Free feeding

[debbildog]

I always free fed Sandy & Iris before Mags came along. Sandy has been picky from day one and I always had a tough time with him gaining weight... Now If I leave any kind of food down Maggie would eat it until she threw up. I tried for weeks and figured she'd eventually get her fill, but it never happened and she ruined many throw rugs in the process.

[debbildog]

Originally Posted by seazr

[I lost one dog to bloat because when he was a pup and beore I had him, food was sometimes on the scarce side and he learned to gulp. I could never break him of the gulping and that is what caused the bloat.

I'm petrified of this with Maggie. In a regular food bowl she will eat a cup and a half of kibble in under 25 seconds. Its actually scary to watch. I've switched to a break-fast bowl and it has helped immensely, but she is constantly on the search for MORE FOOD. I wish I could help break her of the habit.

[tuffystar]

Originally Posted by debbildog

I'm petrified of this with Maggie. In a regular food bowl she will eat a cup and a half of kibble in under 25 seconds. Its actually scary to watch. I've switched to a break-fast bowl and it has helped immensely, but she is constantly on the search for MORE FOOD. I wish I could help break her of the habit.

My trainer told me to put a rock (or something like it that they won't eat) in the middle of the food. I have seen it slow my dogs eating down a lot. It has to be something they won't eat or pick up. Tia loves rocks so we put a little bowl upside down in it and she learned to slow down a lot. We don't have to do it anymore because she got in the habit of eating slower. I don't know why it worked for us but it did.

[OLIVER DOODLE]

When we fist brought Ollie home we fed him on schedule, but now that he's year old and able to control his bodily funtions more, we free feed him. He still tends to eat in the morning and around dinnertime.

[lmtoth2]

I'm petrified of this with Maggie. In a regular food bowl she will eat a cup and a half of kibble in under 25 seconds. Its actually scary to watch. I've switched to a break-fast bowl and it has helped immensely, but she is constantly on the search for MORE FOOD. I wish I could help break her of the habit.

This sounds just like Dexter. We started putting a large ball in his bowl to make him go around it to eat. It definitely helps.

[MaxandMe]

my brother and a few friends bought the special food bowl for their dogs that have cyclindrical things in it to slow down their dogs
when eating as they all gulp food so fast. I watched my brother's rottweiler and WOW it does slow them down.

peanut takes her good ole time and sometimes I remind Max to slow down

[Jac]

Originally Posted by tuffystar

My trainer told me to put a rock (or something like it that they won't eat) in the middle of the food. I have seen it slow my dogs eating down a lot. It has to be something they won't eat or pick up. Tia loves rocks so we put a little bowl upside down in it and she learned to slow down a lot. We don't have to do it anymore because she got in the habit of eating slower. I don't know why it worked for us but it did.

Yikes, serious scary stuff here!

Great idea, Kathy, putting something big in the bowl...what about trying those puppy feeder bowls that are stainless steel but have a center section that is built up (so the food is in a circle around the center piece) that has a handle on it? I bought some of these from Pet Edge ...great sale...for my puppies so that they won't sleep in their food dish!

For those of you with dogs that scarf up their food too quickly, have you tried (this sounds funny, but we do it with treats) just tossing the kibble on the floor? It scatters and the dog scrambles to get one kibble at a time...??? Believe me, they keep looking until they find it all! Or, putting the kibble in one of those treat balls so it falls out slowly?

[pringle's mom]

All three of mine are gulpers. The fastest eaters I have EVER seen. If I free fed there would problems. Pringle bloated once because he got into a bag of kibble and ate and ate and ate. I was a new dogs mom and had I not known the signs (thank you Animal Planet) and rushed him to the ER he would probably have died. I feed two meals a day BECAUSE I love him and don't want to see him bloat again. Also, my cat loves dog food and would finish it up in the unlikely event that the dogs walked away. I am very happy free feeding works for many of you, but as Jac said, each dog is different and it is up to the individual guardian to decide based on the dog's personality and habits what is best. Aside from that, I now feed primarily raw. No way to safely free feed there. Does that also mean I don't love them?

To answers Jac's questions: When I fed or feed kibble (Pringle, the old guy, still gets it from time to time and it is used in an emergency if I have run out of defrosted raw), I tried the scattering on the floor and treat ball method. With multiple dogs the scattering method made me nervous. Pringle can be a little possessive of his food when other dogs are involved. The treat ball in his crate is awesome! In fact that is how I fed him for several years after the bloating incident. Now that he is older he has slowed down to a reasonable speed, but I have no doubt he would still eat himself sick if I didn't monitor quantity. The frozen raw mashed up with some warm water slows them down as well. When Finn gets the occasional kibble he uses the brake fast bowl or a treat ball in his crate to slow him down. When he finishes he checks to see if anyone left anything. Gracie just gobbles up her food. She bounces and barks excitedly the whole time I am preparing it. Because she eats raw I am not too worried about bloat. On the positive side, they are all so food motivated training is fairly easy once i get them to look at me and not the treats! And even kibble is a high value reward!