how do I go about this??? - YorkieTalk.com Forums

pepe mint · 03-06-2008, 04:17 PM

Ok....long story made short...Before I met my husband, I had always free fed all of my dogs and never had any problems with weight, food aggression, or the craziness that dogs tend to get when it is "dinner time". Well, when dh and I moved in together, his dog was very bad about over eating so he was fed on a strict schedule, a strict amount each feeding. I had to change my dog over to it because he (Rex) would eat all of the food that was left out. When maggie came along, I kept food in her crate because I feared a repeat in her hypoglycemia. But the other dogs could not get to it. Maggie had never been food motivated or even really cared about eating...I think because she knew she always had food when she needed it. but once I started feeding her on a schedule like Rex and Daisy, she started getting very food aggressive and is now starting to really drive me NUTS when there is food anywhere in smelling distance. wether it be people food or dog food. She doesn't even eat her food...she inhales it!!! and sadly, Daisy is kinda the same way now

This is exactly why I have never schedule fed my dogs....and up until recently, Daisy has always had the best manners when it came to food, she never begged, and has never been overweight at all.

WELL.....Rex is no longer with us (R.I.P.) and I REALLY want to go back to free feeding...I HATE the way my dogs are acting about food....and I strongly feel that it is because they are fed on such strict schedules. dh agrees with me and this is just something we want to do (and we know that not everyone agrees with this...but to each his own, right??

)

so my question is....how in the heck do you go from schedule feeding to free feeding? we usually feed the dogs a certain amount twice a day. For the "adjustment period", Do I just put their daily amount in their food bowls in the morning and let it go? should I put the food down in the morning or around noon?? I literally have always just filled a bowl up and it would last Daisy a couple of days. and when I noticed it was empty...or close to it, I would fill it up again. I really want to get back to free feeding but have never had to make this transition...so would appreciate any input....

cdawnfine · 03-06-2008, 04:26 PM

Hi,

If you are feeding kibble try feeding them with treat balls, each dog will have their own ball to play with and feed you will be amazed how it slows up a dog who inhales and speeds up a dog who eats one piece at a time. I use an amaz a ball for Milo, and leave it out all day. Hope this helps

PS keep in mind this is not the neatest, there will be food on the floor but they usually eat it all up

pepe mint · 03-06-2008, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdawnfine

Hi,

If you are feeding kibble try feeding them with treat balls, each dog will have their own ball to play with and feed you will be amazed how it slows up a dog who inhales and speeds up a dog who eats one piece at a time. I use an amaz a ball for Milo, and leave it out all day. Hope this helps

PS keep in mind this is not the neatest, there will be food on the floor but they usually eat it all up

I have heard of this too...but I am afraid they will kill each other over it. Maggie is super possessive over toys. Any time daisy has a toy, she runs to her, growls, and takes it away. every single time. we are working on this but she is just terrible about it.

cdawnfine · 03-06-2008, 04:33 PM

Milo used to get growly with his sister whilw eating when they would come to visit, so what I would do is at first growl I would take his ball away and hold hom while he sat and watched her eat, after one or two times he got the message

katelin · 03-06-2008, 04:43 PM

We have always free fed our Yorkies. When we purchased a new Yorkie about a year ago she was CRAZY for food. We continued to free feed, and eventually she learned to eat just when she was hungry. She is still kind of excited about human food, but is appropriate with her kibble. I'd suggest just putting down a little more than her normal feeding at each feeding time, and slowly increase it until you are free-feeding again.

good luck

Katelin

pepe mint · 03-06-2008, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by katelin

We have always free fed our Yorkies. When we purchased a new Yorkie about a year ago she was CRAZY for food. We continued to free feed, and eventually she learned to eat just when she was hungry. She is still kind of excited about human food, but is appropriate with her kibble. I'd suggest just putting down a little more than her normal feeding at each feeding time, and slowly increase it until you are free-feeding again.

good luck

Katelin

Thanks!!!!

pepe mint · 03-07-2008, 06:33 AM

well, this morning, I put each dog's full daily amount in the bowls....thinking they would get full and stop eating. nope. they both ate it all. well, we tried distracting them with toys to see if they would stop eating. they did....but maggie went back and finished hers...daisy left several kibbles in her bowl...maggie decided to have a couple of them LOL you would think I starve the poor girl the way she eats LOL

so we will just keep trying to do this...only put their food out once a day and hopefully they will learn to leave some. i doubt it...it just seems like there should be another way to do it. maybe i should keep food in the bowls all the time??? will they eat themselves stupid????

