Hi, I have 6 month old German Shepherd, i feed him 3 times a day Innova Large Breed Puppy food. When should I switch to Adult Dog food?
Thank you,

I personally would switch to once a day feeding and adult food at 10 months old. You could probably go down to 2 meals a day right now but I know theres alot of varying opinions on the number of meals to feed dogs a day. I only feed twice a day from the get go, then go down to once at 10 months.

Why would you only feed once/day?

I feed our pup twice/day now (would prefer 3-4 times/day if schedule permitted) reduced down from 3 times/day at about 4 months of age approx.

I plan on feeding twice/day for the long term, morning & night. So I'm wondering if it is better for the dog to only feed once per day.

Thanks!

 Quote: louanne manter

Why would you only feed once/day?

I feed our pup twice/day now (would prefer 3-4 times/day if schedule permitted) reduced down from 3 times/day at about 4 months of age approx.

I plan on feeding twice/day for the long term, morning & night. So I'm wondering if it is better for the dog to only feed once per day.

Thanks!

Some prefer to feed deep- and narrow-chested breeds twice a day because of the fear of possibly creating bloat conditions.

Bloat is very difficult to predict, and the common factor in bloat cases are hard to pin down. For example, there used to be an idea that raised food dishes might be beneficial, and then it turned out that raised food dishes were a common factor among bloat cases.

Anyway, not everyone agrees that feeding twice a day is an important measure to take, but you'll find the recommendation in many books and sites.

http://www.cyberpet.com/dogs/articles/health/bloat.htm#Top1

Here's an overview:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/bloat.html

QUOTE:
Classically, this condition affects dog breeds which are said to be "deep chested," meaning the length of their chest from backbone to sternum is relatively long while the chest width from right to left is narrow. Examples of deep chested breeds would be the Great Dane, Greyhound, and the setter breeds. Still, any dog can bloat, even dachshunds and chihuahuas.

.... Dogs weighing more than 99 pounds have an approximate 20% risk of bloat ....

Classically also, the dog had eaten a large meal and exercised heavily shortly thereafter. Still, we usually do not know why a given dog bloats on an individual basis. No specific diet or dietary ingredient has been proven to be associated with bloat. Some factors found to increase and decrease the risk of bloat are listed below:

Factors Increasing the Risk of Bloating
o Feeding only one meal a day

o Having closely related family members with a history of bloat

o Eating rapidly

o Being thin or underweight

o Fearful or anxious temperment

o History of aggression towards people or other dogs

o Male dogs are more likely to bloat than females

o Older dogs (7 - 12 years) were the highest risk group

Factors Decreasing the Risk of Bloat
o Inclusion of canned dog food in the diet

o Inclusion of table scraps in the diet

o Happy or easy-going temperment

o Eating 2 or more meals per day
END QUOTE

As Connie said, some people believe that feeding twice a day reduces the chance of bloat... personally I choose to disagree with that. We feed raw because it mimics an animals natural diet, yet we feed the dogs twice a day when in nature they might not eat for days at a time? Doesn't make much sense to me. I don't know anyone that feeds an adult dog more than once a day, other than certain people on forums.

I don't feel like twice a day is bad, I just don't see it as neccesary, but as Connie said, theres lots of varying opinion on this. I think watching exercise around mealtimes is more important than how much you feed.

Heavy exercise right after eating is cited in every study I have read about bloat.

Connie - any info on raw feeding and bloat?

 Quote: anne vaini

... info on raw feeding and bloat?

I know what I *think.*

But so far I can't point to that one sentence in text from an authoritative source that says "bloat risk is reduced by feeding a fresh raw diet," and that raw food eliminates the necessity for portioning out smaller more frequent meals.....

"Bloat and torsion is extremely rare in dogs that consume a high protein, raw meat based diet, containing less than 25% carbohydrate" is verbiage that is used again and again on sites promoting (or selling frozen products for) raw diets. But I never see the kind of backup I want to see.

And even if they did, could they prove definitively that it was the fresh raw food? Or could it be the usual (and profound) decrease in grain-carbs that accompanies a switch to raw?

I think it's both. But I can't point to that exact statement yet resulting from solid research.

From Purdue's big study, 1994:
"Dogs fed a larger volume of food per meal were at a significantly (P<0.05) increased risk of GDV, regardless of the number of meals fed daily. For both large- and giant-breed dogs, the risk of GDV was highest for dogs fed a larger volume of food once daily." While this corroborates the suggestions to feed smaller, more frequent meals, I suspect (don't know, though) that this was a test conducted with kibble. So the results would really apply to kibble-fed dogs, rather than all dogs.

Among the statements that are made by raw-feeding sites about it:

QUOTE: The chances of bloat are much less than on kibble. It is quite rare for a dog to bloat when they are eating a raw diet, for a couple of reasons.

The first is that raw food doesn't swell like kibble which can sometimes cause problems. The second thing is that most dogs eat more slowly when they are eating raw food compared to the familiar "inhale" style eating that dogs use when they are eating kibble. Because they aren't inhaling their food, less air is sucked into the stomach. Another reason is that chewing allows the dog's body to prepare for digestion. The necessary juices and acids are released slightly prior to the "deposit" of food into the stomach. END from http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm#reduce

According to a report on studies of bloat done at Purdue, bloat cases have risen 1500% in the thirty year period between 1964 and 1994.

Their report dated January, 1997 states: "This increase is unlikely to reflect changing diagnostic criteria or disease recognition. The increasing frequency of GDV starting about 1969 affected most of the large and giant dog breeds. Therefore, it is also unlikely to be caused by genetic factors. However, this apparent epidemic of GDV could be explained by introduction of one or more novel environmental factors such as a new ingredient in dry dog foods or a change in the manufacturing processes. It might also be related to changes in canine vaccines or their pattern of use, e.g., multivalent vaccines."

There's a lot of material out there. I wish I could point to a source that had categorical proof that fresh raw food with little or no grain (whether fed one or twice a day) was the best prevention.

That's what I believe, though.

Thanks Connie.

I was thinknig about the how many meals per day. Very interesting that so many are feeding so often. If a person follows strict prey model, the dog probably doesn't eat everyday. I have one dog that does better with a hugely large meal every other day. Makes me extremely nervous because she is deep-chested.

But seriously, how do wolves survive without bloating? Dogs/wolves are opportunistic eaters. That means large (raw) meals followed by a good loooong nap and digestion.

Is it the raw food or the long quiet time while digesting that makes it OK for large meals? I guess we just don't know yet?

Not to hijack. And for the OP, The formula is not quite as important as the pup's condition. The adult formula is probably just lower in protein. You could use the puppy formula for the dog's entire life, just don't overfeed. I think some companies are calling this "all life stages" kibble.

My best friend growing up was a GSD bitch that bloated quite often. It started out one time she bloated HUGE and had her stomache pumped and all was good. Over the following year she started to bloat more and more often. If we caught it early enough tums or pepto would releive the gas. If not, it was a big vet bill to have her stomache pumped. This went on for some time, until I finally switched her to a raw diet because of constant allergies and a kidney problem. Well all seemed solved, and for the rest of her life she did not once bloat when fed a raw diet. BUT, when she was fed kibble, she often would bloat. I keep kibble around for the rats and the guy I was living with fed her a bowl of the kibble. Emergency vet trip. The following week he did the same thing (despite what I had said), and this time she torsioned. We couldn't save her.
I know this is only one case, but this bitch had a bloat problem which was no problem at all when fed raw foods. In the end, kibble killed her.