If you could 'free feed' your dog(s), would you?

Question

For those of you who don't know what 'Free Feed' means-it means filling up their dish with food and they only consume what they want/need without gaining weight. I wonder why we used to be able to do this with our Golden, but as she got older, we had to control it. Could it be that younger dogs are more active? I do feed pups freely (mine so far don't get overweight), for I feel they only eat what they need and they need more for as fast as they grow. What's your thoughts? Can/do any of you free feed your dog(s)? (I found it can never be done with cats-ours our HUGE pigs-except one!)

Answer 1

Either I've had the weirdest animals ever or your cats are!

Seriously I've had dogs and cats for 50+ years and it's always been the other way round! The cats only ever eat a little at a time and I used to fill the bowl once a day. The dogs whatever age would eat whatever was in the bowl and if I refilled it they'd eat that too. I've never had a dog that knew when to stop! As most have been Shepherds too I'd not want to risk them getting bloat. That can kill a dog and overeating is one of the main causes of it.

Apart from that though, how do you know how much they are eating? the first sign of problems in a dog is often a lack of appetite, and if the food is down all the time how can you tell. Besides if you have cats too how can you be sure they aren't eating it as well. That could cause real problems as the proportions of cereals in dog food is far too high for a cat. I'm sure if I'd left dog food down my cats would eat it instead of their own, whereas the dog could never get to the cats food.

No I think it's a silly thing to do and if anything it explains why so many dogs and cats are becoming obese. If I still fed commercial food I'd stick to the two meals a day.

Now I feed Barf I don't think it would be a good idea leaving raw meat down for either cats or dogs.

Answer 2

I have three dogs, a Jack Russell Terrier(3), a Shepherd mix(8), and a Lab mix(4), and we free feed. We feed the a soft dog food in the morning that goes along with the pills that they get. Other than that they always have food in their bowls and can eat what they want when they want and most of the time it is where they want, the lab mix has a tendency to bring mouthfuls of food and spit it out on the floor wherever we are so he doesn't have to be away from us. Our shepherd has such a high metabolism that we really have no choice but to free feed, right after he finishes eating his head and shoulders get burning hot when we adopted him 2 yrs ago and we first noticed this we thought he was sick but then the vet told us what was going on. when the bowls do get empty and we fill them up the terrier and shepherd act like they are starving and haven't been fed for weeks so I don't think we could feed them any other way.

Answer 3

I cant even though my dogs are young, they are pigs and the first day I try it they will eat so much they will bloat. Since my dogs have that propensity already I avoid it. Also, when feeding on a schedule for puppies potty training is 100x easier. Another really good thing is that with scheduled feedings I know exactly how much my dogs are eating or are not eating. You will know somethings up faster if your dog suddenly doesnt want to eat, you wouldnt see that if you free feed. I started noticing my boy was eating less and slower last week and got him to the vet. Apparently he got something and was treated. He's still feeling yucky and not eating well but just now starting to lose weight, I wouldnt have known until just a day or two ago.

Answer 4

I free feed most of my dogs here. The dogs tend to eat what they need. I do have a few that I can not do this with though. Cats!! Ugh!! My husband fed the darn cats like this, well this has changed! My one cat is over 15 pounds, he does not like the way I am feeding him right now! LOL I do free feed pups as well. I just put about 60 pounds of dog food out today between all of the feeders with the dogs.

Answer 5

I used to have 2 times a day where I put the food down she didnt eat it no matter what, I took it away after some time but it just seems like it doesnt effect her.



She eats when shes hungry which isnt a lot.



She eats very little so yes I "free feed" her.

I wouldn't mind if she gained a pound or 3! ;]



Dogs that eat anything thats in front of them shouldnt be free fed. It just depends on the dog.

Answer 6

With my dog, I've always free fed her. She is 8 now. She is actually underweight. It is probably because she eats little and exercises a lot; she is just as active now as when she was a pup. She only eats what she needs, never indulges. I find it quite strange and I usually have to hand her food pellets so she eats. Needless to say that I've never had problems with her being overweight because of free feeding.



My cats were another story. I had one that I fed in the morning and night. He stayed a healthy weight his entire life. With my other that had wet food morning and night and then I had dry for free feeding was always overweight.

Answer 7

My in-laws have had some success. They have two healthy, medium/small sized muts. They always have dry food and are feed half a can of wet food each morning. I think the reason it works is that they don't really like the dry food too much so they can eat it if they need to but mostly hold out for the good stuff in the morning. I'm doing a similar thing with my cat and so-far, he hasn't gained any weight.

