# Free feeding



## POWERSCOL (Jan 3, 2013)

After doing a search on this and reading a lot of posts - whats wrong with free feeding (food always available) if anything? I am a bit confused

I free feed Emma Purina One large beed puppy food. I may switch over to Perina Pro Plan large breed puppy that the local co-op carries, rather than dealing with small bags at Wally World.

All of my past and current vets have said free feeding is OK as long as the pup does not become fat. Emma at 12 weeks is eating a little more than 4 cups a day at her leisure. She doubled her weight at 11 weeks and is probably doing it again if not more - we weigh next week ay 14 weeks. She drings like a horse though - close to a quart, and possibly then some.

I have done all of my dogs this way up to about 1 year then usually do a 2x schedule to maintain proper weight.

Emma seems to be doing fine at 13 weeks (time fly's) and the vet is happy with her progress. I did try Chicken Soup LBP with her but after a week of diarrhea I put her on the Purina One and it cleared up within a day or so.

Am I missing something? Trying to learn.

Thanks


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

First, its incredibly rare for a free fed animal to not be overweight. I know its possible, but doesn't happen in most situations. Usually what happens is the owner (or possibly even the vet) doesn't know what ideal weight is, and thinks their overweight or even obese dog is fine. 

When free feeding its more difficult to determine exactly how much your pet is eating and when. Its also more difficult to schedule bathroom breaks. Being able to notice immediately when something has changed in eating or bathroom habits can catch health concerns faster. 

Feeding time can also be a great training time with your dog. You can ask for manners such as sitting and waiting to be released before they're able to eat. Some people use NILF techniques. Food is a great motivator, and you're tossing out that possibility to use feeding times as easy routine training sessions every day when you free feed. Its also more difficult to motivate the dog for training with treats when they're free fed, trainers recommend that the food be picked up a couple hours prior to a training session to ensure the dog has some appetite for the training treats.


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## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

Do not free feed! Loads of problems arise with free feeding...dog's food drive diminishes - makes training more difficult, contributes to obesity/overweight dogs, stools are less predictable, encourage picky eating...

4 cups??? That's a lot of food. Of course she is drinking a lot of water - Purina is not a high quality food and dehydrating so dogs drink a lot. Remember to feed in a sustained and steady manner...keep the pups very lean to minimize risks to developing joints.


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## Caitydid255 (Aug 28, 2010)

It depends on the dog. I could never do this. Freyja would eat until she was too fat to walk, she would them figure out how to roll to her dish and eat more. My parents collie on the other hand is free fed mainly because he is such a slow eater. It seems like more dogs would gorge themselves if given the chance.


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## Thesilentone (Jan 5, 2013)

I've never free fed my dogs and do not believe in it. It's a bad habit to continue as the dogs will always expect there to be food in their bowl and it's good to pick up the bowls if they're on a set feeding time to discourage them for that as well. It's good to start with feeding times when at a very young age, even if they eat three times a day. And what's already been said; your dog can easily become overweight and morbidly obese if you do not watch their food intake.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Another NO vote! I tried free feeding a picky eater and it only made things worse. Put down the food, give the pup 20 mins to eat then pick it up. Do this 3 times a day. My dog missed several meals then decided he'd better eat while he had the chance. Now that's he's 3 yrs old, he eats breakfast and dinner on time each day, no muss no fuss. My dog is a very active working dog so he needs two meals and this has stopped all the picking, pouting, I'll eat when you put something better in the bowl attitude. He's become a self- regulating eater meaning he stops when he's had enough even if there's some left.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I kinda free feed. In the morning I fill both bowls half way up, which equals about 6 cups or so. They all eat, but they don't gobble down their food or fight over it. When I leave if there is food in those bowls, it is still in there when I come home. They do not eat if I'm not home, I did not train them to do this, they just do. I give them the same amount at night and they pick at it. If they are hungry they all have told me so at one point or another and I give them some more. My oldest dog is 8.5 years old and weighs 51 pounds, which is exactly what she has weighed since she was about 2. My GSD is far from over weight, she is very lean and weighs 68 pounds. My golden is a solid dog and not an over eater either. They don't even gobble down raw when they get it....it takes them 20 minutes to eat meat that don't have bones in it. They just don't feel then need to rush or gobble it down, because they know its there or it will be shortly. They definitely do a good job of self regulating, but I understand that not all dogs do. They also poop 1-2 times a day and poop times are at 6am and 6pm...they never poop at any other time(unless they aren't feeling well and we are all feeling well at the moment).


