Free or Scheduled Feedings :/
 

Ok so i know a lot of people free feed their babies and let them eat freely throughout the day, and a lot of people have scheduled feedings where they feed their babies at certain times of the day.... So my reasoning for making this thread is to ask you guys if free feeding is irresponsible (letting them eat whenever they want how many times they want.. that could lead to gluttony). Or if you think scheduled feedings are being to strict on them (when they're hungry there's nothing there, why should they have to wait to eat, i don't). I just want to know because i've heard both sides and some people actually feel really, and i do mean REALLY, strongly about this. I just want to know what you all thing is the "better" (notice the quotations) way of meal time.

I schedule feed. Taycie comes to work with me where there is another dog. I personally, don't want to feed the other dog:) She also has food allergies so she is on a very strict RX diet, so I don't want her eating his food either:) I also don't want to bring along her food, if I don't have too, mostly because I end up forgetting it or I end up wasting it.. (If I am using wet mixed with dry) It really for me, in my situation is the most convienent.

I also like it because it was so easy to potty train her. I know when she needs to go out and I am able to keep track of how much she is eating. I also know when she is "off" her food and things are not right. Because of her special diet she only gets that and that is it. I do bring along a scoop of kibble in a tupperware for treats throughout the day and give them to her.

For us, that is why, and it works the best for us! In the end, I think what works for every individual dog is the most important. Some really do ok free feeding but if I ended up bringing food along, there is no doubt in my mind their dog would be eating her RX diet, and it is to expensive to do that .

I don't see a problem with free feeding as long as you have a dog that will not overeat. We free fed our first two for a long time until we switched to Honest Kitchen and Raw- which obviously cannot be free fed.

If your dog will overeat, then yes it is irresponsible to free feed, IMO.

I free feed and have never had an overeater.

I think it depends on the pup. I feed Levi on a schedule because he does not self-regulate his food intake well. He would eat until he made himself sick. I also like knowing how much and what time he has eaten. :)

I feed twice a day in their crates. I have 5 dogs and this is the easiest way to make sure everyone eats what they need. Free feeding would not work here. Only the two puppies get the same food. The three adults are on different diets and meds. Lily the Lab would eat every bowl empty, then whine for more.

I also like it because it was so easy to potty train her. I know when she needs to go out and I am able to keep track of how much she is eating.
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Disregard thet first post i messed up and now they wont let me change it. But Yes i also agree it depends on the dog itself because some will overeat (leading you to scheduled feedings) and some will eat the amount right for them (leading you to keep free feeding). But there are some people who just believe that one way is the only way, but there are plus sides to both. And they think I'm being irresponsible by free feeding... or I'm to strict by sceduled feedings...boy i wish they could see some of your replies. :/

I feed twice a day. Bentley is on special food for allergies and my Boxer has his own food. They also get their own treats twice a day in between their regular meals.

I schedule my feedings for a variety of reasons. It made potty training easier, as it regulates their systems. They eat, then five minutes later, they potty. Pups are remarkably consistent this way. Also, I have two, so if I just left food down I wouldn't have realized that Lucy wasn't eating very well a few weeks ago. So it helps you monitor how much or how little each pup is eating, which could help you to realize more quickly if there's a problem (in my case, there wasn't; her daddy was just sneaking her treats under the table, and she was being a little snot about her food - but I was able to catch them, lol). Another reason I schedule is because Lila would be a little porker if I didn't, lol! I call her my Chubba-Lou (her middle name/nickname is Lou) because she absolutely LOVES to eat! She's not fat, because I've always controlled her food intake very strictly... But if I didn't, I have no doubt she'd weigh around 8 lbs instead of 5, which would be EXTREMELY unhealthy for my baby. There are sooo many overweight dogs nowadays, and it is just as unhealthy for a dog to carry around excess weight as it is for a human (in fact, it's usually more so).


Those are my main reasons for scheduling my babies feedings... I do know plenty of people who free feed, but i can't say that I completely agree with it... Although if it works for them, who am I to judge. :) But I honestly believe that it's the better choice, at least for my girls and I.

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Yes you named every reason why i schedule feed now. Especially when you said you have a poker... Max would eat me out of a house and a home if i were to free feed and he would definitely steal all of my bichon's food. So i have to monitor him carefully because everyone in the house tries to give him table scraps when he gives them that "puppy look" lol.

I also like to do scheduled feedings for trick training, in addition to potty training. This way you will know when they are on an empty stomach and most likely will do whatever you want them to to get some kibble! :D Uni didn't know what a treat was until she was more than 2 yrs old. I think this really helped a lot with our trick training.

If I were to free feed, I would put out the alotted amount per day, and no more. They they will learn quickly if they eat it all too early, they will go hungry throughout the day.

I free feed and if I didnt Callie wouldnt eat enough. She picks at her food a few bites here a few bites there. She doesn't over eat. I really think it depends on the dog some will over eat and some wont. My aunt and uncle came over with there dog that they only feed once a day and she ate her food so fast like she was starving and it made me wanna cry. If you have a really over weight dog then yes it might irresponsible but I dont think in general free feeding is irresponsible.

