Free Feeding - Yes or No?

[_Crystal_]

I'd never free feed, 1. It would all be eaten by the puppy brat named Nour that eats like a pig... 2. Crystal would be starved because she is so picky. xD

[PaddyD]

Originally Posted by _Crystal_

I'd never free feed, 1. It would all be eaten by the puppy brat named Nour that eats like a pig... 2. Crystal would be starved because she is so picky. xD

2. ?
If food is available to Crystal all the time (free feeding) why would she eat less than if it is only available when you feed her?
I'm missing something here ...

[Klamari]

Nope, no free feeding here. More than half of Rayne's meals are raw, so that rules those out.

Her kibble meals......I can't even put the set amount I give her in a bowl because she sucks it down so fast. I have to scatter it across the floor just to get her to slow down a little. If I free fed her she would eat until she was sick, then puke, eat that, and keep going. She would pork out in no time at all.

Having said that, my previous dog was free fed--when her bowl was empty I put more in--because 1) she was fed kibble, 2)I really didn't know any differently at the time, and 3) she always self-regulated her weight very well. So there was never a reason for me to think I needed to measure her food

[sashadog]

No free feeding because 1. my dogs would fight over it and 2. my fatty Cattle Dog would inhale it all before anyone else could even sniff it! This is the same dog that broke into a 30 lb. bag of dog food and ate about half of it before I got home and found her. She is the only dog I have owned that I truly think would eat herself to death

I have always wondered about people who free-feed, does your dog just put themselves on a type of schedule? I am so paranoid about my dogs running around too soon after eating so how would you prevent that in a free-feeding dog? I have nothing against it, it's just always been easier between feeding raw and having multiple dogs to do set meals.

[spidermilk]

I don't free feed for the following reasons:

1. I like to know if my dog is hungry or not and if he ate or not. If he isn't hungry I know he isn't feeling well.
2. Weight control. Even if he didn't gain weight, then he would probably just eat way more and poop it all out. For me, Acana is too expensive for it to just be eaten and pooped out :P
3. My cat eats dog food. I do free feed my cat (dry food and feed 2 wet food meals daily), but my cat loves dog food. I can't have my cat filling up on dog food and not eating the food that is nutritious to him.
4. I like a hungry dog. I can use his dinner kibble for training, or I can hide it in boxes and newspaper or in his purple squirrel guy. It is more than just a meal, it is an interactive activity that tires him out.

[tsteves]

Yes and no. We feed her at specific times but sometimes she does not eat it. If we are home all day sometimes we will leave it out for a while to give her the chance to pick on it. It really depends on the day. For example we put her food down this morning and she has only taken a few nibbles all day. When our boy come she will not be allowed to do that anymore though as we will have a strict eat now or wait till later policy as we did when we had our foster dog here.

[jetscarbie]

I use to free fed. Worked out great. Never had much of a problem. I've got 3 GSD's and they all have their own dish and just ate when they wanted to.

Then I decided to do the time feeding. For some reason, my oldest male started to feel that he had to gulp down all his food at one time, real quick. He started to put on a few pounds.....even after I cut back on his food amount. Then he would start puking the food out.

So now...I do a combination of both. I feed them a set amount. I lay the dish down and leave it all day. Either they eat it all at once and I'll add a little more (to equal their daily serving)...or they eat a little throughout the day. It gets picked up at nightime.

It works much better for my oldest male. The other two usually eat their part in the morning....and can take another small part at night.

[jesetta_1980]

Originally Posted by PaddyD

This is insulting. I am intelligent enough and have a good enough memory to know how much I have put in my dog's bowl on a given day. I am also intelligent enough to calculate the difference between what I put in and what she ate. It's not rocket science. I am not neurotic about food. My dog has always maintained a proper weight and energy level.
I even free feed myself, having a snack in the middle of the day right now.
OMG, I hope I don't eat the everything in the refrigerator because it is available to me !!!!
My dog sits and politely waits for whatever I ask her to sit and politely wait for. I am not a control freak, her behavior is excellent.

I totally agree with this. I free feed Rayvn as well. I know how to read directions and believe it or not, how to portion. I asked my vet and trainer if maybe I should go to a schedule and both felt there was no reason to do so. He does have to sit, and wait for his food. Free feeding, does not equal a "free for all" in our house. If he were over-weight and didnt know when to stop I could understand.

[cta]

i agree with that too. my dog is not an over eater. if he's hungry, he eats, if he's not...he will eat when he gets hungry! i say i "free feed" because i never take his food up. i give him a certain amount in the morning and if he eats it during the day, great, if not, he eats it when i get home. then he gets another meal at night if he's hungry. basically he eats when he wants, always the same amount of food (give or take about 1 cup depending on the activity level for the day) it's just split up differently from day to day. i am still able to monitor his food intake this way tho, so it works for us.