HOW MUCH AND HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU FEED YOUR FRENCH BULLDOG?

Your French Bulldog's feeding is one of the most important aspects you pay attention in your routine activity of caring for your Friend. But determine, just how much food is best for your Dog and how often he/she should eat may require more experience than dishing a couple of meals a day. In this article, we aim to inform Frenchie lovers how to schedule their dog feeding, what determines the right amount of food to feed your Frenchie (the measure on the food is not always a rule of thumb for all Frenchies), and the methods you can adopt in feeding your Frenchie. Our pieces of advice are based on expert knowledge and our personal dealing with french bulldogs for many years.

First off, if you have just adopted or bought your French Bulldog (which what most owners do, except you are a breeder), you may notice that your new friend is reluctant to feeding, or seldom eat. This is normal, and it is usually as a result of the change of environment. Don't make the mistake of using this early disposition of your Frenchie to adjudge his feeding habit. They always adjust as they get familiar with their new home. Now, what you do is to help them through the process by practicing what we call "Scheduled Feeding".

Scheduled Feeding:
Leave the bowl on the floor for ten minutes and then pick it up, regardless of whether he has eaten. (If your dog is a slow eater, this period can be extended to twenty minutes, but only if he is still eating during that time and hasn’t gone off in search of other entertainment.)

At the next scheduled feeding time, put the bowl back down, again for only ten minutes. Pretty soon your dog will learn that he needs to eat when the food is offered.

How Often Should You Feed Your French Bulldog a Day?
The number of times a Dog should eat depends on a number of factors:

• The age of your French Bulldog
• Weight of your French Bulldog
• The quantity of meal you are serving
• Whether your French Bulldog is a nursing mother, or
• Pregnant

Generally, Pregnant, Nursing Frenchies, or puppies may eat up to 3 times per day within 8 hours interval or so, but you should restrict your Healthy adult Frenchie's feeding to 2 times per day within 12 hours interval or so, or once a day if he has a likelihood of suffering obesity.

How Much Should You Feed Your French Bulldog?
Knowing the right amount of food to feed your Frenchie is one of the best ways to keep your dog healthy. If you feed your dog too little, you run the risk of nutritional deficiencies, and if you feed him too much, it may result in obesity, which is another problem on its own. Obesity can cause musculoskeletal health challenges such as osteoarthritis, cruciate ligament ruptures, and intervertebral disk disease, Congestive heart failure, Cushing's disease, skin disorders, some types of cancer.

Just like determining how often to feed your Frenchie, determining how much to feed your French Bulldog is also dependent on a number of factors such as:

• The type of food your dog is being fed
• How many times a day he/she is fed
• The size of your French Bulldog
• The metabolic rate of your French Bulldog
• The amount of exercise they get, and lots more.

If you are feeding your dog processed food, the quantity for the different size of dogs is usually indicated on the label. What you have to note that the measurement or quantity indicated are usually what you should feed your dog within a space of 24 hours or a day. Hence, depending on how many times you feed your Frenchie a day, divide up the frequency of their feeding by the daily quantities of food indicated. Also, combine this information with your knowledge of your dog's lifestyle (using the determinant factors outlined above) to come up with the initial amount of food you are going to offer your dog.

How Should You Feed Your French Bulldog?
There are three main methods you can adopt in feeding your French Bulldog, thus:

1. Free-Choice method
2. Portion Control method
3. Timed Method

• The Free-Choice Method: If your Frenchie is a healthy weight and has no records of domestic accidents, the free-choice method may be good for you. This method requires that you leave food out for your dog to eat anytime he feels like it. This is usually advisable if your Frenchie is hyperactive and does some work, unlike the couch-potato friends.

Note, however, that leaving food out all day has its own downsides. For instance, it could attract insects and the likes, especially if your dog eats outdoors. This method is also not advisable for Frenchies that are diabetic, and also not the best idea if you have multiple dogs.

• Portion Control method: If you tried the Free-Choice method and you notice that your dog just can't get enough of it, use the portion control method. This method requires that you seek your Vet's recommendation for the right amount of food your dog should eat at a go or use the measurement indicated on the label (note that there may be a variation depending on the special needs of your french bulldog and his/her lifestyle), then split the total amount by the number of times you want to be feeding your do per day.

• Timed Method: This method is good if you have concerns arising from the Free-Choice method, or with leaving food out all day. What this method requires is that you serve your dog a certain amount of food and allow him or her a certain amount of time to eat it, say about 30 minutes or so. Whenever that time elapses, you remove the bowl, regardless of whether he/she is still eating or there's still food remaining, throw it out.

This is pretty much like the scheduled feeding talked above, and would equally have the same effect and implication.

The benefits of using the Timed Method is it establishes a routine, which allows you to monitor your Frenchie's health appropriately. One of the effects of the Timed Method is that your Dog learns to eat his/her food as soon as you put it down on the floor, knowing that you are going to put it away if he/she doesn't eat. With this training, it makes it easy for you to notice once your dog begins to lose appetite, which is often an indication that he's not feeling - and in need of a Veterinarian's services. This is not possible if he has the Free time to pick his food all day long, whenever he wants.

Furthermore, when you set the Time for feeding, you are also indirectly setting a time for poops - You'll know this.

What About Treats?
Dog treats should make up 5% to 10% or less of your dog’s daily diet. Ask your vet about the number of treats this means for your dog. It’ll vary based on his weight and activity level.

If you need to use treats frequently for training, use very small pieces. You can also set aside some of your dog's daily portion of kibbles to use as “treats” when you train.

That's it about How Much and How Often You Should Feed Your French Bulldog. What do you think about the perspectives expressed in this article, we'll be glad to hear your view. Comment below.