How Often Should Adult Dogs Be Fed?

The number of times you feed your dog each day is influenced by many factors, including your schedule and the dog's size, age, eating style, health and food preferences. Typically, you can feed an average dog one to two times per day. Depending on your dog's body type, you need to regulate the amount of food you feed the dog to prevent it from becoming obese or underweight.

  1. Types

    • Dog food comes in both canned and dry varieties. Feeding your dog dry kibble allows you to leave out the food for your dog to eat during the day without worrying about the food spoiling. In this manner, you can free-feed your dog so it can eat at its own discretion. If you feed your dog a canned diet, you will need to feed it its portion of food for the day in one to two meals. Because this type of food can spoil, leave out the food for no more than 20 minutes at a time before placing any leftovers in the refrigerator.

    Amounts

    • Read the label for the type of food you plan to feed your dog. Each label lists the recommended amount of food based on the dog's breed and weight. Follow the recommendations and feed that amount once each day, or divide the amount in two to feed half of this amount twice each day. If feeding your dog twice each day, wait eight to 12 hours between feedings, recommends the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. For free-choice feeding, you can fill the dish with the recommended amount of dry food once per day; fill it twice during the day to prevent your dog from eating all the food at once.

    Healthy Weight

    • Have your dog weighed by your veterinarian to determine if it is overweight or underweight. Typically, an overweight dog has a round shape and you cannot feel its ribs; an underweight one has visible ribs that you can feel. Feed an underweight dog free-choice, with food available at all times, or feed it a larger portion of food divided into three to four smaller meals until the dog reaches its recommended weight. An obese dog requires one to two feedings each day of weight-control food. For multiple-dog households, feed each dog separately so one dog does not eat another dog's food.

    Warnings

    • Small and toy breed dogs require three feedings per day, or free-choice feedings, to help prevent hypoglycemia. Certain medical conditions, such as liver disease, may also require you to feed your dog smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day. Large dogs that gulp their food quickly can also benefit from three to four smaller meals given throughout the day to prevent a serious condition called canine bloat, also called gastric dilation. Administer more frequent feedings during the day with a timed feeder that automatically opens for your dog at preset times if you are not home to feed the dog during the day.