Did your pets have a hard time adjusting when you turned your clocks back an hour? Last week, I asked cat owners and cat professionals whether they free-feed or feed at fixed times, and how that choice affected their cats’ awareness of the time changes. This week and next week, dog owners and dog professionals respond to the same questions. Their answers indicate even more reasons you might want to reconsider how and when you feed your dog.
Kim Plucker Loosely set time. Raw feeding. Once a day now that they’re adults. As puppies it was smaller meals, three times a day. As they got older (and eating less), they were transitioned to once. They’re fed in the middle of the day. Usually I go home for lunch and feed them. However, if I can’t, then my daughter feeds them at 2:45 p.m. when she gets home. We try to keep it no later than early afternoon or they have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. And feeding them in the middle of the day means I never get woken by hungry dogs in the morning.
Christina Stevenson Free-feed. I currently have an Irish Wolfhound Cane Corso as well as teacup Chihuahua. I lied: my Chi was free-fed for the first ten years. Now, for the past two, she is fed twice a day as she was gaining weight. I have always free-fed and, other than my chi, I have never had an overweight dog. I attended a nutrition seminar 12 years ago; a vet there recommended free-fed as most dogs will not overeat, and that [schedule-] fed dogs will most likely eat too fast. I have had several Cane Corsos, Catahoula, English Mastiff, and boxer free-fed. I know there are many other ways to feed but I have never, other than the chi, had an overweight dog, so I will stick with what works for me.
Donna Furneaux Set times. One, I have had only pigs for dogs, and two, they come to love me as they know I am the meal ticket.
Annie Zeck Set times. In and out with regularity.
Marianne Mongeon Wilder I own three pugs. A very food-motivated breed. I have a set time every day for morning and evening meals. Measured amounts of food and carefully placed bowls.
Donna Hitchcock Roecks I have done both. I think with multiple dogs, set meal times are the only way to make sure everyone gets their own meal and correct proportions. However, with only one dog, often you can free-feed: it depends on the dog. I free-feed with Bentley, but I put in his bowl how much he can have for the day, then he decides throughout the day when to eat.
Meira Frankl Set times, measured amounts. Twice daily, via enrichment toys. No bowls.
Rebekah Piedad Set times. A couple of my current dogs would literally eat until they exploded if given that option. But also, I’ve been able to detect health issues early by constantly monitoring their appetite. And it’s better for training purposes. And it’s better for consistency in potty times. And it makes potty training easier. And, and, and . . .
Photo by Amy Sugars
Michel Berner Set time for the vizslas. Adults fed once per day, puppies fed two to three times per day, depending on age. The canine digestive tract is designed for scavenging, not nibbling and snacking.
Colette Kase Set times. There are a whole lot of reasons I do that, from having multi-dog households with different dietary needs, having adopted dogs with behavior problems, monitoring food intake, medicating, house-training, etc. With my younger dogs, they get fed according to their age and size needs with a portion of their daily intake fed through games and training. Our older dog is nearly 17 (in February). She eats three times a day, which is very important to her, as routine helps with her cognitive dysfunction. She’s very happy when everything is done at specific times and she also needs to have medication at certain times with food. We feed three times a day because eating is one of her pleasures in life as an elderly dog, so we can increase the number of happy chemicals in her brain by having times she really looks forward to.
Jamie Wilke Frenchies would eat till they burst, plus raw food sitting out all day would start to stink.
Cynthia Gordon Neither. I would never leave food down for an extended period of time, but I also do not have a set schedule. I like my dogs to have flexibility so if I am running late coming home, they are not anxious and awaiting food. Basically, they will be fed at least twice a day every day. Every morning sometime between 6 and 8 a.m., every evening sometime between 5 and 7:30 p.m. All my dogs are well adapted to this routine. I think it helps keep their minds more flexible. Since we have just gone through [setting the clock back one hour for daylight savings time], I can tell you there seem to be no noticeable difference at all. This is the first time for my youngest dog, and no reaction whatsoever.
Kristi Cetrulo Set times so I can check on appetite and other bodily functions.
Melissa K. Clinton Twice daily, 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. My Basset Hound would eat constantly if given the option.
Sarah Adams Loosely set times. I don’t like to be too rigid, in case I have to feed at a different time for some reason. Morning and evening. My dogs would eat until they explode. Also, meal feeding allows me to monitor their condition and provide medications in their meals, if they need to be medicated for some reason. I discovered that the Honey Badger was very sick, and took her to the emergency vet, because she was eating her meal slowly. Free-feeding, I’d never have noticed that.
Toni Vignogna My small cocker spaniel Stella gets fed 1/2 cup twice a day between 6 and 7 a.m. in the morning and 5 p.m. in the afternoon. I like to monitor the food intake to keep her at a healthy weight. My last cocker, Rusty, would love to be able to eat until he puked and then start over again! His food dish was emptied within a minute. To be honest, though, he was found starving and having food always remained paramount with him.
