# When to feed at night?



## Jennin24 (Jun 10, 2012)

I am feeding my puppy frozen raw nuggets, Northwest Naturals, and was told I should feed her 1 nugget 4 times a day. Well, my question is, when should I feed the last feeding of the day? I feed her when I get up, twice more during the day, but I'm not sure when she should eat last at night. I don't feed her until around 9am (during summer vacation we become lazy and sleep in a bit) but I stay up until 11 or 12 at night. I am worried about making her wait too long between meals. I worry about hypoglycemia. I don't know much about it and worry about recognizing the signs of it. Am I worrying too much about this?


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## LittleGemma (Apr 1, 2012)

How old is she and how much does she weigh? If she is eating every 3 or 4 hours, she's going to be fine. You can even give her a little Nutrical or add a little sugar to her water if you're really worried. The signs are pretty much what you would expect them to be: general weakness, shivering, wobbly walking, etc... Just like when a human's blood sugar drops too low, they get weak and dizzy and can even go into a coma. The same goes for puppies.

You should probably feed her about 2 hours before you guys go to bed. That way she'll hopefully be able to relieve herself and not have a poop accident in the night. Leave her water bowl with a little sugar in it wherever she is sleeping for her to drink throughout the night if you sleep for a long time. I also go to bed really late (it's 3am now) and wake up around 10am, and Gemma usually eats her last meal around 12am, but she gets to free feed up until we go to bed. She is trained to use her pads so I don't worry about accidents in the night. She's a late night puppy.


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## ggtina (Jun 24, 2012)

I free feed  so I am no help. I just make sure they go out an hour before bed time. They go to bed every night at 10pm regardless of what time I do. If I stay up late i will let them go to sleep in there kennel. Some nights i drag them in bed with me.


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## Jennin24 (Jun 10, 2012)

She is just under 8 weeks and I don't know how much she weighs yet. I will be taking her to the vet soon and will find out then. I'm not too worried about potty accidents since she sleeps in a larger crate that is sectioned off on one side with her potty pads. I will definitely add some sugar to her water for overnight just in case. So you think she should be okay to wait like 10 or 11 hours overnight to eat?


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## pupluv168 (Mar 7, 2012)

If she needs to eat four times a day, then what about 10am, 2pm, 6pm, and 10pm. That gives you some time before bed for her to potty and whatnot. 

How much does she weigh? I wouldn't worry too much about hypoglycemia if she is over 2 or so pounds. If not, Nutri-cal is the BEST thing to use to prevent or stop a blood sugar drop. 

Also, I am not familiar with the food you are feeding. Would you mind posting a link to it or more info about it? I always like learning about new foods.


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## svdreamer (Feb 20, 2010)

12 hours without food may be a bit more than she can handle right now. I free feed puppies as they have such tiny little stomachs, they can't fill it up enough to last the whole night. Most puppies graze rather than chow down for a meal.


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## Jennin24 (Jun 10, 2012)

pupluv168 said:


> If she needs to eat four times a day, then what about 10am, 2pm, 6pm, and 10pm. That gives you some time before bed for her to potty and whatnot.
> 
> How much does she weigh? I wouldn't worry too much about hypoglycemia if she is over 2 or so pounds. If not, Nutri-cal is the BEST thing to use to prevent or stop a blood sugar drop.
> 
> Also, I am not familiar with the food you are feeding. Would you mind posting a link to it or more info about it? I always like learning about new foods.



Not sure yet how much she weighs. I'm taking her to vet tomorrow and will find out. Here is a link to the NW Naturals:
Northwest Naturals


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

I would leave kibble down for her during the night. Then she would be safe from the hypoglycemia.


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## KrystalLeigh (Aug 17, 2011)

Puppies do have to eat quite often. When Odie was little, even though she didn't eat dry kibble in her normal meals, we would leave some for her in case she needed a snack in the middle of the night. They were almost always gone by the morning.


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## proudpeyotemama (Feb 20, 2012)

I feed Ote three "meals" a day. She gets one chicken cube in the morning, cottage cheese with glucosamine complex in the afternoon, and another chicken cube in the evening. She also gets duck feet, bully sticks, and other chews and treats through out the day. There is never a set time, I just feed when I wake up, eat lunch and go to sleep.


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## LittleGemma (Apr 1, 2012)

Oh wow, she is very young. Puppies should never be separated from they mother earlier than 8 weeks. In this case, I would probably leave food with her at night for the first couple of weeks. If not, then definitely make sure she has sugar in her water.


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## LittleGemma (Apr 1, 2012)

Also, if you can't leave food with her since I think you're feeding freeze dried raw, then you could set your alarm to wake up in the middle of the night to feed her something, then go back to bed.


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## 20887 (Mar 16, 2011)

I would leave something down for her at night since you have her so young. You could get ZiwiPeak to leave out.. It is freeze dried raw.


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## Kurukulla (Sep 26, 2011)

Are you sure she is 7 weeks and not younger?? I always wonder how old they actually are since reputable breeders won't let them go before 12 weeks. 

My pups still nursed until 10 weeks. I would have her on 5 meals a day as she is Has no mum to nurse. Last meal at 6am 11pm 4pm 8pm 11pm or around those times. 

Then at 10 weeks take her to 4 meals and at 13-14 down to 3. 
Raw fed dogs are less likely to crash than kibble fed dogs but it still happens. 

How much does she weigh?


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## Jennin24 (Jun 10, 2012)

What I am feeding her is frozen cubes that need to be thawed before she eats. I don't think it would be good to leave that out for her. I did leave her with some of the Pedigree kibble that her breeder gave me last night and that was all gone this morning. Is it bad to have her on a healthy raw diet and then feed her cheap kibble like that? Also, I've been told that if you feed the dried raw, then you need to use it up pretty quickly or it goes bad and those bags are pretty big. She would never get through one of those quickly and they are too expensive to have go bad. What should I do?


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## 20887 (Mar 16, 2011)

You can buy a small sample bag of ZiwiPeak so you don't have to worry about it going bad.


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## svdreamer (Feb 20, 2010)

If you are going to leave out kibble (a very good idea IMO) then get a vey good brand of grain free kibble. Get a small bag. It is more expensive, but it will last her until she is old enough to go through the night without eating. This is a great site for finding a good 4 to 5 star food for your little one.

Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble


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## Jennin24 (Jun 10, 2012)

missy_r said:


> You can buy a small sample bag of ZiwiPeak so you don't have to worry about it going bad.


Where do they sell ZiwiPeak? Is it something I could get from a Petsmart or Petco?


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## 20887 (Mar 16, 2011)

Those stores don't carry it. You can buy it at smaller natural pet food stores, or online. You can go to ZiwiPeak's website and search for stores in your area that carry it.


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## Jennin24 (Jun 10, 2012)

Has anyone heard of Natures Variety? The distributor that I bought my frozen raw from suggested a pet health food store very close to me that sells that brand and I that is what she recommended. They don't sell ZiwiPeak, but they sell other raw/dehydrated/freeze dried foods.


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## 20887 (Mar 16, 2011)

Natures variety raw is a frozen food. I don't think they make a freeze dried food.


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## LittleGemma (Apr 1, 2012)

D'oh, I meant to say frozen in my last post. What I was thinking is that you CAN leave out freeze dried raw food, like ZP.


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## Jennin24 (Jun 10, 2012)

Well, she went to the vet today and everything looks good with her. She weighs 22 ounces. According to the weight chart, that puts her around 4 1/2 pounds when she's grown. Her birthday is May 25 which means that this Friday she will be 8 weeks. I ended up buying her some freeze dried raw food to set out for her overnight so I won't have to worry.


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