Food up or down?

[MileHiRocky]

I am wondering if it is best to feed a dog twice a day, 3 times a day or fill bowl and let them eat what they want and decide for themselves. My baby is almost 5 months and I currently feed him about 1 1/2 cups in the morning and another 1 1/2 cups at night. That just doesn't seem enough to me and my biggest problem is he wakes up every morning at 5 am to eat and goes right back to sleep. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks so much

 

[maxid]

If he is wolfing his food down, I would feed him 3 times a day for the moment. A boxer usualy will only eat what he wants. (ours did anyway) Decrease the lunchtime meal and increase the morning /evening. When he is fully grown keep to 2 smaller meals instead of one. A boxer is prone to Bloat if he eats to much to quick (http://www.canismajor.com/dog/bloat.html).

hope this helps.

 

[adobeboxers]

A lot of people don't like to free feed dogs, that is when you just fill the bowl and let them eat when they are hungry. One problem with that is it can lead to being overweight. But with that said we have free feed Tucker since he was a puppy, basically because he was very active and only ate when we were around. We recently got a puppy and then tried a schedule feeding for Titus and he too would run to the bowl and wolf it all down, even though we were feeding him 3 times a day. Then we started to see he would eat Tucker's food too. So we now free feed them both. We fill their bowls in the morning and again during the evening and let them eat whenever.

There are negatives such as they are not a potty schedule and will have to poop through out the day but both are good at letting us know when they have to go.

I've heard negatives of free feeding but it works for us and the boys don't wolf down their food anymore.

 

[stormysmom]

Our puppy Zeus is 5 and a half months old, and we feed him 3 times a day, one and a half cups each time.

I think I read somewhere that they should eat 3 meals a day until at least 6 months of age.

 

[Bugzy'sMommy]

I too have heard all the negs of free feeding, but we have free fed Bugzy since we had him(9weeks old). He eats when he's hungry and hasn't had a problem. We do feed him canned wet food once a night at the same time, but thats more of him being spoiled!:D He eats dinner(wet food mixed with kibble) when we eat dinner. It cuts down on begging and make me feel better about eating something good(steak/chicken compared to his boring old kibble) in front of him. The wet food jazzes his meal up!

I would check what works for you. If Bugzy ever started to get fat, we would create a scheduel, but free feeding works for us! The vet discourages it, but always compliments me on how Bugzy looks. He is a muscular lean Boxer that has NO problems eating! Plus, I never worry if he's getting enough, b/c he was hungry, it's always there for him!

 

[Sirus'Mommy]

When I first got Sirus...I heard it all! Mostly that free feeding was not good...But the way I figure it, is that every dog is different. And not to sound careless...but you basically learn by trial and error. With everything...the brand of food you choose, how much, how often, elevated or not! Do what is good and healthy for your dog (THEY"LL more often than not, let YOU know)...not by what statistics say. There is always an exeption to the rule.

We have always free fed Sirus. He's very active and still growing (13months) so we feel no need to specifically limit his in-take. We figure his body knows (with mommy as a mediator of course!) how much he needs for the amount of energy he expells. He has always just eaten what he's wanted and leaves the rest. This is just my case with my dog though. I hope you find a happy medium for both you and your dog!

Leah, James, and Sirus too!!!

 

[chrystel]

at 5 months old, i feed snatch 3 times a day, 1-1/2 cup each time.

i heard free feed is not good for boxer because they're at risk of bloating 9and if free-fed, his stomach is always full)