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Free Feed? Please let me know the pros and cons of free feeding. Who free feeds and why? Who feeds on a schedule and why? |
I feed on schedule, its easier to house train them this way as you know when they will need to poop. Also you know exactly how much they have eaten, if you have more than one dog and free feed then its very difficult to actually determine how much each dog has eaten. Plus I feed raw and it would be impossible to free feed raw. |
I free feed.... Gypsy hardly eats anything so it takes her a whole day to eat a bowl of food. If I take the food away and give it her at certain times then she won't touch it. I'd rather she had food down all day and picked at it as and when she wanted. Even though she has access to food all day she opens her bowels at the same times everyday, once first thing when I get up, no matter what time that is and then around 7 in the evening. |
I know that if I get hungry or just want a snack, I just go get me one. My dogs don't have that choice unless I leave food down for them. I'm a free feeder...that way my babies can eat when they want. |
I free feed Cody and Gracey. I tried to feed on a schedual and they would wolf it down like they were starving and then get sick half the time. With free feeding they know it's there when they want it and they take a few bites and walk away and grab a few bites when they want to. each dog and situation is different, if either of mine had shown a tendancy to overeat then I would have to feed on a schedule. |
With four I feed mine on a schedule so I can see who's getting what, and help with the potting training. |
I use to with Aubrey, but now I feed him 3 times a day. I do that because Dakota is also on a feeding schedule. To me it helps me know when they need to go outside, when I just left food out I couldn't tell so they had accidents inside a lot. |
As i see it depends on the dog. My dogs eat once in the morning about 8 or 9 and once again in the evening around 5-6. I also give them dog food as treats when training then so they both end up getting 1/3 cup of food each day. I wish i could free feed but mind would end up eating everything in front of them and begging for more. I know my second one Kaze would be the best candidate for free feeding because he eats slower than Ryoko, and sometimes leaves food but I just hand feed it to him for being obedient later. |
When I used to feed kibble, I free fed because I wanted my furbaby to be able to eat whenever he wanted. I would measure out how much he should eat through out the day, and then the next morning, if it wasn't all gone, I would measure to find out how much he didn't eat. That way I could make sure he was eating enough. But since then, I got another furbaby and switched them both to homecooked meals. With homecooking, you can't just leave food down, so I feed my maltese 3 times per day, and I feed my yorkie (he's liver compromised so he needs several small meals per day to ease the load on hi liver) 4-5 times per day. I make sure that they always have enough to eat. If they are hungry by chance, they know how to let me know :) |
I free feed max because he takes along time to eat his food. I tried putting it down and picking it up when he was being picky and it worked. once he started eating his food then i went back to free feeding. confused u guys? LOL |
With 7 dogs I free feed and they are all healthy and none of them over eat. Some eat first thing in the morning and at night and some graze all day. None are food agressive with each other which is important with 7 dogs. They all pretty much go poop in the morning within 20 minutes of my getting up and again after I get off work at night. I might just be lucky because if one was to get over weight I might be in trouble then :eek: |
I free feed, since he is an only dog I don't have to be concerned on how much food he gets. I put his food down in the morning and some days he doens't touch it until the evening, but other times he will nibble some before he ignores it for 8 hours. |
Having 4 I also free feed, mine eat first thing in the morning, and then around 7pm, they get 2 treats a day, I monitor how much kibble is eaten, I use the tall self feeder, measuring out 4 cups per day and there is always some left, |
:animal36 I also free feed,and both of my pups have regular bowel movements,and neither are over weight. I have always noticed that they tend to eat when I do, so that is twice a day,and they sort of nibble in between. Of course I only feed kibble so leaving it down is no problem. |
:animal36 I free feed Koda, she is very picky and no matter what I do she can care less, I leave the food for her until is time to go night, night...Then It's it for her until the next morning:animal36 |
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She eats when she is hungry and randomly throughout the day she will pick at a few kibbles, if she just wants a snack. :p We feed her a high quality dog food, with no by-products. Also, if you work or need to leave the lil one at home, you know that there is food and water down, just incase. I do measure the amount of food she should be eating daily and leave that out for her..Where as my mom(who also free feeds her yorkie and her boxer mix) just leaves out the food, in one of the dispenser-type bowls. |
I free feed mine. They are home alone for about 5 hours a day so I don't want them to go hungry. They both pick at it all day. They don't over eat either. |
I free feed my Yorkie because he is a grazer. He does his own thing when it comes to food. But when I got my shih poo, he was a hoarder. It must have been because he had to fight for food before I got him. He gobbled everything up as soon as I put it down. He also, SNATCHED, biscuits from my hand. He had very bad manners. He's 2 now and has settled into free feeding without having to binge. He's figured out there will always be more food. He also takes his treats out of my hand nicely now. It just took time for him to overcome the behavior he had to resort to before he came home to me. I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup for 2 bowls and they usually eat twice a day. Good luck to ya. I think it works for some, maybe not so much for others.:D |
I have always free feed Yoda but tried to go to a schedule the last few days so I could tell that both were eating. Yoda had pretty much refused to eat since bringing Chewy into the house. He finally started eating again yesterday and he was starving!! I have decided to continue to free feed but take the food up at 7 each night. Their water is down always. Of course there are treats mixed in the day as well. The only time they don't have food and water is when they are in their crates which is from around 10:30 at night until 5:30-6:00 the next morning. This works well for us. Thank you all for replying. It sure is a lot more work initially when you get a new furbaby! (But I love them) |
Suzy gets fed 4 small meals a day (she's only 10 weeks) but there's a bowl of dry food available at all times. She loves the bikkies but doesn't eat them very much. I'm always home with her so I can keep an eye on how much she eats. I'll be starting to leave her alone during the day for 2 days a week in March next year so I want her to know that she can eat if she gets hungry. If I introduced a bowl of dry food around that time then she will, most likely, gorge herself on them because they're there and she's never had them freely available before. |
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