The Japanese Spitz is a small to medium sized dog with a modest appetite, so feeding should be handled carefully. Puppies should generally follow the principle of small meals given more frequently, while adults usually do best on two meals a day. Do not feed many times a day just because you adore the dog, because over time this can lead to obesity and digestive disease.
After adulthood, it is usually best to feed two meals a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon or evening. The evening meal should not be too late. If a dog eats very late, digestion can be affected and weight gain becomes more likely. Eating a large meal right before sleep, without any activity afterward, places unnecessary strain on the digestive system and makes it easier for calories to be stored rather than used.
If the owner needs to work during the day, it is often best to prepare some food before leaving in the morning. The dog may not be very hungry at that moment, but the food can be available during the day. Then, after returning home in the evening, the owner can prepare another meal. If the owner comes home very late, it is better not to make that second meal too late at night. Coming home around six in the evening, eating a little yourself, then feeding the dog and taking it out for a walk afterward is usually a more suitable rhythm. If a retired person is home during the day, feeding once at noon can work, or if two meals are preferred, feeding around nine in the morning and again around three or four in the afternoon is a reasonable choice.
If the dog is still under one year old, it is usually best to feed four to five times a day. Owners need to manage the schedule themselves. Each meal should be small, because a puppies stomach capacity is limited and overeating is hard on digestion. This is similar to how human infants need frequent but small meals, so owners should not be impatient.
Some owners treat dogs exactly like children and offer food whenever they themselves are eating, sometimes three full meals a day plus many extras. That can be harmful to the dogs health. Other owners may only feed one or two proper meals, but frequently give snacks such as chicken liver or sausage. This is also not particularly beneficial. It is much better to help the dog develop a regular, stable feeding routine.
A dogs eating habits depend greatly on the owners management. Once the dog reaches adulthood, two meals a day is one of the best feeding principles. Apart from very young nursing puppies, one or two scheduled meals are enough for most life stages, and feeding too much is usually worse rather than better.