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Post by shevy on Aug 4, 2014 13:41:23 GMT
My schnauzer is 3. Up until now we've fed him twice a day and he would come and get you to give him food if you forgot or were even late by a minute or two. In the last 3 months or so he's stopped coming to us if we're late with feeding times. And when we do put food down, he will leave it for a while. Or he will eat some of it and leave it for 10 minutes or a couple of hours.
I put a smaller cup in the food so that we're feeding him less - about 1/2-3/4 cup a day, down from the 1 cup. He gets treats of blueberries, carrots, apples, banana chips, green beans, watermelon... But the amount of treats hasn't increased at all.
I know that he's obsessed with getting the striped gophers in the yard and spends a lot of his day watching out the windows, just waiting for the gopher to pop out of the hole. But some days he spends hours snuggled up in my office while I work. DH has been taking him for walks either early in the morning or later at night when it's not hot out.
Have any of you gone from timed feeding to just leaving food in the dish?
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Post by padresfan619 on Aug 4, 2014 13:46:24 GMT
I fill the dog's food bowl twice a day but it is left for the dog to graze on at its leisure. I don't refill it unless it is the scheduled time. Just keeping it filled throughout the day with no regard to measurements or a schedule is the quickest way for a dog to start gaining weight.
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Post by Merge on Aug 4, 2014 13:48:04 GMT
My dogs get a mix of dry and wet food most of the time ... unless I'm out of wet food, or if DH feeds them. The smell of the wet food makes him gag and he won't give it to them. They will often leave the plain dry food in the dish for quite a while to register their disapproval of the lack of wet food, but other than that, no, we don't just leave food down for them. Our blue heeler would weigh 100 lbs if she had free access to food.
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Post by KikiPea on Aug 4, 2014 13:49:29 GMT
Our pup gets fed twice a day. In the AM between 5-8 (Depending on the day) and in the evenings between 4-6.
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Post by snappinsami on Aug 4, 2014 13:51:25 GMT
Molly has always gotten 2 meals a day, dry food. Usually a cup at each meal. She LIVES for food, and will scarf it down in around 60 seconds flat. We could feed her 10 times a day and she'd do the same thing, so keeping a bowl full and available for her to self-feed is obviously not an option for us/her. She also comes to us "begging" if she thinks we're late for her dinner. Unfortunately, she can't tell time, though. We usually feed her around 5, but she'll start her "It's dinnertime" dance at 3pm on most days.  |
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Post by jeremysgirl on Aug 4, 2014 13:51:33 GMT
I leave out a bowl of food all the time and the dog eats at her leisure. Sometimes I treat her to a can of wet food too. My dog does not overeat and is not overweight.
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Post by shevy on Aug 4, 2014 13:54:51 GMT
So maybe he's not so much food driven as he was before.
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Post by lumo on Aug 4, 2014 13:56:19 GMT
We feed 2x a day. They definitely let us know if we're late...sometimes I think their stomachs keep better time than the clocks.
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Post by monklady123 on Aug 4, 2014 13:57:37 GMT
Ha! My dog would need to join a doggy gym if I left food down for her. She gets fed twice a day, one cup of dry food mixed with a couple tablespoons of wet food. Plus some treats during the day. She has never turned down any edible thing we've given her, except obvious rabbit food like lettuce. lol. However, she will eat the rabbit poop on the front lawn if I let her.  Dogs are gross.  |
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marimoose
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,282 
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Post by marimoose on Aug 4, 2014 14:05:07 GMT
My dog is in the group that she eats faster than she can taste. She gets fed twice a day and she knows exactly when it is food time. Sge gets breakfast at 7am and gets quite antsy if I try to stretch it out to 720. Dinner is 6pm but much snappinsami's dog, Bella begins her "I am starving" begging routine around 4. She gets at least one of her meals in a puzzle ball and she will follow me around, tossing it at my feet. I agree that some dogs are more reliable than clocks.
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Post by *christine* on Aug 4, 2014 14:05:22 GMT
Sometimes we have to force feed Remy the killer shih tzu. He'll come running if he hears you go in the cheese drawer in the fridge, or thinks he hears the treat bag opening. We leave dry food out for him all the time but we often have to entice him to eat with a little shredded cheese on top. He gets treats after going out to go potty, but that's only 3-4 times a day.
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Post by gonewalkabout on Aug 4, 2014 14:10:33 GMT
We feed Molly twice a day with dry food. She loves wet more but she only gets that once or twice every so often (if I buy it for her, dh won't). We leave her food amounts in the dish for her during the day only if she hasn't eaten it all. At night she'll get a 'makeup' amount, if she still has food left.
We feed her around 5 at night and 7 or so in the morning and she starts doing the dinner dance about 1/2 hr-1hr before food time. As do the cats.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 7, 2024 18:28:40 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2014 14:23:10 GMT
Molly has always gotten 2 meals a day, dry food. Usually a cup at each meal. She LIVES for food, and will scarf it down in around 60 seconds flat. We could feed her 10 times a day and she'd do the same thing, so keeping a bowl full and available for her to self-feed is obviously not an option for us/her. She also comes to us "begging" if she thinks we're late for her dinner. Unfortunately, she can't tell time, though. We usually feed her around 5, but she'll start her "It's dinnertime" dance at 3pm on most days. OMG...this sound just like our cockerspaniel, except we feed her freshpet and not dry food  |
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scorpeao
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,521
Location: NorCal USA
Jun 25, 2014 21:04:54 GMT
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Post by scorpeao on Aug 4, 2014 14:26:59 GMT
Both the dog and the cat only get fed twice a day. I could probably just keep a bowl of food for the dog, but the cat will eat it. My cat is a pig...dog not so much.
