Scheduled Feeding v.s Free Feeding

Dogs understand we're in charge of their food regardless of whether they're allowed to free feed or fed on a schedule.  I don't like free feeding as you can't really monitor a dog's appetite.  Living in a warm climate, leaving food down is also a big attraction to insect invaders.

I do make my dogs sit before giving them their meals and it does help teach them self control but I don't think it makes me appear especially alpha.  I'm splitting hairs a little but worrying too much about whether your dog believes you are alpha is sort of like worrying if your kids respect you.  Dogs and kids respect those who are fair and consistent and who don't give conflicting signals such as allowing something one day and not the next. 

I don't think it's too harsh to put the food down and leave it for ten minutes and pick it up whether it's eaten or not.  Repeat at the next feeding time.  Dogs won't starve themselves and it may take a few days for her to get the new routine but she will if you don't give in.  You can also feed her all her kibble as treats while training.  It's sort of like free feeding but you have the benefit of getting in lots more training time since you'll want to make sure she gets her daily allotment of kibble. :)

YEP -- exactly what Jackie said ^^^^^^^^

I will add this -- simply to enhance what Jackie said so nice and concisely -- there have been many times in all the dogs I've had when the **only** clue I had that a dog was unwell was when they went off food.  If you don't have them on a scheduled mealtime you lose control (and I don't mean behavior) --

1.  You don't know how long it's been since they had anything in their stomach so you can't just whether the kibble they just threw up "intact" was not digested because of a severe health issue or just because they just ate it.

2.  You don't encourage them to properly cycle their food thru them in case you have to go away or they have to be kennelled -- because if they are allowed to free feed they'll "have to go" most any time because it all depends on when and how much they ate/drank.

3.  My personal experience says it's promotes pickiness -- and if a dog is ever *really* sick and has to take significant medicines (from antibiotics and beyond) then they need to EAT a certain amount at a certain time to tolerate those meds.  By training them to eat at a certain time you stack the odds in their favor because they are used to doing that -- not being flighty about how much they eat.

When my Billy had IMHA and was on really heinous drugs for a LONG time, one of the reasons he survived was because he ate WELL for me ... he ate enough at a time to keep his stomach from being irritated ... I could go on but I hope I've made sense.

To me this is a little discipline you can impose that will help make life easier later on. 

 I agree with Jackie, too.

 You did not say how old the puppy is, or the breed.  With holding food for a day may be too much, you don't want her / him to get hypoglycemic.  As Jackie explained, withhold till the next feeding; young puppies and small breeds get fed twice a day, so keep that in mind.

JackieG

I don't think it's too harsh to put the food down and leave it for ten minutes and pick it up whether it's eaten or not. Repeat at the next feeding time. Dogs won't starve themselves and it may take a few days for her to get the new routine but she will if you don't give in.

calliecritturs

If you don't have them on a scheduled mealtime you lose control.

 I've found free fed dogs nibble more then scheduled feeders. All my dogs are on schedules mostly because I like to know who eats how much.

On that note, my lab x went through an I dun wanna stage at about 6 months old and she refused to eat her kibble... She went a week before finally caving and ate what I put in front of her.. If there is no medical reason, then I'd go with the tough love. Put the food down, wait 10 or so minutes, pick up until next feeding.. No treats unless you're training during this time.

ETA: Maze is now 7 and we haven't had a problem since. LOL

I prefer to feed on  a schedule for all the reasons stated. Plus, I travel with my cavalier, and he will soon be traveling without me (at least once, may be happening more in the future). When he is competing in flyball, I actually don't feed him the morning before a tournament because he runs for food. He only eats at night when we get back home or to where we're staying. I don't want to leave food out for him, because I don't want him wandering around the room at night eating.I also want to reduce chances of him having an accident in the room. It's never happened, and he's stayed in several different places, but I can't be sure he knows there where to go if he needs to go out. At home he knows to go to the door.  If he eliminates in the ring, that's at least a loss for the team for that race, and at some places, they charge a fine for it. Going back to traveling with other people, so far, I've only had a room with Luke and Callie. He's going to travel with a friend in April, and she's going to share a room with someone else. There will be at least 4 dogs in that room. No way he can have food left out. When it was just him and Callie, I think I fed him on the bed and her on the floor, or I put one dog in the bathroom.

You've got a sheltie, so you may just have a future athlete on your hands. 

Freedom

young puppies and small breeds get fed twice a day, so keep that in mind.

I haven't had a small breed or young puppy in a million years but I still feed 2x a day. I know some people don't but I just prefer to. I feed the majority of each meal with a frozen kong, so it takes a little while for Shane to finish it but he doesn't quit until it's licked clean

I agree 100% with everything the others have said.

