# Free Feeding: Yes or No?



## Moka-papa (Jan 30, 2006)

My 4 mo. little boy gobbles up each of his 3 portions a day lickety-split and right after eating he is still hungry. He licks the floor, rugs, etc. for anything like lint that they can get in his mouth. Also, he is a pest during MY meal times. I never feed him anything of mine but he still hangs around and I am constantly having to say "NO" and "DOWN". 

I am wondering if free feeding would be a better option?
Would it keep him away from floor lint and pestering me at meal times? 
*AND if he isn't always hungry, would this keep him from eating poop?*

With free feeding, I 'm worried that he'd eat everyting all at once until he burst.

Any comments if free feeding is maybe the way to go? And if so, how do I go about it after giving him regular feedings?


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## nikki0077 (Feb 3, 2006)

my new pup i tried free feeding big no no i do the 3 meals a day with the 1 he idid gobble all up he begs at meal time either way so i rather just feed the 3 then him eatin 1 big 1 and still beggin after with pups i think half the time there not hungry they will just eat and eat till there sik just my opinion tho hope it helps


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## LadyBelle1 (Sep 10, 2005)

I free feed all of mine and then I don't have to worry about them being hungry ever. Mine do not over eat so I have had no problems with it.


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## Courtney (Jun 2, 2005)

I free feed both of my little guys. I would rather them eat when they are hungry then rely on me to put it down for them. They both just pick at it when they want and have the ability to come & go as they please. They aren't over weight and are healthy & active so I think it works for us!


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## dlambertz (Nov 13, 2005)

the food and water dish are always full at my house unless they empty them right before bed. none of the girls are fat or do they overeat and i know they are not hungry.


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## Ms_P (Apr 25, 2004)

I free feed my girls too, but no it won't stop the begging at your meal times or eating lint LOL. I would suggest you put your pup in it's crate or in different room when you eat.


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## sullysmum (Mar 6, 2004)

I free feed my girls too.


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## rach (Jan 12, 2006)

i dont free feed only beecause my dogs are on different food. i have free fed my other dogs n my eldest boy an alsation x will eat eeveryones food but thats him and lovely as he is. he is very greedy. he'd eat anything just so no one else will. :?


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## Nine (Mar 29, 2005)

I think free feeding can be a good and a bad thing. I think it depends on the chi. I have free fed both of my chis without any problems. My grandmother had a chi that she free fed it just didn't know when to stop. He was quite the overweight little furbabe. I would just try it and see how it goes. Milo does not gobble it all at once. He will come and eat several times throughout the day when he feels hungry.


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## foxywench (Feb 7, 2005)

all the dog sin our house are free fed. gerenerally the reason a dog gobles his food is NOT because hes starving hungry but instead because he thinks if he doent eat it all quickly itll be taken away.
the only problem with free feeding i have seen is that when there not fed on a schedual its difficult to predict a bathroom schedual. (both mine are box trined so its not a problem and charlie knows that when he needs to go out he goes to the top of the stairs and barks or he gomes over hits one of us with his paw then goes to the top of the stairs (all my dogs were pottytrained within days...

what id do if you decide to free feed is put the daily amount (the bags suggestion for his size) into his bowl...you might find he eats all of it...just fill the bowl again, he might eat all of that...and this might happen for a couple of days, (dont worry hes not gonna explode hell only eat till hes truly full.) after a few days he'll realize wait i dont have to rush my dinner cause there not gonna take it away...and hell slow down. dodger ws a wolfer for the first day hed been fed on a schedual but also around other dogs and hes submissive the other dogs had been eating his food hence he was so skinny, the first day was wow i have food eat it before they do...but once he realized its always there for him...he now picks during the day, he eats about what the bag suggests he should for his size and has filled out nicely. NONE of our dogs are overweight...they WONT eat till they pop...no worries there.

for your other questions hes not begging because hes hungry, hes begging because well...your food smells good and he wants some...(its like us, we can be well fed but when we see that thing that we cant resist...we'll MAKE room for it lol.
either cate/pen them while your eating, put them in another room or just ignore the bhaviour...hell soon get the idea that hes not going to get anything from jumpingup... teaching sit or down are good too as you can tell him to sit or laydown while your eating...
and the lint on the floor...or ANYTHING on the floor...puppies and dogs test the world through all their senses...so anything on the floor will be sniffed and tasted...from lint to cat litter to little bits of paper. the only way to realy stop this is to teach the leave it or to just vacume every day...

hope this helps.


