Scientists surprised by how often you should actually feed your dog to keep them healthy

A new study has revealed how often you should actually feed your dog - and it's startling scientists and owners alike.

While most people tend to feed their dog three times a day, research has indicated that you should only feed them once.

The study by the Dog Aging Project analysed 10,000 pooches across a range of breeds, sizes and ages to look at their health and eating patterns.

Results found that dogs who are fed only once a day are the healthiest of the pack.

It came as a shock to researchers, who were "surprised to see associations in so many domains" and didn't expect to note such vast differences.

Dogs who were fed less often scored significantly better (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Sign up to our TeamDogs newsletter for your weekly dose of dog news, pictures and stories.

The study proved that pets who are fed less frequently are less likely to have a range of disorders, including gastrointestinal, dental, orthopaedic, kidney, urinary and liver problems.

So those serving their four-legged friends breakfast, lunch and dinner may want to put the bowl down.

Canine health boffin and study author, Dr Emily Bray, said: "Controlling for sex, age, breed, and other potential confounders.

"We found that dogs fed once daily rather than more frequently had lower mean scores on a cognitive dysfunction scale.

"And lower odds of having gastrointestinal, dental, orthopaedic, kidney/urinary, and liver/pancreas disorders.

"The rationale for twice-daily feeding in dogs is obscure.

The study examined 10,000 dogs of all breeds and ages (Getty Images/EyeEm)

"Our study suggests that more frequent feeding may, in fact, be suboptimal for several age-related health outcomes.

"Therefore, we find that once-daily feeding is associated with better health in multiple domains."

However, researchers found that once-a-day feeding didn't have much effect on cardiac, skin and neurological health.

Dr Bray also noted that there could be a number of reasons why some dogs need to be fed more frequently, such as pooches with poor health needing extra meals to take medication.

The Dog Aging Project has been collecting this information since 2019 and published its latest findings in medical journal GeroScience.

Do you have a dog story to tell? Contact nia.dalton@reachplc.com.