[DozerDogg]

Hello,

Well as the title suggests I would like to hear the pros and cons of free feeding (keeping their food dish full and available 24/7). We do this and have done so with every dog I have ever owned in my life. Personally I don't see any problems with it but I am a novice nutritionist at best, adequate at the most.
I would appreciate any help you have to offer. Thanks in advance.


Chris, Jenny, Buster, Dozer and Shyloh.

[Shaina]

Growing up, my family's dogs always had free access to food and we never had a problem with obesity or with a dog becoming a picky eater, or whatever other maladies that free-feeding is supposed to produce. Then again, those dogs were farm dogs who received an enormous amount of exercise and who weren't prone to gorging themselves.

My current dog would likely eat until her made her self sick, vomit, and continue eating. Even if that weren't the case, I don't really care for leaving food out all the time for sanitary purposes...it's dry kibble, but our apartment's small and the whole place would smell like a pet store. Not to mention the risk of mold or whatever else when she slurps half her water bowl into her food bowl (she's a bit of a pig sometimes).

Basically, free feeding's fine in certain circumstances, but my feeling is that you can't really go wrong with limited food access for the sake of your dog's health (eg. mine gets offered a set amount of food twice a day, for ~20 minutes each time...the only time she's left any unfinished was right after her spay). You can essentially nip obesity in the bud, and you are immediately aware if you dog goes off her food so you can be on the lookout for any other symptoms of something more serious.

Also (and I'm totally stating the obvious here), free-feeding only works for dry food: if you plan on feeding anything else, or mixing in anything else, then it's really not even an option.

[Anela]

I've had dogs for the past 17 years, and I never free feed. That said, there may be a need for it, if the vet indicates one.

Dogs and their cousin (wolves) are not constant eaters. Their system is not built for so much food. They are used to eating in stages, not constantly like a cow.

Free feeding can cause all sorts of problems, obesity, arthritis due to obesity, internal problems, etc. It can also cause problems with house training issues.

All three of my dogs eat every 12 hours. If they don't eat everything in less than 10 minutes, the food gets taken away, and they wait until next time.

Anela

[DozerDogg]

Right now the three of them eat a little over 4 cups of food a day. Sometimes we may fill their bowl again at the end of the day but they usually don't gorge themselves. They usually drink 2 large bowls of water a day also. Am I really doing harm to them? That is the last thing in the world I would do to my dogs, or cats for that matter. Is there some sign or another that I could watch for?

[lovemygreys]

The only benefit to free feeding is human convenience. Lots of drawbacks. Here's a few:
- Change in eating habits can be the first sign of illness
- Scheduled time for food in, generally means a scheduled time for poo out.
- We take our dogs to run very regularly and I want to know how much they've eaten and when before vigorous exercise, or even a moderate stroll.
- Resource control

I never free fed with only one dog and I'd never do it with multiple dogs. With multiple dogs you may not notice a dog is not eating until they are underweight -whether it's because they're sick or other dogs are bogarting the food. Fights can occur over food. If food is refilled after it's gone (rather than free feeding one set amount per day), obesity can result.

I wouldn't say free feeding harms a dog....it works for some people and some packs. Its just not something I do or think is an ideal feeding regimine.

[GreatDaneMom]

anela, you really cant use wolves as a comparison. the difference is wolves have access to food all the time, all they have to do is kill it. that WOULD imply free feeding is the way to go.
i personally hate the comparison of dogs and wolves because they ARE SO different. ANYWHO! i dont free feed. it leaves room for too many problems like obesity, and in danes, bloat. my dane chloe would eat till she exploded if she could. there is no way i could ever free feed her. my other dane lexi was free fed by the breeder, but has changed due to chloe not being able to be free fed.

[Annamarie]

if you're dog is not obese, a picky eater, etc, free feeding is in general ok for dogs. i did it for years with my other low maintenance dogs and they never had any issues.

[DozerDogg]

It doesn't seem to be a problem so far, as I said they are all within a healthy range weight wise for their build and so far no serious illness but I know that doesn't mean that they are not being harmed. I am trying to explain all this to my wife but she thinks it's somehow cruel to feed only at certain times.

Now my Grandmother has a 96lb. Basset Hound that is free fed but of course he is extremely obese although you can't convince her of that, all to his detriment.

[MagicToller]

Greys said it best: the pro's are associated with human convenience.

[SpudFan]

One thing that has not been raised with regards to free feeding is the benefits for pottenialy aggresive breeds where you want to remove all sources of competition.

The one thing that bothers me with this thread is that there is a lot of judgement passed on assumption. If you will be free feeding use a bit of common sense and observe how your dog will handle it. Also ensure that your food is adequatly stored etc

I have multiple dogs that have been free fed for many years and are in fantastic condition. They always have fresh water and kibble available. They also get given bones and suplements on a regular basis. My dogs have no food issues that I have seen in many others.

[DozerDogg]

Originally Posted by MagicToller

Greys said it best: the pro's are associated with human convenience.