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## Kara (Dec 16, 2005)

I have free fed Rio since I got him and he still eats his poo. From what I have read here alot of dogs do this and my vet said that it is normal and he will stop.


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## Jill (Jul 1, 2005)

My vet explained why 'free feeding' is a good idea...
Most animals will eat what they need and stop.
An animal who feels he's being deprived by not getting as much as he needs will eat as often as there is food around...fearful that the next meal won't be enough.
Reuben is at a perfect weight...eats his dry food all day long...gets wet food mixed with dry at lunch and a few 'snacks' throughout the day!
Jill


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## lalaNlucky (Jan 10, 2006)

in the wild dogs eat as they are hungry, scheduling feeding times causes them to hoard over there food, where as if you were to leave one bowl at all day they might not even finish all of it, unless they are overweight.


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## lalaNlucky (Jan 10, 2006)

its all good for potty training, scheduled feedings, that's it though.


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## kenya (Dec 19, 2005)

Before the chi's came to live with us they were "free" feed. Julie the alpha of they two was overweight. Little Daisy needed more food.

Now all of the dogs are feed 2x a day under supervision so they all get to eat their food. Now Julie looks so much better and slimer and does little Daisy.


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## kimmiek915 (Oct 4, 2005)

I've free fed my puppy since she was 8 weeks old and haven't had any problems. She always leaves some kibble in her bowl if she's full, so I haven't had any problems with her overeating, but I think this is something that differs with each chi. You could test it out and see. Good luck!


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## CM Katie (Sep 28, 2005)

Interesting, I never knew free feeding was such a good thing. Maybe I'll have to start doing that with Carl. He didn't finish his breakfast today and he scarfed it down at lunch time. Then we went for a walk and he puked it all up!  
He puked later too.
Maybe I'll have to start leaving food out for him. But the other night around 10 after he had eaten his dinner, I put down his breakfast for the next morning so that he wouldn't wake us up whining early in the morning. And he scarfed it down right then!!

I guess I'll just keep the food bowl full. Though Carl is still pretty chubby. Our walks haven't had much effect on him yet. He's the same size (height) as he parents, but he's a lot thicker around the middle! :lol: Weighs a good pound more than them.


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## ~Jessie~ (Oct 30, 2005)

I do scheduled feedings with my dogs. Madison eats 2 times a day, and Rylie eats 3 times a day.


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## princess_ella (Jun 4, 2005)

i schedule feed mine twice a day i tried free feeding but Pearl got gases ,over blot stomach and pucked a little.Since she eat the whole amount feed for the day.I think it works depending on your chi.


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## Moka-papa (Jan 30, 2006)

Thanks for the replies.
Free feeding is something I still want to think about as an option and may try it over a weekend when I can observe him. It's good to hear about your many success stories. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be the come-all, end-all to problems such as begging, eating lint, or eating poop, however.  

But by keeping food in his dish whenever we both happen to get stuck late at work seems to be a plus factor.

At MY meals times I have thought about putting Moka in his pen so he'll leave us alone, but I figured that this is not training him. In the pen he'll never learn NOT to beg or bother when I'm eating. Usually after a while he calms down and will sit still, until gets the urge to make another attempt to see what's for dinner. With time I suspect he may learn eventually.


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## kealohalinaka (Sep 22, 2005)

Jill said:


> My vet explained why 'free feeding' is a good idea...fearful that the next meal won't be enough.


Jill - well said! I also believe free feeding is an excellent idea. I've trained Tiny to believe that there is always food, so therefore, she doesn't have to feel that "I must finished all my food NOW because who knows when mommy will feed me next!" 

Free feeding - in my opinion is an excellent choice. Tiny will never eat her food unless she's hungry and she will never stuff herself either. She's quite good knowing when to stop when she's full. So I'm never worry about her being a FAT MUNCHIN... hee hee.... :lol: 

Good Luck! You should always do what's best for you. Just because free feeding is an excellent choice for me, it might not be one for you. You just have to decide what's best for you. 

Linda and Tiny


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## rlu929s (Sep 23, 2005)

We pretty much free feed lily now. We started out doing it twice a day but quite. She seems to do ok. She doesn't eat much so she's not getting overweight. The only thing we are going to start doing is take up her water about 3 hours before bed each night.

She's spoiled and get to sleep with us but, last night she had a little accident at the end of the bed. It's never happened before...she usaully licks us awake and we let her outside. I noticed she drank a lot of water before bed last night so I think that was the issue.


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## Nona (Mar 27, 2005)

Hmm I say no but that's just because I don't personally do free-feeding and it works fine for me. I've not had any issues this way. :shock:


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