Should you allow your dog to free feed?

[ecile]

I have a 7 month old chow Sammi that has become very picky with his food and does not ear like he used to.

I had him on Now grain feed and have been switching him over to Wellness Core grain free. We had switched him to grain free as he developed a skin rash and hot spots from the dog food the breeder had given him. We also eliminated Chicken from his diet based on some research i did.

He used to eat his whole bowl that we gave him 2 times a day but now he just lays down and looks at it and wont eat. Should i remove it after half an hour so he know it wont be there for long or should allow him to decide when to eat. I also wet his food so i wonder if i just leave it out dry if that is better?

Any suggestions are appreciated.


Thanks

[Loha'sDad]

My dog eats his food dry and it is available 24/7. He usually eats the most during the middle of the night. He is as fit as a fiddle and happy as a lark. He is currently eating Nutro grain free with venison as its protein source. Chicken made him sick.

Loha's Dad

[Sarahloo]

and does not ear like he used to.

If he isn't sick (have you taken him to the vet?), he probably hates his new food. Chows can go for days without food if the only food that they're offered is food they do not like. Taking his food away won't work on him. All he will think is: "Great, I didn't want to eat that anyway". From my own experience: a person will crack much sooner than a Chow and get the Chow something the Chow actually likes. Look around a little, maybe you will find a food you can both live with. The solution to Loo's reluctant eating was feeding him wet, canned food. That's what he's decided he wants and since it's not disagreeing with him in any way, that's what he gets.

[ecile]

Thanks for the replies

He is eating and is perfectly healthy i was just concerned in the change in his habits. He is eating but his food but i think he is eating somewhat less than he was previous. I guess we will go back to the drawing board.

[Payton]

Well My dog always like to eat Meat and some other foods in the late night . I have not stopped him for doing so . I feel that If he like to eat to satisfy himself then He should not be stopped in my view .

[Kaitee]

I have two chows and they both free feed out of the same bowl. So far neither of them are over weight. This was more of a neccesity because I have a 40 lb girl that is very skinny. My boy on the other hand is huge, but not overweight according to the vet.

[cherriemater]

When Kimba was alive her food was available 24/7 and she never over ate. Seems like she'd have a nibble in the morning after her morning glory, she'd get treats as she went out/in, and she'd get table scraps (I know, I know ... but she wasn't my dog before we got married and I had no choice in the matter). She would eat a bit before we went to bed and only very occasionally I would hear her eating in the middle of the night (she usually slept at the end of our bed).

Our two boys that we'll be picking up in ELEVEN DAYS (and counting ... sooo excited) are also free fed so we'll continue this practice. They're currently on Pedigree and while I don't really like the ingredients I probably won't change it until they go into Adult food. Then the fun will begin to find out what they like. I've been researching Taste of the Wild, Nutro, Acana and Orijen and wish I could just get a sample to see what they'll like. I may write the companies and ask.

Something that really helped me was this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTWHxvjI ... ure=relmfu

[TyChowgirl]

Ty has been a free feeder from day one. I know many people frown upon this, but he's finicky with his food and eats at odd times of the day. Also, between my fiance and I we never have a consistant schedule, so having a feeding schedule would be hard. With how he eats however, I feel like if I witheld his food he'd gulp it down far too quickly and I don't want to chance bloat. It's something my labrador used to do and I never liked how quickly she ate and my mother in-law's lab puppy who's a month younger than Ty does the same thing. If it's not causing your dog to gain too much weight, I say, don't try to fix what isn't broken.

[cherriemater]

As an update to my earlier post, the boys ARE free feeding. We have the Le Bistro system for Water and for their food, however I have added another food dish. The funny thing is that even though there is the same food in both, they will alternately try to eat out of the same dish. Too funny. I think I'm more the worried Mama, though, because they're both eating well. They LOVE TOTW Prairie and it's nice to see "tootie rolls" when they eliminate, rather than that awful "bleck" we got from the Pedigree. My only concern now is how much Max eats. He's a little butter ball and if I don't watch it, he may come to that rather than his given name. I do watch him carefully and will check to see if he's above the scale at our next vet appointment in December.