Erin · 03-07-2008, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pepe mint

well, this morning, I put each dog's full daily amount in the bowls....thinking they would get full and stop eating. nope. they both ate it all. well, we tried distracting them with toys to see if they would stop eating. they did....but maggie went back and finished hers...daisy left several kibbles in her bowl...maggie decided to have a couple of them LOL you would think I starve the poor girl the way she eats LOL

so we will just keep trying to do this...only put their food out once a day and hopefully they will learn to leave some. i doubt it...it just seems like there should be another way to do it. maybe i should keep food in the bowls all the time??? will they eat themselves stupid????

Mine would eat until they puked.

This is a totally random idea, but mine are schedule fed so I know what you're going through. They eat in 30 seconds when you put the food down and beg for more. Maybe you could try feeding them like 6-8 times a day for a couple days. That way, when you try to put down their entire day's ration, they aren't "starving". I also wouldn't try putting it down in the morning but in the afternoon. Also, do it when they are not watching. I do this with water for Loki because he will drink ALL of the water when I pour it so I pour it when he is not looking.

Just an idea!

pepe mint · 03-07-2008, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erin

Mine would eat until they puked.

This is a totally random idea, but mine are schedule fed so I know what you're going through. They eat in 30 seconds when you put the food down and beg for more. Maybe you could try feeding them like 6-8 times a day for a couple days. That way, when you try to put down their entire day's ration, they aren't "starving". I also wouldn't try putting it down in the morning but in the afternoon. Also, do it when they are not watching. I do this with water for Loki because he will drink ALL of the water when I pour it so I pour it when he is not looking.

Just an idea!

very good ideas!!! thank you!!!

Yorkie Luv of 3 · 03-07-2008, 06:51 AM

First off,, Good luck in working it out,, sounds like you have a good handle on the dilema there! we free feed here,, Cricket needs to eat more often at times,, but she never over eats,, Daisy (Monster Dog) would INHALE but she's learned to only eat when she's hungry now,, i did like you,, distracted her with toys, playing,, made her forget there was food to be gobbled! worked for us,, Trixie eats when shes hungry,, all no problem now, ,except for when i give them canned food,, then its measured out ,,each with their own little stainless bowl,, while i stand to watch each only eats their own til everyone is done,, but ,, they don't get the canned food even daily,, just occasionally ,, generally when some nasty med is needed or when Crickets DEMANDS some BREAKFAST some mornings,, lol,, I agree with you approach and believe it will work for ya! Good Luck!! I'm sure it will go well

pepe mint · 03-07-2008, 06:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yorkie Luv of 3

First off,, Good luck in working it out,, sounds like you have a good handle on the dilema there! we free feed here,, Cricket needs to eat more often at times,, but she never over eats,, Daisy (Monster Dog) would INHALE but she's learned to only eat when she's hungry now,, i did like you,, distracted her with toys, playing,, made her forget there was food to be gobbled! worked for us,, Trixie eats when shes hungry,, all no problem now, ,except for when i give them canned food,, then its measured out ,,each with their own little stainless bowl,, while i stand to watch each only eats their own til everyone is done,, but ,, they don't get the canned food even daily,, just occasionally ,, generally when some nasty med is needed or when Crickets DEMANDS some BREAKFAST some mornings,, lol,, I agree with you approach and believe it will work for ya! Good Luck!! I'm sure it will go well

thanks for the support!!! I just really believe that this scheduled feeding is what is causing them to act so insane at food time. i have never had any dog act like that about food...but I have always free fed until now. so I am really hoping I can work it out.

have all of your dogs always been free fed?? if not, was there something you did to get them used to the transition?? anything you can think of that I shouldn't do?? I agree with Erin, I think feeding them first thing in the morning is a bad idea...because then they go all day feeling like they have been neglected. I think I will feed around noon...or something like that. I am just afraid of making a mistake LOL

cj_michi · 03-07-2008, 09:02 AM

Sorry I can't help you as I'm in the same boat with my little doxie Dixie. Before we got her we would sorta free feed Max. I would break his daily portion into 3 servings but he would always have food in his bowl except at night that I would put it up. Sometimes I would give him his morning portion at 6am and at 2pm he still had it in his bowl. Once we got Dixie it was a different story she would eat hers and his so I've had to feed them on a schedule. She gained weight so quickly so the vet told me to control her feedings. She was 3 months and already 6lbs which was to much weight on her small body. Max is very good about it, it seems it doesn't bother him much but Dixie devours her food within seconds and then tries to eat Max's food. So once you find what works for you let me know so maybe I can try it with my two.

