Senior dog always hungry, barking. Should I feed twice daily?

Congrats on your new dog, Paps is very handsome! He should be fed twice a day, and I would feed him according to the instructions on the food package. Divide the recommended daily allotment into two equal servings, and feed him morning and evening. Now if that's what you are doing and he seems very hungry, then divide the daily allotment into three portions and feed him morning, noon, and evening. Be sure to feed him a high quality dog food brand, as those will have the best ingredients to help keep him full and satisfied. Brands I recommend include Royal Canin, Hill's Science diet, Purina ProPlan, and Iams. I hope this helps, enjoy your handsome boy :-)

Thank you for your question. There are some dogs that are very picky eaters, including mine. You can approach this a couple of different ways. You can decide to stick to one food and take the approach that Kimi will eat it when he is hungry. If you choose to do this, you need to avoid adding anything to the food, or he will simply wait until you add something to eat it. At his age, I would be comfortable letting him go 48 hours without eating before giving in and adding something to encourage him to eat. The second approach would be to recognize that he gets bored with his food and rotate through foods. You can find a brand with multiple flavors. Or you can change between brands. If you change between brands, I recommend adding some of the new food to the old food for a few days. Lastly, there are some dogs that only eat once a day, and if that is all he is interested in, that is okay too. He will eat when he is hungry, and as long as his weight is stable, and there are no other symptoms (such as vomiting or diarrhea), I wouldn't be concerned. For the barking, I recommend ignoring her when she barks. If she receives attention for this behavior it will continue. Here is a link to an article on barking. https://www.petcoach.co/article/5-tips-to-stop-excessive-barking-in-dogs/ I hope this helps. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I recommend feeding twice daily for the rest of their lives. Soska is a German Shepherd and they are at risk for bloat (gastric-dilitation-volvulous). So feeding her once daily may be a bit more risky for her. I hope this helps!

While young small breed dogs can develop toy breed hypoglycemia, it would be rare for an adult dog to have this problem and require frequent meals. I think twice a day is probably just fine for both dogs as long as they don’t have any other medical problems.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would consider a Shih Tzu a senior around 8-10 years old. They can live to 14 years old if they have good health. How much to feed is based on Max's body condition, is he overweight, skinny or just right. A 10 pound dog in good body condition should eat about 210 kcals/day. How many kcals per cup should be on the dog food bag. I hope this helps!

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I would continue to feed her the small breed puppy food at the recommended amount on the bag. Puppy food is calorie-dense, so as to meet the energy needs of high-energy puppies. You can try breaking the amount into smaller, more frequent meals (ie three or four times a day) so she feels like she is getting to eat more. I would not over-feed her for fear of early onset obesity, which can lead to significant health issues later in life. You can also supplement her diet with healthy treats during the day such as carrots or green beans. After she is spayed, her energy requirements will decrease and she will need to be fed less food so she doesn't become overweight. I hope this is helpful!

What a great picture of Alfie! The calorie contents of different foods vary so it's hard to say without knowing what brand of food he's getting. However, in general, a 60lb pit bull will require more food than a 60lb dog of a different breed. They tend to be very heavily muscled which burns a lot of calories, and they also tend to be very energetic. He's also young so will require more food than a senior dog. One cup of dry food 3 times a day might just not be enough for him. I would recommend increasing his canned food to one can twice a day, or you can try adding 1/2 cup dry food at feedings. Watch him to make sure he's not gaining too much weight. Also, if he still seems hungry, you may want to have him checked over by his veterinarian. Intestinal parasites and certain metabolic diseases can cause them to be excessively hungry. And some dogs are just hungry all the time, not matter how much they just ate (kind of like people). The last thing you can try is adding water to his food to bulk it up and make him feel fuller. You can also feed him vegetables such as lettuce, carrots, celery, and cucumbers to give him high fiber/water, low calorie treats.