My good friend has just recently adopted a dog and they've been free-feeding. She says the dog doesn't eat much, has some intestinal issues during the day, a growly stomach, etc. I've really encouraged her to start putting the food down for 10 min's and then putting it away until the next meal. I don't see any other way she's going to figure out if it's the food, the sticks or the other things the dog is eating that's causing the problem. I

I feed twice a day too and my dogs are usually large or medium sized breeds or mixes.  I have always fed young puppies of any breed three times a day. 

I don't think it's harmful to feed once a day and many people do that but I've always felt the dogs would be so hungry waiting 24 hours for a meal.  Of course my dogs act like they haven't eaten in a week at every meal. :)

JackieG

Of course my dogs act like they haven't eaten in a week at every meal. :)

Soooooooooooooooooo, you mean Luna's fibbing when she says it's just US who are being mean and leaving her starving to death???  She's been with us since she was 9 months old and she's almost 10.  She STILL wants to eat at 4:59 p.m. ( she will ask JUST before 5) even though in all that time I have always fed at 6.  David feeds in the morning I feed at night -- and I can promise you -- every day she's trying to tell me "he forgot" LOL

Serious response tho -- I've done both.  On one hand I hate making them wait til supper.  BUT at the same time, because I'm gone all day I hate feeding them in the morning, KNOWING that food won't be processed in the gut before I leave for work, and then making them wait til night to potty. 

 It depends on the dog to be honest -- if it's a dog who isn't inclined to be really hungry in the morning I'll feed once a day at night if that dog seems comfortable.  Otherwise twice a day.

My first dog, Prissy was NOT a breakfast eater -- she was totally not interested in food in the morning.  At night?  She was fine and would clean her plate.  But at the same time *I* am not a breakfast eater either - I usually don't eat a thing until about 11:00 am. and I'm more than fine waiting til later in the day.  So I do not free feed, but the schedule tends to be up to the individual human and dog with me.

We stick to a twice a day schedule for Ruby.  The same with Tonka, although I think when he was a puppy (we got him at 8 weeks), we fed him 3 times a day for a while. 

We prefer the schedule for many of the same reasons already mentioned.  Our weekday routine is so predictable that it helps to have the meals scheduled so we can control the timing of "output" as well as "input."    And it's definitely easier to spot a possible issue if a dog doesn't eat one of the scheduled meals than if they nibble all day. 

I've known people who feed once a day, but like others said, I think that's odd --- surely, I'd feel sick if I only ate once every 24 hours.  Why make your dog feel that, too?  In fact, we got in the habit with Tonka of giving him a biscuit or treat right before bed so he didn't have a totally empty tummy overnight.  We found that it eliminated his middle-of-the-night bile vomiting that sometimes happened.  Also, I think it helped keep him from waking us up at 5:30am on Saturdays and Sundays, looking for breakfast!

One thing I observed when taking care of my friend's cats (she free feeds) is that leaving the food out all day for nibbling doesn't work for some cats.  One of her cats wants to inhale food 24/7 (she's healthy, just a glutton who struggles with a weight problem!).  The other one will only eat something FRESH in her dish.  She will not touch kibble or wet food that has been sitting out for a little while.  Can't say I blame her!

tacran

One thing I observed when taking care of my friend's cats (she free feeds) is that leaving the food out all day for nibbling doesn't work for some cats.  One of her cats wants to inhale food 24/7 (she's healthy, just a glutton who struggles with a weight problem!).  The other one will only eat something FRESH in her dish.  She will not touch kibble or wet food that has been sitting out for a little while.  Can't say I blame her!

I do not free feed my cats. For the most part they get canned food, but Buddy does love some kibble from time to time. I used to free feed, but found I had fat cats. They are opportunistic feeders, so they will eat when they find food. I personally have found my cats to be less finicky if I control the feedings, which they get twice a day. It took some time for Buddy to adapt since he obviously came from a home where he was free fed, but he figured it out. If I give him kibble, he gets 10-15 minutes to eat, then it's gone; I don't overfill the bowl.

Tracy, no normal cat will like the wet food if it's sitting out - it dries out. I can't stand the smell of canned food sitting out.

When I've had a dog, it eats twice daily. Keeps the critters, like ants, down to a minimum, as was mentioned.

I

JesDaMom

I am going to begin transitioning her to schedule feeding today :) got my husband on board and told him to not fill her bowl if it's empty and let me be in charge of feeds or to ask if she needs to be fed being doing it.

David and I have both trained ourselves to just plain stand there and then pick the bowls up (or we'd forget).  It's my cue to wash bowls -- husband doesn't "do" that -- he stacks them on the counter! *grin*.  You'll probably find if the bowl finds its way back to the ground or never gets picked up she'll check it all the time and your training gets off-track.  or she'll lick that empty bowl 80 kazillion times (you gotta love the sound of stainless being nudged all over the kitchen floor ... um ... NOT)

obviously *grin* a good deal of this is training the humans???