Answer 8

Nope. I will never free feed. A good way to tell if your dog isn't feeling well is if he doesn't eat his breakfast/dinner. How are you going to know that if the dish is always full? It could be days before you realize that your dog isn't eating as much as normal.. Longer if you have more than one dog. Free feeding can also create problems with food aggression and it can make 'weaker' dogs feel threatened around the food dish and cause problems with them taking and hiding food elsewhere.

Answer 9

Interesting idea- I think it will work with some dogs and not with others- with age they do fill out, it's definitely something to do with activity levels- my sisters two are young dogs though, and they really have to watch them, or they'll just gorge themselves- one is pretty plump even with them strictly moderating his chow. There are some practical problems with having a bowl of dog food available all the time as well- like, how do you stop the cats gorging on it- how to stop it attracting other pest such as flies and mice.



Come to think of it, we did leave a bowl of dog biscuits down for our labradors at one point so they could snack on it throughout the day. They stayed slim, but after a while I noticed that one bit of the food was not being eaten- it'd gone off or something, and was just going manky in one corner of the bowl. So, yeah, I guess we've already done it- it seems to be fine, just needs a little maintenance... but what would the advantage be over keeping a schedule of regular mealtimes for them?

Answer 10

we free feed you dog but he is only 8 months i think it had to do with calorie intake and not exercising. Most older dog have to be feed a special food or regulate how much they eat. But I'm sure some dogs that are still active can free feed the older they are too.

Answer 11

Our of the seven dogs I've had only one was able to free feed successfully. She was my first pup and then when the other one came along I had to stop because this pup was a glutton and did become overweight. I have a cat I free feed and I'm really sorry I started - he's 12 yrs. old and it's impossible to change his ways at this age.

Answer 12

I free feed my 1 year old Chihuahua. I do this because he likes to eat a small meal in the morning, a lunch and the rest at night. (Around 8:00) He basicly has his own schedule made up, so I figure why bother with it.

My 9 year old Pomeranian was on a schedule though. She ate once in the morning and once at night. (This was recommended by her vet since she was kind of tubby.) ...She had a passion for dog food. LOL! Ever since she was 1 year old when she'd see dog food she'd get all excited and hyper. XD

Answer 13

It depends. If you have an active breed that you do nothing with, then it may get "bored" and decide just to eat all day long. This happened to a Dalmation we rescued whose previous owners let him get to 40 pounds overweight!



Older dogs are prone to hypothyroidism which makes them prone to obesity. All older dogs should be screened for with with blood tests annually.



Free feeding is just not a very good idea. Not only does it make potty training more difficult, but by allowing them to eat whenever and how much they want, you are giving up of your control over resouces and this plays a role with trying to train.



There have been many studies on obesity and dogs and we see far too many fat dogs for ACL injuries for surgery. The fact that some are so obeses complicates recovery and most end up having bilateral ACL injuries. Along with knees, all joints (especially hips) are adversely affected by obesity. Many small breed dogs that are obese are more prone to disk ruptures in their backs, and is complicated collasping trechea and heart disease.



Studies have found the dog fed 30% less then the "recommend" nutritional amount not only live longer, but have less incidence of arthritis, joint and ligament problems or that these problems occur much later in life compared to those fed the 'recommneded" amount. So less is more.



Also, overweight cats - not good. Many are suseptible to urinary tract disease, diabetes, and liver disease.

Answer 14

No, under no circumstances. In a dog's social world, it's the leaders that control the food, not the subordinates. Free feeding removes this important tool for establishing yourself as the leader. While you may be able to get away with it with very submissive dogs, it's a bad idea if you have dogs that tend to dominance. For this reason, if no other, I really feel it's better to not free feed any dog.

Answer 15

It depends on the animal. I was able to free feed one dog, but the second was such a pig that I couldn't leave any food out anywhere (including my own). The dogs are fed on a schedule now.

Answer 16

I'm lucky if I can get mine to eat. She has some problems , she doesn't like to be alone while eating. And right now shes being a spoiled brat about wanting only wet food.No I don't free feed my dog and I won't do that.

Answer 17

Our dogs are rescues or strays. Three of them do ok with the food left down. The sheltie was kept in a mill kennel and will not stop eating. I must leave her only a little in the morning.



