feedings per day, and when to let ouside

Question
Good morning,

I have a Black 10 month old female lab ( no other animals ) I was wondering how often I should be feeding her the dry dog food? I wake up between 4 am and 6 am, and go to sleep by around 9 pm. currently I feed her about  a cup of dry dog food between 4 / 6 am, 12 / 2 pm and 4 / 6 pm with a moist doggie treat called ( it's bacon ) and some dry 3 inch snack bones at least once a day. when we purchase rawhide bones, no matter what the size, she'll eat it in one setting within 1 hour. So when and how much should I feed my female lab. she only has food and water set on the floor at the above times, she's a indoor dog also. and also I never know when to let her outside, because whenever I go by the back door, she's always wanting to go outside, she don't bark when she want's to go out, maybe she'll come to me and push my hand with her nose, or she'll wander by the back door, but she'll wander by the back door all day long, so I never really know when she really needs to go outside to relieve herself, from now on I just wait until she almost crying and whining, before I let her out, it's very frustrating, and I've only owned her for about 2 month's or so.  

Any help would be great

Thanks


Answer
I would switch to giving her 3 cups of dry, adult dog chow once a day, and very little of the rest of the stuff.  Your dog definitely should be narrower at the waist than the hips and chest. You should be able to easily feel the ribs, but not see them.  Each dog is different.  Standard recommendations are a good place to start, but each dog must have its food and exercise adjusted to its individual needs. Here is a link to a good illustrated guide, http://www.longliveyourdog.com/twoplus/RateYourDog.aspx  Modern dog chows are carefully formulated to give dogs the complete and balanced diet they need.  It is difficult for the average dog owner to ensure a proper diet other than by feeding a dog chow.  I would never risk my dog's health on some diet I found on a website.

Running in and out has long plagued dog owners.  I sometimes wonder how much time I spend letting dogs in and out.  I purposefully put my computer desk where I can see the door while at the computer.  Unfortunately, it only leads to the garage, and I have to go out there and open a second door.  Even when a dog is active in the house, it should be able to go a couple of hours without going out.  They are more likely to need to go out after getting up from a nap, eating, or drinking.  You could try hanging a bell on the door.  Some dogs catch on to pawing the bell when they need to go out fairly quickly.  I don't suggest schedules usually, but you could try making sure she goes out every 2-3 hours.  I always let the dogs back in as soon as they bark even if they are actually barking for some other reason.  

Cut out the rawhide.  The pet stores are full of toys that many dogs will quickly chew up into pieces they could choke on or cause intestinal blockages.  If you are not there to watch, stick to sturdy stuff such as Nylabones and Kongs.  Keep a close eye on chew toys and quickly discard anything that is coming apart in pieces.  Rawhide is especially bad because it swells after being swallowed. I don't trust any of the consumable chews.  The dogs just gnaw them down to a dangerous size too quickly.  These problems are the worst with, but not limited to, large, aggressive chewers such as Labs.