Free Feeding

[bored_robots]

Having finally found a food that both Maddy and Taz readily eat and look forward to eating I was now wondering about free feeding them as a pose to timed amounts. For those who do free feed do you put the amount on the bag down and thats all they get all day or do you put a good amount in the bowl and when thats gone put more in. Taz always seems starving, Im hoping that free feeding means he will decide when he has eaten enough, are there any negtive points of free feeding? Do you think I would get through a massive amount of dog food that way? I now every fortnight have to get a 15kg bag and that lasts both doggies? Should I just increase their amounts a little so they dont seem so starving but still sticking to a regime? BY the way maddy is 9months and taz is 5months

 

[lost1700]

With my 23 week old male I put 2-3 cups down in the morning. Sometimes he will eat it all at once and sometimes he will eat some and then come back later and eat the rest. In the evening i put down another 2-3 cups and he does the same. I don't know if that is true free feeding but I certainly don't time him or take his food up. Good Luck.

 

[boxer]

There can be problems with free feeding - especially if you have more than one dog. LOL - how will you know whether one dog or the other is eating all the food? (well, I guess you will if one gets fat and the other one thin). Yes, you could find yourself running through huge amounts of dog food that way.

I'd stick with feeding them at specific meal times. Then at least you know exactly how much each dog is getting and can adjust the amount to suit each dog's individual need. As for whether to feed them more - not necessarily, it really depends on how they each look (too fat = less food, too thin = more food, correct weight = same amount).

 

[Ronin1]

We have always free-fed our dogs. We even did it when we had two Boxers, and they tended to stay out of each others bowls. With Ronin, I put two or three cups down in the morning - he usually eats all of it during the day (not all at once). Then I put a couple of cups into his bowl in the evening. It has always worked really well for us.

 

[Jan]

I would not free feed! It's really not a good idea. I would want to know right away if I my dog wasn't hungry. With 2 dogs how do you know who is getting what. You need to be seen as the provider or the food.

 

[KCboxer4]

We have always free fed our dogs, it works for us it may not for others, my girls eat out of the same bowl at the same time ( or not) and before our Dylan passed away we did the same thing. 12 years now. For us, it was a schedule thing, we do pick up their food by 8pm. I find that they eat then leave it alone until evening then snack some more. All of our lifestyles are so different I think that sometimes can also be a determining factor. Good luck with whichever you decide.

 

[Dorian]

I Started free feeding Dorian when I took him off his puppy food and put him on dry food. Hes not an over eater, and neither are his parents, so Iv never had a problem with it. Hes 7 months old now and eats about 4 cups a day, generally, I just put the 4 cups in his dish and leave it for him all day. Its usualy gone or mostly gone by mid evening. If he has it gone too soon in the day I may give him a bit more.