I do a combination of both, now. Last week Luna scared the crud out of me---she actually had a hypoglycemic episode. I was free-feeding kibble, and she just would not eat enough. So I started last week giving the girls a spoonful of canned food (DVP Natural Balance LID) in the morning and evening. They have kibble down to crunch on whenever they want. So far, though they have gained a few ounces, they are doing great on this system. I fed them way too much, at first, forgetting how tiny their stomachs are:laugh: So I cut it way back and their fat bellies are less so now. I was mixing their kibble in (measured) with the soft, but they mostly left that all over the kitchen floor and didn't eat much of it that way. I dunno, I may pull up the kibble and try again, but in the meantime they are combo kids;)

Oh goodness Hypoglycemia? do you mind sharing what happened? i've read that this is common in yorkies.

With Kiwi we always free fed because he was always very lean and would "pick" at his food all day, so far with Lola we have tried free feeding and she finishes all of her dry food with no problem every day, she loooves to eat. I have a feeling the free feeding will be ending soon (haven't stopped yet because she is still so young and want to make sure she is eating often enough) but.... I don't want her to have "weight issues":p

I schedule feed. It makes potty training easier because then I know when they need to go outside to do their business.

It mostly happens in puppies its not normal if it is happening in adult dogs. Callie has hypoglycemic episodes where she goes limp, gums are pale, not very responsive and wont eat. Callie is 4 so she should not be having these issues but we have done around 600 dollars in blood tests and everything is coming back fine and her episodes are coming less often because I am on prevent mode and every time she plays a lot or is going out we take a brake to eat some dog food. I know you where asking the questions to another person but I'm sick and all I can do right now is sit and lay and be on the computer.

Kiko gets fed twice a day, morning and evening, she gets treats in the middle of the day when work on "tricks". I like scheduled feeding better because I know when she is not feeling well or someone is feeding her table food. It also makes it easier for me to keep track of how much she is eating. Plus if Kiko plays hard too soon after eating, she has a tendency to throw up her food, so I know when she ate and to wait a little when before playing. If she has been very active, longer walks more play time, then I feed her a little more kibble or add a treat.

It's fine im glad someone answered my question... and i am so relieved to hear that its uncommon for adults so that i won't have to worry about it for Max's ENTIRE life. But that has to be scary to see your baby go limp :eek:.
P.S- I hope you feel better!!!

ZoE is fed on schedule. She's not a good self-regulator & would eat until she was sick, if allowed. The schedule feed also works for me at this point in my life as it makes her pottying predictable, and now that it's just ZoE & me at home, I take her almost everywhere with me.

My last yorkie, Chelsea, was free-fed & that worked great for her and she held to a steady 5lbs. It also worked great for me at the time, as I had kids at home and was constantly running to hockey games with my son & soccer/lax with my daughter. If we weren't home in time for dinner, Chelsea was still able to eat & didn't have to wait on her meals.

Just the other day Max had just eaten and right after he ate he begged me to go outside (scratching on the back door furiously)... i thought he had to go potty so i let him out... as soo as i opened the door he shot straight out (we have a fenced in backyard) and he just ran all over the place. about 5 min. later he came back in to get water and he threw up EVERYTHING... i thought maybe i was feeding him extremely to much (but then i thought... 1/4 cups can't possibly be TOO much)... And this may seem dumb to you but it never dawned on me that he might have just been a little too active before his food had a chance to digest.

Kaos also eats once a day, in the morning. He eats it all within 5 minutes. He gets multiple treats and bullsticks throughout the day. He's never starving but knows to eat his food when its given. As a puppy we used to free feed, and he used to eat a piece of kibble here and there, never amounted to daily amount needed. So we switched to scheduled feedings (2x day as a puppy). If he didn't eat he lost his food until the next feeding. Now he eats the daily recommened amount and is a perfect healthy weight. It also helped to potty train him. That's just what worked for my boy though. :)

I started out free feeding, then suddenly things got out of control with the potty habits. I started schedule feeding and after losing a sofa and chair along with a few rugs, the bathroom habits are back under control. I also cage the guys when I am not home, leaving water available to them. I think like alot of people have said, alot depends on the dog. My daughters pom would be extremely overweight due to eating out of boredom..Joey, my Yorkie wouldn't eat enough! Good luck with your decision.

My 5# Maxie would eat until he threw up... He's a little pig... eating so fast he chokes. I adopted him, so I don't know what his eating habits were before, but I can not free-feed him since I think he would eat and puke and eat and puke until all food was gone. My 9# Marley was a very picky eater until I got Max. Now, he knows that Max will go for his plate as soon as he's done with his, Marley eats right away when the food is put down. Both dogs are appropriate weight and are healthy.

Mine are fed twice a day on schedule.

For arguments sake.. I guess I free feed. At least in the sense that I do not limit how much food Harley gets in a day. Depending on how he's feeling I give him 1/8 -1/4 cup whenever his dish is empty and record it in my log. (he's been sick and is underweight so I am encouraging him to eat now that he's back to normal). Usually I'll just throw down 1/4 cup morning and night and leave him to eat it whenever he wants. I don't ever take his dish away from him.

I like that system but agree that not all dogs can be on a routine like that. My boy prefers to eat at night and when no one is watching, so for me to put a bowl down and take it away is useless.

We scheduled feed for two years, but switched to free feed because they don't always eat when I put food out and I want them to eat. Plus, my schedule became super busy so it's easier to free feed anyways. If weight ever becomes an issue, then we would definitely switch back to schedule feeding. As for now, we're trying to combat not eating rather than overeating. lol