Nice, so I am being selfish because it's more conveinent? Your opinion is just that yours but don't make me out to be lazy and uncaring. I would and will do anything in my power for my dogs. I simply wanted to know what the big argument was all about, and if I was convinced that I was harming them I would change to scheduled feedings.

[GreatDaneMom]

basically it all boils down to the dog really....if YOUR dog does well on it, GREAT! if you have multiple dogs, make sure they ALL do well on it. if they look a bit tubby, maybe you should maybe some schedualed feeding is in order. my personal choice is to feed meals because im terrified of bloat. by my feeding them i know how much they are eating and how fast, and i know how much they are drinking with it. so i dont worry SO much, dont think i dont worry about it at all though, its still a lot, im very anal about it. but with my feeding i can watch over it and help try to prevent it.

[Renoman]

I have always found that a scheduled feeding time/amount worked best for me as well as my dogs. This way I was able to keep track of when/how much they ate and monitor their weight accordingly.

As puppies, maintaining a consistent feeding schedule made bathroom breaks easier to determine which made house training much easier.

I continue to feed on a schedule with a measured amount. This way I can monitor weight and adjust food amounts accordingly for each dog.

[Shaina]

Originally Posted by SpudFan

The one thing that bothers me with this thread is that there is a lot of judgement passed on assumption.

That is true of any forum, and a great deal of real-life interactions. Unless every person who makes a post covers every contingency, assumptions get made. Then again, if every possible detail was included, all the posts would be novellas and wouldn't get read :-P

Anyway the OP asked for general opinions and people responded with personal experiences, which is the basis for their assumption.

[DozerDogg]

I am sorry to get angry but I love my dogs like they're my arms and legs! I would truly be lost without them and want them to ;ive forever, but barring that as long and happily as possible. I hear that larger dogs have shorter lifespans than smaller ones so I worry about losing them way too soon. Sorry, corny I guess.

[MegaMuttMom]

I free feed my cat and wish she would gain weight. The cat I had before would have eaten herself to an obese death. My dog could probably free feed well. He isn't terribly food oriented and eats relatively slowly. My step father always free fed his dogs and they did great. I think it is really a matter of opinion and personal to each pet. You can tell if a pet is off their food by how often you have to fill the bowl. Like I often say, if it's not broke, why fix it?

[GreatDaneMom]

Originally Posted by MegaMuttMom

I free feed my cat and wish she would gain weight.

ugh, my cat was like that. he was so skinny, hes a tiny cat to begin with but since i wormed him 2 months ago, hes getting tubby lol. i think hes put on a lb or 2. i think hes probably around 5lbs now.

no one is saying you dont love your dogs.... i promise. people are just trying to give you what THEY think is the best information they can provide you with, most being real life experiences. like i said, my dog would eat herself to death if i tried to free feed her. im not saying you shouldnt, but thats what MY dog would do. by telling you that, all i want you to know is that, yes, there ARE dogs who dont do well free feeding. thats all.

[nrhareiner]

I have free fed for over 30 years. That adds up too, with my personal dogs and foster dogs, over the years to well over 100 dogs. I have never had a single dog with a problem. Not one over waight or a picky eater or anything. They eat when they are hungery.

Heidi

[lovemygreys]

Originally Posted by DozerDogg

Nice, so I am being selfish because it's more conveinent? Your opinion is just that yours but don't make me out to be lazy and uncaring. I would and will do anything in my power for my dogs. I simply wanted to know what the big argument was all about, and if I was convinced that I was harming them I would change to scheduled feedings.

Uh....no one used the words lazy or uncaring or selfish. Most people free feed b/c it's more convenient to leave food out than to establish feeding times. In fact, I very carefully worded my response as to be NON-judgemental. People do what works best for their dogs and their lifestyle. But, since you asked for OUR opinions, I offered MINE. And that is, there are far too many drawbacks and really no benefits to free feeding - other than human convenience.

Personally, I love feeding time with my dogs. Some people see it as a chore, I don't. I know *immediately* if someone goes off their food. Some of our dogs get meds they take with meals. Just lots of benefits with scheduled feeding times. Again, MY opinion.

[xxxlisaxxx]

Originally Posted by GreatDaneMom

basically it all boils down to the dog really....if YOUR dog does well on it, GREAT! if you have multiple dogs, make sure they ALL do well on it.

Well said. Not sure if i am picking this up right tho!! but does free feed mean when their bowl is empty you re-fill it????? As far as my version of free feeding is, a full bowl of kibble is put down in the morning for my 2 year old cocker and if its finished within minutes or within hours, thats the lot, I dont re-fill again and i dont pick it up after a certain time if its not finished.

At the moment I have stopped this as I have a 15 week old pup and he is fed 3 times a day as I think this is so important so my cocker now gets his meal in three stages now as if I just free fed my older one the pup im sure would get his mouthful without me looking every so often, so until the pup is alot older and gets over the "savage" stage I am monitoring feeding times. Sorry if i have got it totally wrong.