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Setting Good Eating Habits
from: The Complete DogA dog's eating habits are controlled by three things: its brain, its experiences, and its environment. The first experiment in behavioral psychology was done by a scientist named Pavlov who taught dogs to get ready to eat when they heard a certain sound. Since that initial experiment, scientists have observed over and over how important what is happening around, and to, a dog are when it comes to affecting the dog's eating habits.
In past times when dogs were wild, most of their daily activity was devoted to hunting for a meal. Now that the need for this activity has basically disappeared, mealtime is still one of the most important events in a dog's life. Therefore, many of a dog's behavioral responses are still linked to its eating routine.
Dogs have become creatures of habit, thriving on monotony and being the most comfortable when everything stays the same. There aren't many dogs who appreciate a sudden change in their sleeping quarters or the surprise of a new food in their bowl. Therefore, whatever can be done to prevent change in a dog's feeding program, the better for both the dog and its owner. Regularity in feeding promotes good appetite, good digestion and regular eliminations. This means that the first general consideration to be made when feeding any dog should be to establish a regular feeding schedule and to stay on schedule as much as possible.
Puppies have conventionally been fed small portions of their daily diet at frequent intervals during the day. The reasoning behind this is sound, but the frequency of feedings often is too high. Even newborn puppies do very well when fed only four times daily. Some breeders even reduce this to three times daily, but unless your schedule absolutely prohibits it, a minimum of four feedings should be the limit. The feedings don't need to be separated by exactly six hours, but it's desirable to space the feedings as evenly as possible throughout a 24-hour time period.
The frequency of feedings shouldn't be reduced to three a day until the puppies are weaned. Whether you're feeding newborn puppies four times daily, or older puppies three times, once the pattern of feedings has been set, it shouldn't be changed.
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