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i frree fed my last GSD and he never over ate. in the begining
you may have to watch closely. once the pup gets use to having
food available 24/7 or whatever your schedule is he may mellow out.
with my last pup i would feed him and then leave a bowl of kibble
available. maybe it depends on the dog but i think if they're use to
having food available they're going to get use to it and not over eat.


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## volcano (Jan 14, 2013)

I am a huge NO. I feed raw and thatd be gross. Plus the feeding ritual is important in the dog understanding who is the pack leader. I guess it depends on your goals. if you want a dog to fulfill yourself then its a different point of view from fulfilling the dog. Fre feeding does not fulfill the dog at all, just makes them fat. Kinda like throwing your 8 year old in a room witha book.


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## AngVi (Dec 22, 2012)

I feed a morning meal, then I add dry kibble to the bowl whenever it is empty.
My dogs are not aggressive with food at all. I will put my hand in the bowl usually very day while they are eating, which is in the same bowl. Sometimes i will pull one away or pick up the bowl during a meal. I would never want to ever worry. My girl is very thin, she grazes all day
My vet tells me she will just be on the thin side and that's ok. People always ask if she gets fed enough, which really bothers me because of course I take care of her.
My boy is a much larger frame and is the same weight as her. He is solid muscle, and he goes to
The bowl, eats what he wants and walks away...he doesn't empty it.
They will get dinner too.
So I guess you should do what works for you. My pups are 9 months for the girl and the boy 4 1/2 months. When I want to do training I have "treats that they love"


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## Whiteshepherds (Aug 21, 2010)

I've free fed most of my dogs and they weren't overweight. 
I think the key is to start doing it when they're puppies and to measure out how much food they're going to get in one day. Only free feed using kibble. You don't keep filling the bowl every time it's empty. 
The difference between doing this and feeding them 1/2/3 times a day is they choose when and how much to eat at a time, sort of like cats. Our dogs could make the food last all day, sometimes the bowl would be emptied before they went to bed at night, sometimes not. I stopped FF because we switched to raw.

If the dogs are free fed with kibble and given high value treats for training it shouldn't interfer with being able to motivate them with food.


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## gaia_bear (May 24, 2012)

I guess you could say I free feed Gaia, she gets 1.5 cups in the am but I don't take it away after 20 minutes has passed because most of the time she hasn't touched it. At dinner time depending on what she ate during the day she gets another 1.5 cups. We always start the day with an empty bowl.

She's definitely not over weight at almost 12 months she's 62.8lbs and we still train at times with her kibble. 


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## Shaolin (Jun 16, 2012)

I've free fed every dog I've had with no issues. I think if you start from day 1 with free feeding, you shouldn't have any problems. I found that I had more gastro issues when trying to schedule feed, mostly just throwing up/coughing up food due to trying to eat food quickly. This also sounds...odd...but, IMHO, if he had to have emergency surgery for something, I don't fear severe aspiration as much. At any point during the day, Finn doesn't have more than maybe 1 cup of food in his belly, so if he had to be put under, the risks of aspiration of a lot of food are greatly reduced beause he didn't just eat his morning/afternoon/evening meal. He's also not overweight and neither were any of our free fed dogs.


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## Pooky44 (Feb 10, 2013)

My female has been free-feeding since 4 months. She is now 3.5. She has never been over or under weight. She always has kibble available in her dish. I put one cup in and when it is gone I replace it immediately. Sometimes she will continue to eat, sometimes not. She knows that food is always available so it's no big deal to her. Some days she eats more than others based on how much exercise she has gotten. She is 25.5 inches and 74 pounds, has a waistline, good energy and the vet always says she is a perfect weight. She has gotten literally thousands of compliments on her beauty and movement. Am I bragging? Wouldn't you?


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## Sitz&Platz (Oct 20, 2012)

I've free fed all of my dogs, and they've never been overweight. I feel that free feeding kibble eliminates food anxiety and food aggression, since it's not something worth fighting over. My dogs have always ended up eating and drinking out of the same bowl without problems, not a trained behavior, just something they did. That's just my experience.

I don't free feed cooked or raw food, obviously, since that would be pretty messy. In that case, they get their own bowls and appropriate serving sizes.


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## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

I can't leave food out and available unless it's inside the crate (with the door closed) as my cat will then eat the dog's food (my cat is a recovering kibble addict that is now only on canned). Dogs and cats aren't really grazing animals. I don't think it's a bad thing for them to eat a meal instead of just picking at it.


