in the morning and again in the late afternoon/evening. I usually mix some scrambled eggs in their morning meal, haha. In the evening meal I usually mix in some ground beef or chicken or something along those lines, they really like cheese too so they get some of that as well, I just grate a little in their food. They both are pretty good about eating everything too.

I'm finding that my dogs will eat a bunch when the bowl is put down, then they'll slowly lose interest, wander around a bit, and then nibble some more. I don't want to take away their bowls if they're still hungry, but I also don't want Suka getting into Romeo's food because it's the one that gave him such horrible diarrhea.

Suka got some sausage from my pizza tonight. He was pretty happy about that. Haha!

So funny, I'm eating pizza at this very moment and sharing just a bit with my two. It's hard for me to eat without sharing with them

No judgment from me! My dogs get little tidbits every now and then too!

Artic_Wind wrote:

So funny, I'm eating pizza at this very moment and sharing just a bit with my two. It's hard for me to eat without sharing with them

Jimmy, we may be bad husky parents here... Ami gets a scrambled egg with a bit of cheddar in the morning, i make an extra egg for him and Wayne feeds it to him.  Lunch?  I use the trimmings from whatever meat I'm serving and he gets those from Wayne too.  Dinner?  Again a bit of the  meat we're having.. And some of the vegetables (he loves green beans and frozen peas. And broccoli... if it has butter or parmesan cheese on it.

And dessert?  If it involves yogurt of whipped cream, I take a tsp or two and smear it all around the inside of a qt yogurt container...

Which is why, unless it is really cold or he's been playing with Archer all day, breakfast is only 3/4 cup of TOTW and dinner 3/4 and midnight snack is only 1/4c.  Otherwise, he would be a fatty

I do make sure that all his dad treats are good solid real food and not junk (except for the whipped cream.  And since I whip my own cream, he gets his unsweetened.)  I also figure, the real meat, eggs cheese and veggies may fill in some holes that kibble leaves.  See how well i can rationalize

whitehusky3 wrote:

I'll be sure to stick with two meals for the time being then! Jack seems to like it that way too. It's not too much trouble to feed them in the morning. It's just an adjustment period for me until I get used to it as part of my morning routine.

I was looking into getting a 1- or 2-cup pet scoop because I hate using the kitchen measuring cups, but in my search to find a good one, I learned about kitchen scales. They're more accurate for measuring the proper amount of a food item, and some people even use it to weigh their dog food to make sure they're feeding the right amounts. I love the idea! I bought one from Amazon. I'll have some trial and error as I figure out the proper amount to feed them, but after that, it should be easy.

I have an over abundance of measuring cups so I use one of them exclusively for dog food... it's kept in the can with the food.  I weighed 1 level cup of TOTW and it is 4 oz.

LOL Amy, you and I are a lot alike with the "rationalizing"

I could go on about my rationalizing but...probly not a good idea to take this thread in that direction, haha. I'll just say I know what definitely not to give my two, so they don't get those things

I feed Pure Balance and Alpha only gets 1 cup 3 times per day, hopefully I understood the amount right, he doesn't seem to be going hungry! You do it by weight. I always leave the remainder of the food if there is leftover and I offer it to him to finish prior to giving his next serving.