[Jacqueline]

I don't feed my dog the same way as other dog owners. Instead of giving my dog his meal at a scheduled time each and every day, I just leave the food out all day, allowing my dog to eat whenever he wants. Does anyone else do this? My dog isn't overweight, is very healthy, and I find it much more convenient for this way as I have a very busy schedule and no time to come home to feed my dog at a given time each day.

What are the pros and cons of free feeding a dog, opposed to scheduled feeding.

[nattiej1976]

i personally dont see anything wrong with it, but it entirely depends on your dogs eating habbits, some will devour everything in sight no matter how much food is there, whilst others will only eat to satisfaction. We have a dog that eats to satisfaction, so we will leave things in his bowl for him, to eat as he wants. But if he was a devourer I would not keep topping up his bowl (risk of overfeeding and overweight dog otherwise). At the end of the day, as long as the daily ammount given meets their nutritional requirements, it doesnt matter how its feed be it less regular large meals, lots of small meals or out for free feeding, every dog is a little different from the next!

[CorkyMax]

Originally Posted by Jacqueline

I don't feed my dog the same way as other dog owners. Instead of giving my dog his meal at a scheduled time each and every day, I just leave the food out all day, allowing my dog to eat whenever he wants. Does anyone else do this? My dog isn't overweight, is very healthy, and I find it much more convenient for this way as I have a very busy schedule and no time to come home to feed my dog at a given time each day.

What are the pros and cons of free feeding a dog, opposed to scheduled feeding.

I don't feed my dog commercial dog food so I could not leave the food out all day----It would spoil! I assume you are feeding commercial dry dog food?! Canned dogfood left out all day would be no good either of course. And if you have ants or other things that could get into it--even if dry dog food--not a good idea either.

[harley_quinn]

My dog will eat and eat and eat haha, so yeah it depends on your dog. I used to leave food out for my pug when we first got her because she wasn't eating. When she got comfortable enough to eat what we fed her regularly at certain times, the idea of leaving food for her was out of the question. She licks the bowl clean! It takes some discipline to look into those big puppy eyes and not give her more than the recommended serving (I don't want her to become overweight). :wink:

[Marc]

My dogs are great at only eating their fill, but we live near the river and the ants are horrible if not kept in check. I wish I could do that - I certainly would - so I don't see a thing wrong with it.

[Lunareclipse]

It's all personal preference. I use food as a training tool and to show dominance over my rather large dogs. Because of their size, I want them to be sure that I am the top dog.

[chiclet]

I put out a day's measured amount in the morning. Got into filling a kong with his food plugged with peanut butter or a small bit of cheddar. Most of the time there are a few pieces left at the end of the day, occasionally I add a little more.

[Lara's mom]

I fully agree that it depends on the dog in question. I leave dry out for my girls all the time and they get their home made meal at around 6 p.m. However, neither of mine are the type to "eat til they burst." They basically snack on the dry food during the day and seldom ever finish it. It's not a good idea to free feed a dog who will basically eat anything and everything that ends up in the bowl.

[Yogi]

There are some breeds that should not be free fed with Miniature Pinschers being one of them. Prone to over eating or eating in general.
Besides with my brood, if I left food out for any of them to feed at will all hell would break out
With one dog, it could possibly be an ok thing but when multiple dogs are involved there is the issue of territory and hoarding all for themselves. In these cases it generally does not work.

[reeskujo]

My Akita Kujo and my Husky Nina were both free fed as adults but only the amount required for the day....Once they finished I didn't add to the bowl again they had to wait until the next day....This prevents over feeding...Kujo usually too most of the day to finish his and Nina few hours...

Seigi however I think inhales his food rather then eating it lol but he is only 6 mths if however he continues with that as an adult he will not be free fed.

[beks]

I used to free feed my dog, put his day's worth of food in his bowl and he coul eat when ever he wanted to, worked good, he just likes to eat on his own time, i tryed to feed him on a schedual and it didnt work so well..

then when i got our seccond dog, she had a big container that you fill with food and as the bowl empties the container would drop more food in, often only needing to fill it once a week, that worke for both dogs, neither were over or under weight. both healthy, until one of my dogs developed bad allergies, and i'm still fighting to figure out what's wrong with her, so the two dogs eat seperatlly as they are on different food, feeding on a schedual now.

It just depends on the dogs i guess, some dogs will eat and eat and eat till the food is gone, others just till they are full. as long as it works for you and your dog!!