I would always recommend twice a day. Especially for the large deep chested breeds susceptable(did I spell that right?)to bloat.

I just think it's healthier and better for the dog's metabolism.

So bloat is more evident in deep chested dogs?

is it also genetic, obviously if deep chested dogs have it more and deep chested dogs have more offspring that are deep chested then it will follow lines, but is there even a higher propensity for dogs that bloat to have pups that do also?

What environmental factors come into play, obviously how much they eat at one time, how about water with food, what type of food?

I have always fed once a day, never had a problem with bloat and have been feeding raw for over 8 yrs. It is an assumption that feeding smaller meals a day is better or may prevent bloat.

Here is another perspective that I heard in a seminar from a vet in Denmark. He remembers being in vet school and having a visiting veternarian from the U.S. talk about bloat and a few other things. At this piont no one had ever heard of bloat there, however, kibble had not made its way there yet either. WHen it was mentioned that they did not have bloat, the visiting vet commented , you will....as soon as kibble comes on the market. Sure, enough...it was true.

Now, this vet has a practice where he often sees the 'worst' cases of everything. The first thing he requires no matter what is for the owner to change the dogs diet to a raw natural one. He also commented that he could tell you right away when he would go in to do surgeries which dogs were kibble fed and which were raw fed. The stomach linings of dogs on kibble were thin, and litter elasticity to them. Dogs fed raw had strong thick stomach linings. THis particular vet feels that a dog must have a strong stomach lining to prevent bloat and torsion. Feeding raw means that the digestive system is working like it was intended. ALl the enzymes are needed to break down food etc. When we feed kibble (pre-digested) many of these enzymes go to 'sleep' as they are no longer needed.

The second thing he suggests is that in order for your dog to have a strong stomach lining, it needs to be stretched. Needs to eat a full meal, stretched to capacity and then needs the time to digest it all and have it empty. This process actually strengthens the stomach muscle. When we feed mutiple meals to our dog they are fist not eating to capacity to stretch the muscle and second, the stomach rarely gets a chance to rest and go down to 'nothing'.

A different perspective. The only thing I would add is that I also feel that over vaccination plays a part in weakening the lining of the stomah.

Thanks for the replies. Very interesting post Shelley. I wonder if there are any links to this theory? Appreciate it if you can post any.

Now that my GSD has turned a year, I've been making the breakfasts smaller and increasing the dinners until no more breakfasts.

My working dog gets one meal a day. I was told the reasoning behind this is to control eliminations and not have the dog dumping all day. In the past I was a two meal a day person, believing it was better for energy and metabolism. However, my pup, when she got older would eliminate twice a day (same as the once a day dog) and was being fed two meals. Maybe raw makes a difference.

I do believe grain/kibble is the deciding factor in bloat. We have a wreck dive here that was caused by water getting into the grain cargo and literally split the (steel!)ship in half. If that doesn't make people think twice about switching to raw!

Any other opinions on daily feedings greatly appreciated!