Feeding a dog is not an easy task. You must be very carefull what you give him to eat and in what doses. If you are wondering - does size affect how you should feed your dog, the answer is simple - only when you feed puppies, because they need to eat four times a day. The general recommendation for adults of all breeds is that they need to be fed twice a day.
Now lets talk about free feeding. Leaving food out for a dog to eat whenever he wants is called free feeding and most experts recommend against it for several reasons. If you have a puppy you should feed him on a meal schedule - giving dog food at the same times every day and leaving it down for only about 20 minutes. Then you should pick up the bowl whether your dog has eaten or not. That way you will learn your puppy when it's time to eat.
One of problems with free feeding is that it can lead to health problems related to obesity as some dogs can't controll themself and could eat more than they should. Some dogs know when to stop eating, other won't stop eating, and many owners don't measure and even refill the bowl throughout the day and they have no idea how much food their dog is eating.
This leads us to another important issue - why you should measure the food you give to your dog.
By measuring food it is easier to know how much your dog is eating, which helps control your dog's weight. And how much should your dog eat? It all depends on his size and level activity. You can always ask your vet how many calories your dog can eat daily.
And what about the situation in which your dog don't want to eat and is skipping meals? Some people get concerned if their dog misses a meal, but if there are no symptoms of illness - such as vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, there's no particular reason to be concerned about an occasional missed meal, bacause dogs can go a long time without eating.
No comments:
Post a Comment