Our two cats are doing ok with the food down.

Answer 18

I free feed and there food bowl last 2 days never had a issue with over eating..

Answer 19

I have two dogs, one is a weiner dog and since we have to worry about his weight we don't do it with him but our other cocker spaniel mix we free feed. he scratches at the table that his food is on to let us know he is hungry for more, i set it down, he eats a bit then walks away. we've never had a weight problem and he's about 3 years old. i guess it's just how his body is.

Answer 20

I don't call it 'free feeding' ... it's properly called 'self feeding' and if you feed your dog properly they can eat this way their whole lives. I've always 'self-fed' my dogs. You can feed cats with self feeding, too, if you have no more than two cats, but I've never heard of self-feeding pigs. I have a hedgehog, and I'd love to have her 'self feed' but she would eat WAY too much ... so I give her food every two days, and she 'empties' the bowl before I put new food in.

Answer 21

I can leave kibble out for weeks in mass amounts and my boss's two dogs + mine will "snack" on it. They don't gorge themselves at all. Recently I switched his dog's to grain free and my dog to raw and they still don't eat much. 2 cups of kibble will last his two dogs for at least 48 hours.



add: I house trained my puppy while he was being free fed. He's just turned 9 months and it's been 4 1/2 since his last "accident"

Answer 22

Oh Mary I would not even consider this with my Golden's at all. They would be blimps! It would do so much damage on their joints. Even my Senior Golden's I had to be very careful with so they would not get over weight. I truly believe the more you control their weight the longer they live too. A fat old Golden is not a pretty site at all.

Answer 23

The first couple of days I left out free food for my beagle since he was fresh out the shelter and he needed to figure out how much to eat. He would only take a couple of nibbles here and then so it was okay. Then when he adjusted, his true beagle stomach came forth and we had to stop. Now he gets two meals a day, but we let him wait and eat it when he likes.

Answer 24

I would never free feed my dogs. I could do it with my cats but they hate food that drys out and is not as fresh as in the bag.



I rather keep them on a schedule.

Answer 25

I wasn't able to free-feed my first dog until she was 8 months old. I only had her until she was 16 months, and until she had to go, she was fine being free fed.

Answer 26

i used to do that with my mini foxy but when i bought my kitten the dog just kept eating everything in her dish so the kitten wouldnt. now i dont free feed her any more, its a shame really, cause now she has to wait for me to give her food, and not just have a nibble when shes hungry.

Answer 27

I've never done it. We give them up to six cups a day. When the bowl is empty we fill it...one cup at a time up to 6. It's really expensive and "good for them" stuff, though. I do know people that do it, though. You just have to be careful.

Answer 28

With some dogs you can but not puppies. I've always free fed and have never had weight or overeating problems.

Answer 29

No I would not free feed. My dogs "work" for each and every piece of food.

Answer 30

some dogs will over eat, any yes young pups are generally more active than dogs

Answer 31

Free feed your animals and you'll get the same results as if you free feed yourself...I know when i was younger, I ate what i wanted when I wanted...no more, we know what happens now. Same with pets.

Answer 32

We have free fed adult dogs, but not puppies or older dogs BECAUSE...older dogs don't exercise like younger ones, so they don't burn the calories, and puppies are impossible to house break if you don't regulate when they eat.

Answer 33

I already do that and it works fine I have 3 dogs

Answer 34

Nope, they would eat much more than they should. Food for dogs must be portioned.

Answer 35

I have a chocolate lab, we fill her bowl and she will sometimes eat right away, or it could sit there for hours

Answer 36

I used to be able to do that with my dog, but now he's older and has put on weight. Not that I have (cough, cough).

Answer 37

my dog will eat until he throws up, and i feed him plenty i checked with my vet. it must be a lab thing.

Answer 38

I used to do that with my Siberian Husky and I still do it with my Papillon. The husky is still trustworthy with it because she's a light eater, but we want her to know that we provide her food and she has to earn it.

Answer 39

i can free feed my cat but my dog will eat and eat until he drops dead. he's so dumb but i love him.

Answer 40

never. i like to know when and how much my dogs are eating. if they dont eat their dinner or only pick at it, i know something is wrong.

Answer 41

I always have and it's never been a problem... they eat when their hungry. I have a poodle 2yrs. and a lab 7yrs.

Answer 42

i do this with my dog, she eats when she wants to, she's never overeaten, and she's 9, getting up there

Answer 43

absolutely not.