Almost 6 Months - 4 times a day feed.

[Benson]

Hi Guys,

My French Mastiff x Pitt has been fed 4 times a day since a pup, based on sources I thought this would be the way to go, and aimed to reduce at 6months. I dont know where I got this 'reduce after 6 months' info from but going back to articles etc, it says to reduce after 8 weeks!!

Is this really bad? I want to reduce this to twice a day eventually but whats the best way to do this?

In two weeks he will move onto James Wellbeloved Junior food. Should i reduce his intake straight away to 3 times a days then possibly after 1 month into his Junior diet cut it too twice a day? Do we need to be delicate with these things, just like changing food brand?

For info - We feed him James Wellbeloved Kibble 4 x 100 grams. The guideline on the pack states 435g a day for a pup his age and his predicted adult size which I think will be large (based on his mix), what do you guys think?

Thanks for reading, would appreciate any advice given.

Benson

 

[dpenning]

I never fed 4x /day but did go from 3 x to 2 x per day. I just made the am and pm meals bigger and the mid day meal smaller over a period of time then dropped the mid day meal altogether after about a month.

 

[Jadotha]

I never fed four times per day either, but it shouldn't be much more complicated. Start with dpenning's strategy of reducing one whilst increasing the others. Our six month pup is still on three meals, and generally we have waited until our pups gradually lose interest in lunch -- which has generally been between nine to 12 months. There is nothing wrong with feeding multiple smaller meals, but it does take up unnecessary time and effort.

 

[Benson]

Thanks guys, i'm going to gradually alter the amounts to slowly get rid of the 4pm feed.

Another thing that's come up during my research is that some people say to NEVER feed mastiff pups puppy food?

All the advice ive been given is the James Wellbeloved is the no.1 http://www.wellbeloved.com/products/dog-food/puppy/lamb-rice-puppy i dont think its popular in the US. What are your thoughts on the ingredients and ratio of protein etc?

 

[voidecho]

I can't find the Calcium levels listed for James Wellbeloved. That's one of the reasons adult food is sometimes recommended for giant breed puppies. Many puppy foods have too much calcium.

 

[Robtouw]

My guy has breakfast at 7, lunch at 12 and dinner at 6. Around 1:30am I take him out to pee and he has a cup of kibble then back to bed. It was not planned, he demanded a snack as a young pup and I could hear his stomach growling so I endulged. I've been someone who doesn't sleep through the night always so the 1:30 walk is really for me. Sometimes I have to wake him. Cruiser is a very well scheduled pup he is up at 6:30 on the dot and down at 9pm whether you are or not. He even poops on schedule! I thought of moving to two equal feedings, but since he will still get the same amount and it is not inconvient for us, I don't think we will make the change. His weight is good and he is happy and I think my hubby likes having lunch with him during the day!