Food problems and questions :/

[bambin4etoo]

Hi (:
I'm new at this thing with the dog, especially with chows. mine is almost 8 months old now and he eats twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, though he never eats it all. It is not too much,I'm sure, cuz I give him much less than he need for his age. Thus the food he leaves stays until the bowl is filled again with food, and he eats whenever he wants to between meals. I'm not sure if this is good or if I should hide the bowl until his next meal, which is what the veterinarian said I should do. On the other hand, I don't know if I should start feeding him only once a day? or is he too young. It seems that he does not like his food and I tried to change it hundred of times. He always smells it and turns away, however if i give it to him from my hand he eats it. i tried to change the bowl - did not work. what could the problem be? need help. thanks. xoxo

[Missystone]

I have never had Jasmine empty her dish. I leave food for her all the time, Just in case she wants to snack.
I think unless the dog is overweight, why take food away?
Jasmine leaves kibble, I either refill, or dump out the kibble and fill it up again. I dump out the excess every
couple days and make sure her dish is all clean and sanitized.
Right now, since getting her off canned food, we still have 3 bowls, 2 for kibble (one used to be canned food) but
now i want to see which kibble she likes more. and one water dish.

My sister had a doberman, they fed him every evening, kept his food put away. It was like a military house. Eat time
and that was that, no snacks no nothing. I thought the dog was underfed. He was HUGE but so thin. Once she moved out
of the house, the dog ran away. Guess her husband was as tight with the food rations as with his affection. Poor thing.

Dont chows eat to live not the other way around? If he is hungry let him nibble. I bet he wont eat you out of house and home.

missy

[Red Dragon]

It is best to free feed vs. only feeding once or twice a day. If they know the food is there anytime they want, they are less likely to gobble down the food and put themselves at risk of bloat.

One reason the dog is a picky eater is that you are changing the food too much and he is unsure about eating it, evident by the fact that he will eat any of the food out of your hand.

So my advice is settle on a food and free feed as long as he doesn't gain too much weight, they need to be fit and trim.

[Laura]

I free feed as well...just fill the bowl and leave it and my two snack through-out the day. Some days they eat it all...other days they don't.

[Layla]

I don't free feed because we do NILIF here However, if it works for you why change? As others have said if your chow isn't overweight why worry? Picking up his bowl won't make him eat more, just condition him to eat at certain times IMO.

[Laura]

We do a little (not nearly enough!) NILIF here too so when I fill the food or water bowl they always come running and have to sit before I put the bowls down. Didn't want them to think the food fairy brought it.

[Missystone]

what is nilif?

[Red Dragon]

Nothing In Life Is Free.

[Layla]

http://www.westwinddogtraining.com/NILIF.pdf

http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm

NILIF links

[Grab]

I don't free feed, as I have three dogs, one of which cannot have kibble. However, Legend also isn't one to inhale his food, even when eating at mealtimes. Meal feeding also allows me to know what my dogs are eating, and what amount. None of them are remotely heavy, and that's not at all a concern for me, but if one of them doesn't eat for a few days, I'm able to know right away and inform the vets if need be. Not so much a concern for Legend, as some days he's not as hungry as others, but I have one dog who, if she misses a meal at all, I know something drastic is wrong. Little food hound