Free feeding?

When I had one dog I free fed.  I always knew how much he was eating per day.  Some days it was a little less, some days a little more.  Now with 2 dogs I cannot free feed as one (the new girl) will scarf up anything that's left out. 
 
IMO you can free feed if you know how much food your dog is eating (average) over the course of a day.  If your dog is a ravenous eater (and that doesn't seem to be the case from one of your other posts) then I wouldn't free feed. 
 
Also one of the implications of free feeding is that the free-feeder keeps the bowl filled.  I never did this, I would put about 2- 1/2 cups in in the morning and another cup or so at night.  There were days when he would hardly touch his food and then days when he'd be waiting for me to fill up the bowl.
 
Now that we're on a more rigorous schedule he is usually done eating within about 5 minutes of getting his food-which is what I want.
 
In reference to how much is enough: The guidelines on a bag of food are just that; guidelines.  Some dogs are more active, some less active-some will absorb more nutrition out of the food and some will absorb less.  The trick is finding a balance to what comes in and what goes out and balancing that with activity levels.
 
I'm no expert and I cannot cite sources, but I'm sure that someone else will be along shortly that can give you more analytical evidence.

Right now my pup is (technically) free-fed.  I put out the measured amount of food in the am (when he gets his wet food) and he usually doesn't eat in until later in the day.  Whatever is left in his bowl (which is usually only about 1/8 of a cup or less) I put water in it and he finishes it immediately.  

I don't free feed because it doesn't work for my dog.
I'm not against it for other dogs, just mine.
I tried free feeding and she would gobble ALL of her kibble at once. That scared me. She was also having some digestion issues then.
I exercise her before she eats and I don't allow her to exercise after she eats, at least not for a few hours after she eats.
I do not want to take her on a mile bike ride with a belly full of kibble. That would most likely spell disaster for my dog.
Things work better for my dog on a feeding schedule and it also sets my mind at ease.
I do the "20 minutes to eat" thing. Ella was a very picky eater when I first got her. Not allowing her to be picky by picking up her food after 20 minutes of not eating it, and changing her to a feeding schedule, has changed her into a less picky dog. She eats when that food is set down in front of her because she knows I'll pick it up. It took only a day or two to teach her this.

I think that if you have one or two dogs (or even a dozen who respect each others food bowls) and who all eat at about the same rate, AND if you are putting only the recommended amount in the food bowl per day AND if it works for your dog or dogs, it's fine to free feed.  My only problem with single dog homes where free feeding is used is that it is quite often too tempting to feed MORE than you should because Fido acts hungry.
 
Now, it wouldn't work in MY house....I have three chow hounds and three that are slow and deliberate eaters.......

Max free feeds - sort of.  He's not one to stand and eat everything in his dish.  He just walks by and takes a bite here and a bite there.  I put 1-1/2 c. in his bowl in the a.m.  If he finishes it by early evening he gets another 1/2 c., which he might or might not finish.  If he still has some in his bowl, I don't give him any more. So that way, he gets to eat when & how much he wants and I still know how much he eats in a day - usually 1-1/2 c. - sometimes 2 c. It works for us. []

Joyce

Shohin--I don't think there is anything wrong with what your doing.  It's when they start playing games and acting fussy that it's really more necessary to be strict with the timing.  And, I like that you are measuring so he's getting his correct ration.

It could take my Golden Retriever Hunter up to 3-4 hours to eat his breakfast.  He would eat, go play, eat, go play.  You could drop a piece of candy, bread crest, etc on the floor and he would sniff and walk off.  He didn't care for the dog treats except for the ones I made.  He could not be called a picky eater because he always did finish all his meals, but he just took his good sweet time about it.  Only problem was I had to make sure the other dogs stayed away from his pan til he finished. He  did love his fish and meats and veggies, but even so, he never gobbled, just took his own sweet time about eating supper.  Was really a pain in the backside, but that is the way he ate.

I'm not sure I could ever free feed Ben, but that's only because I can't imagine needing to.  Ben has eaten every meal I've ever served him in under 5 minutes, and if it took him much longer than that I'd probably worry that he was ill.  That's just my dog though...if he did take a long time to eat I might free feed him in the way others have mentioned - with careful rationing - beacause I don't see a problem with doing it that way, especially in a single dog household.
 
Kate

We can hike for 2 miles through all terrain, with him pulling and only slowing down when we get to the last leg and Shadow will still only eat about a cup or so at a time. He's not prone to eating early in the morning when I get up for work. So, we'll set the food bowl out with him when we leave and he may eat a bite or two but he only eats a full portion of a 1 to 1.5 cups when I am present.

Bubblegum is a chow hound also.........in the morning if I put enough food down for the day, she would have it all gone in 10 minutes...I'm sure she would probably get sick eating it all too. So its not good for her. I also worry about exercise around feeding time and bloat....so I am happy that she eats breakfast in the morning and supper at supper time.   However...I suppose it would be good to not have her eat a whole belly full of food if she would free feed during the day...........and space all the food out. 

ORIGINAL: dyan

Bubblegum is a chow hound also.........in the morning if I put enough food down for the day, she would have it all gone in 10 minutes...I'm sure she would probably get sick eating it all too. So its not good for her. I also worry about exercise around feeding time and bloat....so I am happy that she eats breakfast in the morning and supper at supper time.   However...I suppose it would be good to not have her eat a whole belly full of food if she would free feed during the day...........and space all the food out. 

I split Ella's feedings into 3 meals.
It works out well because she eats about 2 1/2 cups a day.
It works better this way with the richer foods. If I try to feed her only twice a day, I believe it gives her diarrhea.

I split Ella's feedings into 3 meals.

I think thats a GREAT idea,,,,if I were home during the day, I think I would split Bubbys food up in thirds also.

For my guys I feed my doberman twice a day.  I give him food in the morning and in the evening.  I put his food down and give him about 20 minutes to eat what ever he wants or to not eat at all, the choice is up to him.  If he is hungary he will eat all his food in no time, it doesn't take him 20 minutes to eat when he is hungary.
 
For my cane corso I free feed him.  He is still a puppy, and should be fed 4 to 5 times a day.  I find it easier to free fed.  When he gets older, I will put him on the same feeding schedule as have my doberman on.  My puppy has never over ate.  He eats a little here and then a little there.

My fiancee comes home on his lunch break that is the only way I can get her fed three times a day. Well, except on days I don't have school. If she didn't have the digestion problems, I probably would feed her twice a day.