Three meals vs. two ?

[Gracie's Mom]

I was wondering when you switched your Cairn puppies from three meals down to two each day? When we brought Grace home, our vet said not to restrict to two meals because a puppy's blood sugar can drop dangerously sometimes. Now Grace is five months and Spike is four and a half and we are feedinlg morning, noon and evening. Not a lot, the portions are divided for the daily amounts they should have, but in August I go back to my first graders and I will not have the option for the noon feeding. Any advice from you "Cairn Experts" out there? You guys have really given me a ton of info. since we got our babies. Thanks! Linda

[kayharley]

I actually let them decide that. When Elliott showed no interest in his noon meal and would rather play with the kibble instead of wolfing it down, I just slowly stopped giving it. I'd offer him/them a nutritous biscut around mid day instead.

If you find your pups are starving at dinnertime then that should be a clue that they're not ready for a long stretch between meals. Just my opinion....

[Eliz222]

Scout was a grazer, so I just kept her food out all the time. Along came Finch (otherwise known as Piglet)and we had to change things around. Finch NEVER wanted to eat 3 times a day, so I didn't have to switch this. We went from twice a day to once a day at about 7 months. I will still sometimes feed them twice (1/2 the amount), depending on how hungry they are. If they start following me around the house begging for food at 2pm, I'll feed them 1/2 their food, or a few carrots, and then the rest at about 6pm.

[Cairns2]

I agree with kayharley, they let you know when they are ready to drop a meal.

Usually the third meal is dropped by the breeder as they understand people work and this is difficult for the poop factor. I have found that somewhere bet. 7-9 mths my cairns have let up on one of their meals and I knew it was time to go to one meal. I still give a biscuit in the morning so she is not going all day without food. You can stay on two meals if you are comfortable with that.