pepe mint · 03-07-2008, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cj_michi

Sorry I can't help you as I'm in the same boat with my little doxie Dixie. Before we got her we would sorta free feed Max. I would break his daily portion into 3 servings but he would always have food in his bowl except at night that I would put it up. Sometimes I would give him his morning portion at 6am and at 2pm he still had it in his bowl. Once we got Dixie it was a different story she would eat hers and his so I've had to feed them on a schedule. She gained weight so quickly so the vet told me to control her feedings. She was 3 months and already 6lbs which was to much weight on her small body. Max is very good about it, it seems it doesn't bother him much but Dixie devours her food within seconds and then tries to eat Max's food. So once you find what works for you let me know so maybe I can try it with my two.

well, so far today...once their food was gone and they were outside potty'ing, I filled their bowls up. they haven't touched it and that was about 2 hours ago. I am hoping that them seeing that they have food all the time will help them not devour it all at once. we'll see. I am sure I will try it a few different ways until I find what really works

Yorkie Luv of 3 · 03-07-2008, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pepe mint

thanks for the support!!! I just really believe that this scheduled feeding is what is causing them to act so insane at food time. i have never had any dog act like that about food...but I have always free fed until now. so I am really hoping I can work it out.

have all of your dogs always been free fed?? if not, was there something you did to get them used to the transition?? anything you can think of that I shouldn't do?? I agree with Erin, I think feeding them first thing in the morning is a bad idea...because then they go all day feeling like they have been neglected. I think I will feed around noon...or something like that. I am just afraid of making a mistake LOL

always free fed here,, though when i added Daisy in here,, she wanted to GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE,, but knowing Cricket (who was so tiny) had to have food available at all times,, knew it just wouldnt work to do anything else,, so i spent lots of time,, LOTS,, distracting Daisy,, toys,, down in the floor playing with them,,even ,, at first,, going so far,, as to "correct" Daisy with a "No!" and get her attention elsewhere for awhile,, away from the food bowl,, it took several days of being really persistent in this,, but it worked,, now food (kiblble)sits all the time,, they all 3 snack thru the day if and when the urge hits them and no one overeats or fights over MINE! eating,, even when i added Trixie to the pack back in December,,I did the same type thing,, wouldnt allow Daisy to "guard" the food bowl,, but it was a very easy transition with Trixie,now Treats they would fight over if allowed,, and canned food they'd take away from one another ,, if allowed,, but they arent allowed lol

sweetr72 · 03-07-2008, 10:19 AM

I would keep the bowls full and let them eat..mine free feed and most of the time just pick away all day long..once they realize the bowl isnt going up they wont attack the food with a fury to eat it all in one sitting..plus they doubt they will be able to eat it all in one sitting either..

Dawn

03-06-2008, 04:17 PM	#1
pepe mint YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Franklin, TN Posts: 11,145	how do I go about this??? Ok....long story made short...Before I met my husband, I had always free fed all of my dogs and never had any problems with weight, food aggression, or the craziness that dogs tend to get when it is "dinner time". Well, when dh and I moved in together, his dog was very bad about over eating so he was fed on a strict schedule, a strict amount each feeding. I had to change my dog over to it because he (Rex) would eat all of the food that was left out. When maggie came along, I kept food in her crate because I feared a repeat in her hypoglycemia. But the other dogs could not get to it. Maggie had never been food motivated or even really cared about eating...I think because she knew she always had food when she needed it. but once I started feeding her on a schedule like Rex and Daisy, she started getting very food aggressive and is now starting to really drive me NUTS when there is food anywhere in smelling distance. wether it be people food or dog food. She doesn't even eat her food...she inhales it!!! and sadly, Daisy is kinda the same way now This is exactly why I have never schedule fed my dogs....and up until recently, Daisy has always had the best manners when it came to food, she never begged, and has never been overweight at all. WELL.....Rex is no longer with us (R.I.P.) and I REALLY want to go back to free feeding...I HATE the way my dogs are acting about food....and I strongly feel that it is because they are fed on such strict schedules. dh agrees with me and this is just something we want to do (and we know that not everyone agrees with this...but to each his own, right?? ) so my question is....how in the heck do you go from schedule feeding to free feeding? we usually feed the dogs a certain amount twice a day. For the "adjustment period", Do I just put their daily amount in their food bowls in the morning and let it go? should I put the food down in the morning or around noon?? I literally have always just filled a bowl up and it would last Daisy a couple of days. and when I noticed it was empty...or close to it, I would fill it up again. I really want to get back to free feeding but have never had to make this transition...so would appreciate any input.... __________________ Anyone who does not know what soap tastes like has never washed a dog

