How many feeds per day for 18 month old Black lab and does this impact number of poos per day?

[chocolateteabag]

Hi any advice greatly appreciated!

Our 18month old Black Lab is currently getting two feeds per day (dry food, a level mugful each time - DH has weighed it and compared to the instructions for her size/weight) She is fed first thing after her first poo and then again at around 5.30pm. She gets a chew bar at lunch time most days and occasional biscuits when we are training her. We watch to make sure she doesn't find other "treats" (sheep poo in field, 14month DS feeding her his leftovers etc)
So far so good
However she is sometimes pooing 4 times a day - and has had one episode last week where she scaled a stairgate up 3 steps to get out of where she sleeps to do a poo in another room in the middle of the night.

FIL has said we should be feeding her once a day by now and this would reduce the amount of poo as well as "calm her down a bit" She really isn't a jumpy dog but does fuss alot in the evenings to go outside (when she will wander about, have a pee and then come back in, wait 20 mins then want to do it again)

So - what is best?
A Carry on with two equally sized feeds?
B Drop down to once a day
C Make one a "snack" and the other the "main meal" (in which case - which way round to go?)

[daisydotandgertie]

I think all labs should be fed twice a day once they get to adulthood - it's usually the type of food which causes lots of poo than the regularity of meals.

What is she fed on?i

[hellhasnofury]

My 11 year old Labrador has always been fed twice a day, half his daily allowance in the morning, the other half in the evening. We were advised it was better for him to have two smaller meals a day than one large one.

[chocolateteabag]

Poppy is on dry biscuit food - Burgess Superdog Adult (just been to read bag)

[UptownAbbie]

My lab's on raw food now but when on kibble he used to have a third in morning and the rest in the evening as suggested on the feed pack. He pood a lot, it was soft and not easy to pick up and sometimes he went in the middle of the night on the floor. We tried cutting down the amount, trying feed for sensitive stomachs (without wheat etc) but didn't make any difference. Eventually went onto raw food, which I'd put off because I thought it would be a hassle, it took a bit of organising but was well worth it. Now he goes once a day, tidy little dry poos

[Slubberdegullion]

2 meals 2 poos a day here (nearly two yo lab).

I too would be looking at the quality as well as the quantity of the food. I'd ditch the lunchtime chew bar too and make sure all treats are counted within the daily food intake.

What's her weight like and is she nice and slim?

[smithster]

my sister's lab gets fed once a day, still poos quite a bit though but a nice healthy weight, slim but not skinny.

[chocolateteabag]

She is a slim lab and quite a small one. My DH hates it when he sees overweight dogs and is pretty careful with the amount of food (incl treats) we give her.

Thankyou for the advice - we like the idea of two feeds a day - feels kinder in a way. So will look at changing what it is we feed her.
I had not heard about Raw food for dogs so will have a read up about what it is/involves.

Thanks again

[AnEcumenicalMatter]

Most dogs should be fed two meals per day from 6-7 months of age onwards.

Quality of food generally impacts on frequency of poo. The poorer quality foods are composed mainly of indigestible fillers which make the dog feel full but are of little nutritional value and cannot be processed by the dog's digestive system. They therefore pass through the system in pretty much the same volume that they went in. Bigger volume of waste to get rid of = bigger, more frequent poos.

Higher quality foods contain less indigestible fillet material and therefore the digestive system can absorb much more of the volume, resulting in fewer, smaller poos.

I'd expect most dogs fed twice a day on reasonable quality food to pio twice a day.

[AnEcumenicalMatter]

Most dogs should be fed two meals per day from 6-7 months of age onwards.

Quality of food generally impacts on frequency of poo. The poorer quality foods are composed mainly of indigestible fillers which make the dog feel full but are of little nutritional value and cannot be processed by the dog's digestive system. They therefore pass through the system in pretty much the same volume that they went in. Bigger volume of waste to get rid of = bigger, more frequent poos.

Higher quality foods contain less indigestible fillet material and therefore the digestive system can absorb much more of the volume, resulting in fewer, smaller poos.

I'd expect most dogs fed twice a day on reasonable quality food to pio twice a day.

[AnEcumenicalMatter]

Apologies for double post. No idea what happened there.

[chocolateteabag]

Thankyou - any suggestions for better quality food for a black lab?
I'm assuming Burgess Superdog isn't one of them!

[chocolateteabag]

Sorry - not sure if recommending brands is ok on MN? don't worry if it isn't

[AnEcumenicalMatter]

Sorry, no idea about commercial complete foods as I raw feed. Hopefully someone else can recommend something.

I wasn't making a particular comment on Burgess...just offering a possible explanation.

[daisydotandgertie]

The frequency of poo points towards the dog not being able to digest the food thoroughly and so having a high output ie lots of poo.

Is the poo also large and crumbly?

Fish4dogs is a good quality dried food, as is Burns and a number of others. Pets at home do a brand called Wainwrights which is quite well thought of too. Just in case you don't fancy the barf diet!

Feeding her just one meal a day will likely make your even more trouble in the evening because she'll have nothing at all to do. Try putting half of her evening meal in a tug a jug or similar so that she has to work to get her supper. It'll keep her brain working and make her less fidgety.

Or do a couple of quick 5 minute training sessions to give her something to think about in the evening.

[chocolateteabag]

Not crumbly - if she's on 2 a day - they are usually nice and firm ones, but 4 a day are squirty/soft and yukky.

Again - thankyou for all your advice - we will get on with investigating other types/brands. Not heard of tug a jug either - so also on my list
xx

[daisydotandgertie]

Ok - try her on something with either rice or potato in (if you go dried) and she should improve.

[Avantia]

18 month lab - two feeds a day - slightly below the amount recommended on instructions . She has a dental chew midday and a bonio biscuit when we stop for coffee half way through our walk and a couple of small gravey bones at bedtime.

Poo's about 2 times daily .

[minimuu]

I would say you are over feeding. Still give two meals a day but give slightly less. Cut out lunchtime chew. Treats should come out of the daily meal allowance.

If the first poos are fine and then degenerate I would look at cutting down on the quantity first and see if this helps - if not try another type of food.

[PurpleFrog]

Sorry ... our lab is yellow so I don't think I feel qualified to advise you what to do with a black one!

[MrsJohnDeere]

I'd drop the lunchtime snack and change to a different food. Burns, or another good dry food, should mean much less poo. My springer (2 meals of Burns per day plus assorted crap that he finds out on walks) does one poo a day (very occasionally two).

[fishie]

Are the poos big and loose? Is she farty? My 18m dog had this, plus runny eyes. I think he's intolerant of something, maybe gluten? Dry foods were an utter disaster.

Anyway we moved him to raw food and all fine now. We use Natural Instinct, fed frozen to make it more fun, plus a beef bone when I can get them or frozen chicken wings. He's big though, 37kg cross, and he really enjoys the frozen-ness, has always eaten ice from ponds as a treat. Yours might prefer thawed. He usually has three meals a day, but often has three walks so that works fine.