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you could be feeding your dog wrong

despite different theories on feeding frequency, the benefits of homemade food and whether or not grain is good, the consensus seems to be that how and what you feed your dog should be determined by their age and health.

by robin roberts

sep 23 2022

6 minute read

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is less frequent feeding associated with better health outcomes?

researchers found that dogs fed once a day had better cognition. getty

dogs should be fed twice a day, eight to 12 hours apart, according to the american kennel club, the aspca and the animal hospital chain vca. but at least one vet says that’s not always the right course — that dogs should be fed multiple times a day. and yet another says a recent study showed they do better on one meal a day. all this conflicting information can make for a confusing dog’s breakfast. is there actually a right way to feed your furry friend?

once a day for brain function

dr. emily bray, a post-doctoral research associate at the arizona canine cognition centre at the university of arizona, and her team at the dog aging project collected data on thousands of dogs of different ages, sizes and breeds and measured the associations between feeding frequency and cognitive function. the researchers found that dogs fed once a day had better cognition and lesser chances of having gastrointestinal, dental, orthopedic, kidney/urinary and liver/pancreas disorders.

“there have been studies in laboratory rodents showing that intermittent fasting leads to better memory and spatial learning,” says bray. “our initial hypothesis was that going a longer time between meals would be similarly associated with preservation of cognitive function in older dogs.”

based on findings from prior studies on other species that showed restricting calories can slow or reverse some aspects of aging, she and her team hypothesized that less frequent feeding would also be associated with better health outcomes in general.

“i think it’s possible that intermittent fasting provides benefits on a cellular level by modulating the biology of aging,” she says. “however, our study alone can’t tell us anything about the mechanism. in contrast to experimental studies in laboratory animals, this was a non-experimental, purely observational study. in fact, since this research used cross-sectional data, the observed association between feeding frequency could be due to an effect of cognitive function on feeding frequency rather than an effect of feeding frequency on cognitive function.”

she says it’s possible dogs who have worse cognitive functioning scores are more forgetful and expect food more often, which leads to their owners feeding them more frequently. or that dogs who are fed once a day are less likely to overeat and be obese, which at least in humans is associated with higher risk for dementia.

“it’s important to keep in mind that observational studies like this are only hypothesis-generating,” she explains. “in the future, we hope to carry out additional studies that will allow us to test specific hypotheses and establish causality.”

bray says the results of her research are not meant to be treated as veterinary advice and dog owners should not change how they feed their dogs based on the study. “we think this is an intriguing first step to studying aspects of diet in dogs.”

the case for multiple meals

contrary to the popular perception that today’s domestic dogs’ ancestors, wolves, ate one meal a day — or over many days, based on their success or failure at hunting — dr. karen machin, associate professor, department of veterinary biomedical sciences at the western college of veterinary medicine at the university of saskatchewan, says that’s not really true. between kills, she says, wolves would supplement their diets by grazing on berries and vegetation, keeping at least some food in their bellies. a lack of food over long periods, therefore, particularly for domestic dogs, is not only unhealthy, it could be causing harm.

a completely empty gut can cause bile to build up and irritate the dog’s stomach lining and can also cause physical pain. “some people will notice, either late at night or early in the morning, their dog vomit up a yellow frothy substance, which is gastric fluid,” machin says.

she adds that she doesn’t know of any studies showing the long-term effects of having a chronically empty stomach physically, but mentally, frustration levels can be high.

“how much control do dogs have over their own lives?” she asks. “we decide when they eat, when they walk, where they walk and so on. when we’re hungry, we go to the fridge. the dog when hungry can’t do anything about it. and that can be part of behavioural issues.”

machin says the way to alleviate that is to provide meals more often. she herself pre-portions her dogs’ food into multiple containers and feeds them throughout the day as needed.

she also recommends having your dog work for its food by putting some in toys like kongs or hiding kibble in the house or yard so they have to use their senses to find it, which also helps occupy them when you’re not home. “if you just give them food, you’re losing an opportunity for your dog to use its brain,” she says.

it’s also a good idea if dogs spend more time with their food rather than gulping it.

“wolves gnaw on bones, pull apart the hide, and that prolongs their interaction with food,” says machin. “licking and chewing are calming behaviours, and it’s beneficial mentally, but also for their gi system.”

not enough evidence to support either approach

but ask dr. caitlin grant, an assistant professor, nestle purina professorship in companion animal nutrition at the ontario veterinary college, university of guelph, about the optimal way to feed your dog and she says there is not enough evidence to make a recommendation, since different dogs have different requirements.

puppies, she says, can’t hold a lot of food in their stomachs at one-time, and their higher energy levels require multiple feedings. different disease conditions may also necessitate specific feeding regimens. diabetic dogs, for example, must eat with their insulin doses. others with kidney disease may prefer smaller snacks throughout the day.

grant also says that it’s important to consider other pets in the household — if one is getting fed multiple times a day, it’s only fair to feed them all the same.

what the dog eats also matters

grant says while homemade diets can be beneficial, since owners know what’s going into the food, there are also risks associated with them.

“dogs have requirements for several essential nutrients such as amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals,” she says. “if the pet owner is feeding a homemade diet without a recipe that’s been formulated to meet those requirements, there’s a good chance the pet is going to be deficient in some of those key nutrients.”

for example, puppies fed an unbalanced homemade diet can develop rickets, grant explains. and if the food doesn’t have the right calcium to phosphorus ratio, their bones could be weaker and the pup could be at risk for skeletal deformities.

as for the belief that a grain-free diet is better, she says it’s a misconception. “grains can be nutritious depending on the grain source. dogs are technically not carnivores, they’re omnivores, so they can do well with carbohydrates and grains.”

in the end, all these experts say there’s no right or wrong way to feed your dog, that it’s wholly dependent on the dog’s age and health condition. according to grant, “as long as it’s a good food that has the nutrients the dog needs, if the dog’s eating it well, if their coat’s healthy, if their poops are regular, if they have good body weight and condition, with no other medical problems, then there’s no reason to make a change.”

robin roberts is a vancouver-based writer.

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robin roberts

you could be feeding your dog wrong