03-06-2008, 04:43 PM	#5
katelin YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: California Posts: 1,778	Free Feeding We have always free fed our Yorkies. When we purchased a new Yorkie about a year ago she was CRAZY for food. We continued to free feed, and eventually she learned to eat just when she was hungry. She is still kind of excited about human food, but is appropriate with her kibble. I'd suggest just putting down a little more than her normal feeding at each feeding time, and slowly increase it until you are free-feeding again. good luck Katelin

03-07-2008, 06:33 AM	#7
pepe mint YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Franklin, TN Posts: 11,145	well, this morning, I put each dog's full daily amount in the bowls....thinking they would get full and stop eating. nope. they both ate it all. well, we tried distracting them with toys to see if they would stop eating. they did....but maggie went back and finished hers...daisy left several kibbles in her bowl...maggie decided to have a couple of them LOL you would think I starve the poor girl the way she eats LOL so we will just keep trying to do this...only put their food out once a day and hopefully they will learn to leave some. i doubt it...it just seems like there should be another way to do it. maybe i should keep food in the bowls all the time??? will they eat themselves stupid???? __________________ Anyone who does not know what soap tastes like has never washed a dog

03-07-2008, 06:51 AM	#10
Yorkie Luv of 3 Ayla now makes it 4!!! Donating Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Louisiana(home) & Texas(work) Posts: 1,711	First off,, Good luck in working it out,, sounds like you have a good handle on the dilema there! we free feed here,, Cricket needs to eat more often at times,, but she never over eats,, Daisy (Monster Dog) would INHALE but she's learned to only eat when she's hungry now,, i did like you,, distracted her with toys, playing,, made her forget there was food to be gobbled! worked for us,, Trixie eats when shes hungry,, all no problem now, ,except for when i give them canned food,, then its measured out ,,each with their own little stainless bowl,, while i stand to watch each only eats their own til everyone is done,, but ,, they don't get the canned food even daily,, just occasionally ,, generally when some nasty med is needed or when Crickets DEMANDS some BREAKFAST some mornings,, lol,, I agree with you approach and believe it will work for ya! Good Luck!! I'm sure it will go well __________________ Cricket~Proud Petite Pup! Daisy~Proud TeaPot!! & Trixie ~Texas Girl & Ayla~Cherokee Baby! Yorkies!!! What's Not to Love!

03-07-2008, 09:02 AM	#12
cj_michi Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Pasadena, TX Posts: 238	Sorry I can't help you as I'm in the same boat with my little doxie Dixie. Before we got her we would sorta free feed Max. I would break his daily portion into 3 servings but he would always have food in his bowl except at night that I would put it up. Sometimes I would give him his morning portion at 6am and at 2pm he still had it in his bowl. Once we got Dixie it was a different story she would eat hers and his so I've had to feed them on a schedule. She gained weight so quickly so the vet told me to control her feedings. She was 3 months and already 6lbs which was to much weight on her small body. Max is very good about it, it seems it doesn't bother him much but Dixie devours her food within seconds and then tries to eat Max's food. So once you find what works for you let me know so maybe I can try it with my two. __________________ Michi & Max - Official member of The Little Gentleman's Club

03-06-2008, 04:26 PM	#2
cdawnfine Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: nj Posts: 1,256	Hi, If you are feeding kibble try feeding them with treat balls, each dog will have their own ball to play with and feed you will be amazed how it slows up a dog who inhales and speeds up a dog who eats one piece at a time. I use an amaz a ball for Milo, and leave it out all day. Hope this helps PS keep in mind this is not the neatest, there will be food on the floor but they usually eat it all up

03-06-2008, 04:33 PM	#4
cdawnfine Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: nj Posts: 1,256	Milo used to get growly with his sister whilw eating when they would come to visit, so what I would do is at first growl I would take his ball away and hold hom while he sat and watched her eat, after one or two times he got the message

03-07-2008, 10:19 AM	#15
sweetr72 No Longer a Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 6,111	I would keep the bowls full and let them eat..mine free feed and most of the time just pick away all day long..once they realize the bowl isnt going up they wont attack the food with a fury to eat it all in one sitting..plus they doubt they will be able to eat it all in one sitting either.. Dawn