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## mego (Jan 27, 2013)

Mm like some others have said with scheduled meals I know roughly when she'll have to poop and will notice RIGHT AWAY if something is up and she's not interested in eating her meal. Also, routine is so helpful for puppies + me. Giving her food at certain times of the day helps me give her naps at other times etc


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## Cheyanna (Aug 18, 2012)

Fiona is back on kibble, because I have about 100 pounds of kibble to get thru until we go back on raw, and I free feed her. I measure and watch what she eats. It does make her poop off schedule and random, but there is a pet door so it is not that inconvenient.


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## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

good point by mego - harder to notice when dog is off food or having eating issues. Routine is of paramount importance as well. 

I've noticed a similar trend in those that are free feeders - they tend to only have one dog. Those with multiples are playing with fire when you free feed multiple dogs - something those with a single companion dog do not worry about. You will be hard pressed to find free feeding by people with multiples or people doing more advanced training/competition/sport as free feeding is not conducive to those types of situations.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

qbchottu said:


> good point by mego - harder to notice when dog is off food or having eating issues. Routine is of paramount importance as well.
> 
> I've noticed a similar trend in those that are free feeders - they tend to only have one dog. Those with multiples are playing with fire when you free feed multiple dogs - something those with a single companion dog do not worry about. You will be hard pressed to find free feeding by people with multiples or people doing more advanced training/competition/sport as free feeding is not conducive to those types of situations.


I'm partly a free feeder, since my dogs do not eat when I'm not home then I'm not 100%, but that is their doing. I have never had a dog that gulped down its food, growled, or went after another dog during feeding time. They all poop at the same time to. When my dog got real sick she ate fine, she stopped playing. I'm more interested in what you mean when you say that those with multiples are playing with fire when multiple dogs are involved?


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## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

Dogs with lots of food drive, and some level of natural protective aggression over food will not be content to pick at food throughout the day with others roaming around. It is probably fine for lower drive pets, but I cannot imagine letting any of my dogs free feed - even the little pup would go after another during feeding time. If you wish to do this, that's fine, but not something I will bother to attempt with multiple intact, food driven dogs in the same household.


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## POWERSCOL (Jan 3, 2013)

Thanks for all the thoughts. Emma is not fat, in fact she may be a bit lean. I do measure and watch. I use a quart container to scoop the food out of the bin (old cottage cheese container) She has a square dish so it is fairly easy to see how much she eats and when. I do pay attention. Emma also likes to start at one corner and eat to the bottom, then along the sides :crazy: - go figure. I can tell about how much she eats each time.

She actually only sits down to eat about 3 times a day, or after a long exercise/play period. She will eat about 1 to 1 1/2 cups in the morning at 7 when I put the food dish down - a little bit around noon, and the rest about 6 when we eat. She might grab a bit every now and then when she comes to drink. By 8 or 9PM when I pick the food and water up before bed time there is maybe a handful left. On occasion I have had to add more at the evening meal. She definitely lets me know when it is empty

Emma at 13 weeks is using the door bell well and has a pretty set potty schedule, especially for poop - its always within 30 minutes of eating, and just before bed time when I take her out - she seems to know the bed time potty break as she does not stop to explore or play as she does other times. her pee schedule is a bit different, so I haft to pay attention.

My male golden Buddy that passed away before Christmas, inhaled his food, and anything else he could get to, especially cat food. We fed him a precise amount of senior weight control food (he was 12) . He would wolf it down in minutes - not good as sometimes he would choak. He had weight issues all his life, especially after being fixed. My previous golden Amber was free fed up to about 10 when she slowly developed a weight issue, then we went to daily measured feed times.

For now I will see how this goes and keep an eye on her. She is happy, tons of energy, and is growing like a weed. This week her paws doubled in size, and her ears too. my guess is the legs will be next. She cant get under my chair anymore with out getting on her belly or side.

Thanks for the thoughts folks - I am learning a lot.


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## Shaolin (Jun 16, 2012)

qbchottu said:


> Dogs with lots of food drive, and some level of natural protective aggression over food will not be content to pick at food throughout the day with others roaming around. It is probably fine for lower drive pets, but I cannot imagine letting any of my dogs free feed - even the little pup would go after another during feeding time. If you wish to do this, that's fine, but not something I will bother to attempt with multiple intact, food driven dogs in the same household.


I guess I could see this, but at the same time, I think if there's *always* food down, the risk of food aggression goes down pretty low...at least in my opinion from what I've seen in my house and in others that have a mix of "working" dogs and pet dogs. Crankiness about food seems to go up when schedule feeding happens and one dog finishes before the other, which was another reason for going back to free feeding.

This is all just from personal experience, so I'm definately not knocking what you are saying.


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