Forced Feeding Vs Free Feeding

[hastie1]

Hi All. Cassius is now 13 weeks old, when we brought him home at 8 weeks, I just filled his bowl with food and he would eat throughout the day, not consuming the whole bowl at once just eating till he was satisfied and that was working great, then our vet and other boxer friends said not to do that and he should have a 'Forced' feeding routine. So I switched to twice a day (morning 1 cup and evening 1 cup). Now that we are at Puppy training and the trainer is also a Nutrionist/Behaviorist/Trainer, she suggests that we move away from 'froced' feeding and do 'Free' feeding, as I was doing in the begginning, this way the dog does not consume each meal like it is his last and will be less aggressive when you are around him at feeding time. I have read alot on here and it seems everybody uses the force feeding method, does anyone else 'Free' feed ? we are also currently switching from Eukanuba to Nutro, once I learnt about ingrdients.
Iain & Cassius :confused:

 

[buddy'smom]

I free feed

but I think I am the rare one on here.

When our male was a pup, I considered the forced feeding, but after viewing so many other pups eating so fast in what appeared fear of having it taken away before they were done, I decided to stick with the free feed. I measured out his daily food am't in the am. and that is what went into his bowl at the beginning of the day. He never ate it all at once, took what he wanted and finished what was left for his evening meal. As he matured he went to his bowl to eat when we ate, so basically he put himself on the two meal program.

I do the same with Kailee. We adopted her at the age of 2 and I did try the forced feeding with her. Kailee came from a background of being fed when the humans remembered she was in the back yard. So once again, she was intaking the food sooo fast she was throwing it back up whole within minutes of her meal. She now gets her daily allotment in the am. and she nibbles throughout the day finishing it at our supper time. Free feeding is said to not be the best way to go, especially if you are into a behavioral issue with the dog. As well, free feeding not done in measured daily am'ts takes away the knowledge of how much your dog eats etc. That is why I give her the same am't (3 cups daily) in her bowl in the am. I think you need to reason with yourself why you want to free feed then take it from there. In my case, especially with Kailee it has worked the best for her. Both ways of feeding have their merits IMO, you just need to factor out what is best for your furbaby.

Jean

 

[hastie1]

Thanks Jean for your input.
There is no behaviorial issue with Cassius, nutrition was the topic of dicussion at puppy school this past weekend. I am still currently measuring out the food into his bowl. :D

 

[buddy'smom]

You are welcome Actually the topic sounds kind of interesting. I would love to know more as to her benefits of free feeding vs. forced feeding. I can tell you, I have not had any issues regarding food or their dishes. With both I can even reach down mid meal and take the bowl away.
When I had the two of them together, I still free fed, and it worked okay. Both seemed to know their bowls and that is where they went to nibble. They ate side by side, no aggression problems. I wonder had I used the forced feeding and having had two dogs if that may have created issues.
BTW I noted you are in Mississauga, I am in Oakville. The boxer population seems to be growing in this area.

Jean

 

[cashisking]

"Forced Feeding"????

The term is not really correct now is it???? I "control feed" and the reason that I do it is because I am the leader of my "pack" thus I decide who eats and when.. I leverage a certain amount of "respect" from my dog when I do things this way, I also used "gesture eating" for awhile (when you make sure the dog sees you eating something first. The first day Cassius was home, I fed him and he went crazy, like he was just starved (considering what they were feeding him, and that it was 2x a day with ALL his litter mates, he could have been) but not ONCE since then have I had an aggression problem with Cash....

JMO!

Jenn

 

[hastie1]

Jean - Wow we are neighbours.. The Trainer is 'BRB' on Burnhamthorpe Rd just east of Trafalgar Rd. She came very highly recommended. You actually re-iterated her benefits, being able to reach down into the food bowl while they are eating, without any fear of aggression and also the dog eating more calmy knowing that his/her food is not going to go away, it will always be there if it wants to nibble. Personally I think it makes more sense for a calmer dog when eating , I just wish I had continued and not made the change, but when you are new to this, you always listen to folks who have the experience, and it made what I was originally doing seem wrong and I thought the dog would end up over eating. Live and Learn, I guess
Iain

 

[buddy'smom]

The term is not really correct now is it????

I knew what hastie meant, excuse us for not being politically correct. As I stated one needs to weigh out the reasons for free feeding, then make the decision. As I also stated I am a rare one on here, and I am not going to appologize for what works for our household, as neither should you. You are amongst the majority so obviously control feeding has it's merits. The initial question was if anyone on here free feeds, I do so I replied.

Hastie: I know of this trainer, in fact in my search for a new puppy and breeders, BRB was a name that was recommended to me. :D I know where Burnamthorpe is, I am there the odd time for work issues. Interesting! :D

Jean

 

[cashisking]

Originally posted by buddy'smom
I knew what hastie meant, excuse us for not being politically correct. As I stated one needs to weigh out the reasons for free feeding, then make the decision. As I also stated I am a rare one on here, and I am not going to appologize for what works for our household, as neither should you. You are amongst the majority so obviously control feeding has it's merits. The initial question was if anyone on here free feeds, I do so I replied.

Jean

easy there, I was just offering my opinion, no offense intended on this Monday morning, didn't mean to sound like I was trying to start a fight... To me, "forced feeding" sounds a bit harsh..

JMO= Just my opinion!!!!

Jennifer

 

[JulieM]

Forced feeding is entirely different from scheduled feeding. Forced feeding is "stuffing" - literally shoving food down a dog's throat. Jean, you knew what hastie meant, and so did I, but many people reading this might not so it is an important distinction to make.

That said, since I feed raw I do practice scheduled feeding (and would do it even if I didn't). I can reach into my dogs' food bowls any time I want, or take it away if I need to. That is a management issue, not related to feeding technique. My dogs also eat in their crates, as we travel (some of them quite a lot) and need to be able to eat on the road.

My biggest concern with free feeding is that unless you've been paying close attention, you never know when the dog last ate. Having had to go through an emergency surgery, I felt much more comfortable knowing exactly when my dog last ate so that they could accurately judge anesthesia etc.

It is a personal choice - I don't recommend free feeding, but I know it works for some people and for most situations that's fine. Free feeding will work against you when you're housetraining, and as Jean said if there are behavioral issues scheduled feeding (or as Jennifer so aptly put it, "controlled" feeding) is an important part of the behavior modification process.

 

[JulieM]

That said, since I feed raw I do practice scheduled feeding (and would do it even if I didn't).

Aargh! What a gramatically horrible sentence!!! What I meant is, even if I didn't feed raw, I would practice scheduled feeding.