Free Feeding - Yes or No?

[Lakl]

I free fed my dogs for YEARS. Never saw anything wrong with it, and didn't understand the argument behind scheduled feedings. I still don't think it's wrong, but now that I have 4 dogs, I don't think I could ever go back to free feeding. This way, its just easier for me to keep track of how much the dogs are eating. I also feed RAW so its not really an option for me. My dogs also never seemed hungry when I free fed. Whenever I filled the bowls, they would just sniff and walk away. It seemed my little ones wouldonly eat when they were starving. Then when it was finally eaten, I wouldn't know who ate what.

[sharkey19]

Originally Posted by PaddyD

'Some people' don't understand that free feeding means the dog eats whenever it wants to. It has nothing to do with whether you put a bag full or a couple of cups (i.e. measured amount) in the bowl. Free feeding means that the food is available and THE DOG CHOOSES WHEN TO EAT. The owner may or may not choose how much.

Haha. Ya, that is how I always defined it. I am lucky that both my dog and cat are not big eaters, so they still stay slim even with free feeding. My cat actually yells at us if there is no food in his bowl. We will fill up his bowl and then he will just walk away, knowing its there for him when he decides to eat. LOL

[msvette2u]

Some dogs are smart enough to self-regulate their food intake just like animals in the wild

Dogs in the wild don't regulate their food intake...nature does! If they kill an elk, they will eat until they are bulging, and hang around and eat more.

free feeding means that the food is available and THE DOG CHOOSES WHEN TO EAT.

So the dog has unlimited food supply and eats whenever it feels like it?

How is that different than my definition? The food is there, whether in a 40lb. bag they cut open for it and left, or brimming over in a 4 -8 cup. bowl.

[MaggieRoseLee]

There are tons of reasons to NOT free feed in my eyes.

To me, anything but giving a dog a set amount that they eat immediately, and if they do NOT you take it off the floor until the next feeding, if free feeding.

So if I only fed my dog 2 cups of food a day, and they took 24 hours to eat it, that's free feeding. To me.

There is ZERO information from feeding like that, to me.

I do not know exactly how much my dog ate and when.

I do not know if their appetite is normal for that day.

I do not know WHEN they maybe started going off their food.

I have NOT used a valuable bonding tool with my dogs.

I have NOT used yet another time during the day to connect and train my dog.

I have removed a valuable training 'tool' from my bag of tricks (food drive) to be able to use for motivation and excitement for my dogs.

In a fairly boring day for my dogs, I have REMOVED a bit of excitement and something for them to look forward to WITH ME, up to twice a day.

My dogs have a regular eating AND then a regular 'elimination' schedule. So I know when they eat, I know when they have to go outdoors, and I feel confident when I have to leave the for 8 or more hours they aren't struggling not to have an accident in the house because they CHOOSE to eat at a bad time.

I use treats/food to make training fun and this doesn't work as well with dogs that have ZERO interest or excitement about mealtimes/food or possibly just ate a full meal (but I'm not sure cause food is always out?)

FOR ME, I want my dogs to be bonded to me, engaged with me, looking to me and wanting to be with me and EXCITED about life and what are we going to do next. And all the different ways I can do this have value. So I use praise, I use toys, and I use FOOD. To remove any of those tools or choice to not take advantage of such an easy one is just crippling my relationship, or at least weakening it.

I also just don't understand why it's so hard to feed my dogs twice a day a set amount of food. If it helps my dogs to give ME information, TWICE A DAY and immediately on their general health and welfare. Gives my dogs 2 periods of excitement and fun. Greatly helps my bond and training experiences. Why not?

01 Feeding Time - VeterinaryPartner.com - a VIN company!

[ChancetheGSD]

Considering (14lb) Zoey once got into some food and helped herself to EIGHT POUNDS of kibble (Yes, over HALF her body weight in food!) once in a single "serving", absolutely NOT!!!! Eevee could probably be free fed but like others have said, with multiple dogs I like to know how much food my animals are eating (And with Zoey alive, that's impossible), when they go off food, ect.

@ msvette2u: What is the difference in a full bowl of food and a bowl with say 3 cups of food in it, if the dog doesn't finish all of either? It's all free feeding IMO.

[Tiffseagles]

I do not believe in free feeding.

[VomBlack]

Absolutely not. For one I think mine would eat themselves into a coma, but like mentioned I like to keep track of how much and how often they're eating in case of any health issues.

[Pepper311]

It depends on the dog. My old border collie was not a food hound and so we let her free feed. She never had a weight problem or messed in the house. I would let my puppy free feed if She was an only dog.

With 3 dogs I can't free feed. They all are on different food. But I think there are some dogs that do just fine free feeding. Not all dogs have self control and some just love food like my little fat dog. Then there are other dogs like my old dog that could have food around all day and only eat a little.

[CarrieJ]

MaggieRoseLee, awesome post.

Food comes from me, not the floor.
Oh, my GSD is on drugs that create hunger, so there's one more reason. There's also the fact that if you have a scheduled feeding it makes for a better elimination schedule.

[msvette2u]

I associate "free feeding" with unlimited amounts of kibble. I associate that with overweight dogs (because that's a lot of what we see in rescue).

It's different than putting 1 cup of food down and leaving it all day.
However, that end result is that the dog is left to "nibble" and as others said, it doesn't look to you to be the "provider of all things good" (aka LEADER), which is an important and quite effective training tool.

Loved your post, Maggie!