Christine Hale Vertucci We feed twice daily and both dogs finish everything right away.
Tonya Gehrig 5:30 a.m. (not my choice) and 5 p.m. I can’t free-feed because one of my dogs will undoubtedly eat an entire 40-pound bag of food in one sitting if given the chance. I think how you choose to do it all depends on your pet. I’ve done both, but if I free-feed and notice my dog gaining weight, I go to a.m./p.m. feedings.
Debbie Eckert Set times for dogs. It’s also an opportunity to have dogs earn their food by doing a Sit/Stay first—helps establish leadership. Dogs will continue to eat and eat until they get sick if you leave too much food out. If a dog is sick or finicky and you’re trying to get them to eat more, it’s essential to pick up the food after ten minutes or so.
Dave Koch Free. I know I am best off eating when my body says to, not by the clock. I figure a dog is the same way. Anyhow, my dogs mostly never ate just when I put out food, except for the beagle, who would eat until he popped.
Risë VanFleet Two meals a day, sometimes with puzzles. Why no free-feeding? There are always one or two Beagles or Beagle mixes in the family—’nuff said!
Peggy Modjeski I used to free-feed. I have multiple dogs and no problems. Now I feed twice a day. The reason I changed was 1) I had a litter of puppies and it was easier to potty-train them if I fed them on a schedule, 2) after I had bitches spayed, they gained too much weight on free-feeding.
Jett Wyatt Twice a day. Generally same times but can be a wide variation. Primarily two reasons—they would be even fatter if they free-fed and I don’t think it’s good for their teeth to always be eating. Plus, medications are easier.
Leonard Buzz Cecil Loosely set times, more attached to daily activities than to clock time. Since we get up at different times depending upon what we have to do, Vela knows that we first get our breakfast going and then hers. Dinner is generally between 4:30 and 5:15 afternoons. At noon while we eat lunch, she gets a chewy (lamb sinew or ostrich tendons). But when we travel, everything can be later, as we tend to generally get up later and are traveling during the day, so dinner is later. Treats and cuddle/treat time is always spread throughout the day.
Cherie Marshall Never would consider free-feeding a hound—they would eat themselves to death. Bloodhounds have a very high tendency to bloat, as well as to end up with torsion—both are a medical emergency and both would be possible/likely to occur with free-feeding. I am 100% sure my current hounds would “overeat” and thus be “overly fat” and increase their weight to a point that would hard for their long backs and short legs to carry them, in turn causing skeletal issues that might be avoided with keeping them “somewhat” trim and not looking like a sausage with legs. The dachshunds also have increased risk of IVDD, and extra weight on them would certainly be contraindicated.
Karen DiCostanzo I feed twice a day, although there’s no strict feeding time. I prefer to have my dog work for his food in some capacity for mental enrichment. Puzzle toys, find it, training, etc. He loves it!
Amy Suggars Twice a day. I start feeding at scheduled times when they are puppies so that they can get on a regular eating/pooping cycle to make housebreaking easier. I continue scheduled feeding times for the rest of their lives. The timing of the meals varies with my work schedule. Dogs are stoic. Sometimes the only time I can tell if one is not feeling well is if he isn’t eating normally. I wouldn’t know this if they were free-feeding.
Laura Bourhenne Neither. I won’t free-feed but also don’t have set times. They are fed two times a day at whatever times I get around to it—usually within 1.5 hours of the same time every day, but not at the same time. The reason I would never free-feed is because one of the first signs your dog is sick is that they don’t eat their food. Twice my dogs have either turned away from their food or left a small amount of their meal and it turned out they were both very sick. That was the first sign I had that something was off with them.
Sarah Langevin-Gaspar I have two female huskies. We have kibble out for free-feed, and we split a can of R/D between them at a set time each day. While the canned food is a bonus they like, the kibble is also eaten when they’re hungry. Both girls are self-regulating and maintain their own healthy weights. If this was not the case, I would switch it to being scheduled for both canned/kibble. I think it depends on the pup! Some breeds would definitely eat until exploding.
Kathy Gallagher Used to free-feed. It was easy. Now scheduled. Easier to control portions, know how much each dog eats, manage weight and diet of older dogs with health issues. Easier to know when they’ll poop.
Dae Grodin I feed twice a day but the schedule is not exact times every day. I like scheduled times personally, because I feed raw and have multiple dogs who would eat more than their portion. It’s easier to detect health issues (all mine have missed maybe one meal in their entire life). For the general public, I think it makes house-training easier, builds value to food, and it’s easier for food-portion control, typically.
Next week, more dog owners and dog professionals talk about how and when they feed their dogs, with some more great suggestions that might work well for your home and your pets.
