drawbacks of free feeding?

back story -

Lola used to live with another dog, food would be put down twice a day for both and both would demolish it in minutes. when the dogs were separated, Lola stopped eating, so i started to leave food down for her all day and gave her praise when she ate. its now just habit that she gets a scoop in the morning, and if she doesnt eat it it stays down and she picks during the day, but mostly eats when i go home at lunch, and when my mum gets in from work before me.

if the bowl is empty at feeding times, it gets a scoop, half full is half a scoop and if its mostly full, like this morning, i dont put anything in. she gets no more than two scoops max a day (roughly 100g per scoop)

should i start to put the food away after a set amount of time?

It is the recommended way , otherwise it promotes fussy or picky eating

I've never really liked free feeding. It tends to lead to 'picky' eating, and sometimes you won't immediately know if your dog is off colour because it's 'off' its food. You'll also get flies on it! It can also encourage overeating with a dog that will eat all it can in one go.

I've always preferred to put a set amount down morning & evening, leave it for 10 - 15 minutes & then take it up if it isn't eaten.

davemck3834 wrote:It is the recommended way , otherwise it promotes fussy or picky eating

Sorry to be clear I meant putting it down and taking it upo after set periods is the recommended way

cool, i'll start back on it tomorrow. if i end up with a grumpy girl, i'm blaming it on you

Yep, tell her it isn't your fault & she should come & see us about it!

I would also only leave it down for a set amount of time

I'm with the others, not a fan of free feeding.

You'll just have to be really strict with yourself, food down for 15 minutes, if not eaten take up and put down at next meal time for 15 minutes, rinse and reapeat don't give in (it may be a few days before she eats anything!) and don't feed anything else in between.

I would also only leave it down for 10-15mins. Don't worry your dog won't starve themselves, they are clever and will soon work out they need to at the set times.
Keep us informed on how it goes......good luck

We have always had "mealtimes" if you like, for Rocky. He has his breakfast time, then his dinnertime then he has a little supper before bedtime.

We have never left his food down for more than approx 10 mins at a time, and he always gets fresh food at each mealtime too.

bowl down for 30 mins this morning, and a very confused look when i picked it up and put the food back in the tub.

down for about 45 mins at 6 pm (her old, and soon to be regular evening meal) and she had maybe two usual mouthfuls (crunch crunch, wander round for a minute, crunch crunch)


she wouldnt settle tonight, and every time i went in the kitchen, she would sprint in and sit down, so i "might" have caved in a little and put half a bowl down, which went straight away.

tomorrow is strictly routine

haha it the eyes you look at them and they can make you do things you dont want to lol

Don't worry your not the only one
I am weak and give in too easy. If I feel sorry for someone I give in everytime. Dogs are masters at making you go......oh go on then

update!

morning, she's eating 3/4 of her bowl before she gets bored, so i take it up, and iv'e started to give her half a bowl at 6pm, then another half at around 10pm, both of which she happily demolishes (if i put a full bowl down at 6 she eats half then wanders off)

so a good start, and i might possibly stick to it

Great progress.

When my two dogs died within a week of eachother lexi was very depressed. She didn't eat for a while and i started mixing her food with wet so she would eat something. Now it is habit, she gets a half scoop of mix in a bowl and a hald can of dog food in another then two bonios in the third bowl! (all the dogs bowls were screwd to the floor cause lexi liked to eat them haah, so theyre still there)

but it is never actually left. sometimes she leaves a bit of the mix if shes had enough but its neevr there the next feed