Confused about free feeding
 

HI all! I'm going to be a new Yorkie mommy, and I'm taking home my very first puppy this Sunday. I have questions about free feeding my 8 week old, Rocky.

Do I give him the bowl in the morning and have to refill it throughout the day? Should I measure out specific amounts?

Your input truly helps!

Cute baby. I free feed...which means there is kibble available at all times. No set amount. My dogs do not overeat nor are they overweight.

Welcome to YT! :)

Rocky is ADORABLE!

Alot of people free feed and some people don't. It all depends on your preference. I free fed for a while but we have ants (ew!) here that love dog food, so a few months ago I began feeding Jackson a meal in the AM and the PM. (around 9am, then 6pm). He never overate or was overweight when free-fed though so I will go back to doing it when ants are gone.

For little puppies, I would personally prefer to just leave food down whenever they are hungry. I wouldn't worry about over-feeding a puppy as they require much more food than an average adult dog. Maybe wait a few months to put him on a schedule. Some pups are bigger piggies than others though... so maybe just pour the recommended amount of food into the bowl for the day (use a measure cup, the bag of food usually has an amount for puppies).

Good luck!

Sofia is very small,l so I just leave food down all day. I have a bowl in the kitchen and one in my bathroom on the other end of the house. Because she is only 2.5 Lbs she eats very little at a time. By keeping food down she can grab a bite as she follows me around the house, this keeps her blood sugar level, very important to these little ones. I don't think Sofia could overeat even if she tried, her tummy is just too little. I also keep a water bottle next to her food dishes so she has plenty of fresh water.

Most days I free feed. I measure out the suggested amount of food in the morning (for his weight it is 3/4 cup per day of the kibble we use) and leave it out all day. Sometimes he will finish the entire portion, sometimes he won't. Depends on his activity level for the day, sometimes the weather, his mood... As someone mentioned earlier, for a tiny puppy, it may be an especially good idea to have food available at all times.

This is what I do. By now the bowl is empty. In the morning I put out a measured amount.

OP: Are you getting your baby at 8 weeks or 12 weeks?

I free feed the whole zoo. I've been very lucky that none of my critters have weight issues. I make sure that all bowls, everywhere are full all the time. (My cats have a separate large bowl on their own counter so the dogs never eat cat food, I don't care if they eat dog food). It is especially important, IMHO, that the young ones free feed. They require more food than adults and to avoid sugar drops only their little bodies know when they need that extra punch of food. I'd be scared that they'd be hungry and facing an empty bowl when they needed some energy. Then again, I'm a grazer myself and I could just be projecting..LOL

I was free-feeding my dog up until about two weeks ago. But, he was not very motivated by his dry dog food and pretty much just ate when he was hungry and would never over eat. I measured out the amount I wanted him to get for a day. Sometimes he'd finish, sometimes not. I think some dogs are more food motivated than others and that's something to take into consideration. I know my sister has a little 6 lb Pomeranian that is SO food motivated, she will literally eat until she makes herself sick. (She accidentally got into her bag of food one day and ate until she was vomiting). My dog would never do that, because he just doesn't care enough.

I just started my dog on a homemade, bland diet, due to some chronic digestive problems, and so I've stopped free feeding and now give three small meals a day. I honestly think that having my dog sitting there, watching me prepare it and being able to anticipate his food (that he thinks is sooo much better than the dry food that he got when free feeding), has changed his behavior. I think he sees me more as a leader because the food is really coming from me as opposed to just being there all the time. Previously, he used be be quite bossy and demanding with me, but he seems to almost respect me more since I started preparing his food.

excellent point, every dog turns out different, and of course you really can't free feed wet food. I've just been blessed with all light eaters that do not gorge.

Cody is an unpredictable eater - some days he eats whatever I give him and other days he a lot less. So I measure out what he's supposed to get for a day and give him a little over half of it in the a.m. and the rest at night. I leave his food out all the time. I try to mentally keep track of days he doesn't eat all of it so I'll be aware if there's a problem. He does get treats during the day too so I know that affects how much of his kibbles he will eat.

Since he's only 5-1/2 months I'm not too worried about free feeding right now, but I know from past dogs that it can be a problem sometimes when they get older.

I, too am on the free-feed bandwagon. However, note it will be more difficult to housetrain a puppy. If I were you, I would try to monitor when the puppy eats, then take outside or to training pad about 15-20 minutes after. If I couldn't watch the pup, an exercise pen with training pads or newspaper all over the floor works, too.

Remember, be consistent with feeding/housetraining and what goes in, must come out! :)

I was free feeding my 6 month old up until this last month. We are really working hard on getting her 100% house broken and the only way to know when it is going to come out is to know when it goes in. So I suggest three meals a day if you want your furbaby to be predictable for potty training. Just my opinion! Claire learned to eat when it was there, after about 30 minutes the food is picked up. It only took her a day or so to learn to eat what she wanted when it was down!

I don't free feed because having a schedule makes it easier to time potty breaks. I don't think my dog will poop in the house unless she REALLY has to go, but I'd rather not take the chance. I give her one bowl in the morning around 8-9am and then in the evening around 5-6pm.

However, my dog is 10lbs. I think if I had a smaller dog I would probably free feed or supplement with a small meal in the middle of the day.

I free feed both of my dogs. Lucy is on the tail end of her suggested weight so we leave her bowl full always. Piper is only 3 pounds so I fill it up with the recommended amount and leave it out. Sometimes she finishes it, sometimes she doesn't. .