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Post by giatocj on Aug 4, 2014 14:44:20 GMT
Because of our insane fear of Bloat...which is quite common for Berners...Tucker eats 3 times a day, on a schedule. He gets 1 1/2 cups of kibble with water for breakfast & dinner and a 1/2 cup of the same for lunch when the dogwalker comes in. He is VERY food oriented and would eat until he burst if we let him free-feed!
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Post by disneypal on Aug 4, 2014 14:47:45 GMT
It depends on the dog.
We always had small dogs and we'd leave dry food out all day and they'd just eat when they wanted. Later I had a dog with had special dietary needs so I only feed him twice a day.
My parent's dog, they feed twice a day, if they left food out, he would eat and eat and eat - he seems to have no shut off valve.
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Post by picotjo on Aug 4, 2014 14:47:52 GMT
I have a dish of dry food out all the time but give each of my pups a little bit of wet food every morning.
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stittsygirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,600
Location: In the leaves and rain.
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Post by stittsygirl on Aug 4, 2014 14:53:09 GMT
I have a dish of dry food out all the time but give each of my pups a little bit of wet food every morning. We do the same, except give the wet food at dinner time. Neither of them have weight issues. My cat and dog have internal clocks that let them know right when 5:30 is. They both sit at the kitchen door with expectant looks on their faces  . They each get a small cat or dog treat about twice a day as well. |
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Post by Basket1lady on Aug 4, 2014 14:53:22 GMT
I would only leave food out all day if it was dry. I wouldn't leave wet food out.
I've had dogs who like one way better than the other. For our first dog, we left food out all day. We worked and I felt like she should have access to food while we were gone. She would graze all day, but it was a set amount;I wouldn't just fill the bowl if it was empty unless it was time for more.
The last two dogs we have had live for food and it's gone in seconds after we feed them. Labs are like that!
The best way to tell if a pet is a healthy weight is to feel their ribs. If you lay your hand flat on a table and run your other fingers over the flat hand's knuckles, that's what the dog's ribs should feel like. Bony enough to feel the ribs, but still with some meat between the ribs. That's what my vet tells me.
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ReneeH20
Full Member
Posts: 452
Jun 28, 2014 16:00:48 GMT
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Post by ReneeH20 on Aug 4, 2014 15:04:04 GMT
Our dog is 10 now. She used to get fed twice a day. She would usually eat it as soon as it hit the bowl, but wasn't one to beg for it. As the years have gone on, she will eat a little and then graze the rest of the day. If she still has food in her dish,when DH comes home, he won't feed her again. Sometimes, if he feeds her in the evening she will still have some left at breakfast.
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Post by pjynx on Aug 4, 2014 15:06:36 GMT
Our lab gets 2 cups of dry. 1 in the morning and 1 at dinnertime. Quite often though, there's still food leftover from the last meal, so sometimes we give her less. She pretty much just grazes whenever she feels like it.
Pam
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brandy327
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,353
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Post by brandy327 on Aug 4, 2014 15:12:14 GMT
Our mini doxie (put down in May) was a grazer. He'd eat a little bit when you put it out but he'd often eat several times throughout the day. He was like that the entire 12/13 years we had him. Our rescue Starsky (6 years), we feed twice a day (morning & night). He's not time specific at all...we feed him anywhere between 7-9am and then again between 5-7pm. And he eats it all at once as soon as we put it down. The puppy I feel more compelled to make sure he's eating a little earlier since he's ALWAYS hungry. LOL We've been feeding him (and now Starsky too) around 6am and then again around 6pm. He eats all of his food as soon as you put it down.
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akathy
What's For Dinner?
Still peaing from Podunk!
Posts: 4,546
Location: North Dakota
Jun 25, 2014 22:56:55 GMT
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Post by akathy on Aug 4, 2014 15:13:58 GMT
I leave dry food out for Stella all day and she grazes. Some days she hardly eats anything and some days she empties her bowl. I've done this from day one and it works for us. She is not at all overweight.
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Post by withapea on Aug 4, 2014 15:28:47 GMT
We feed our dog twice a day, kibble and veggies. She doesn't beg or get too antsy if she's not fed at a specific time but she loves to eat. We started feeding her in a Slow Bowl, that has helped a lot, she likes it and it takes her more than a minute to eat.
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Post by shamrock on Aug 4, 2014 15:28:51 GMT
Our 14 year old Westie gets fed each morning. She used to graze, but once we got our puppy she stopped that. Pup gets fed twice a day. She eats as fast as you put it down. We even have a special bowl for her that forces her to eat slower (it looks like a maze.) It really shows her down.
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scrapngranny
Pearl Clutcher
Only slightly senile
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Post by scrapngranny on Aug 4, 2014 15:37:44 GMT
When we got our border collie 12 year years ago the vet advised to feed her twice a day. We still do it that way. Her dinner time is 4 pm, at 3:55 she comes to me and paws at my leg. It baffles me that she can tell time so accurately.
I would guess your guy is just too busy to eat. I'm not sure if it's important one way or the other if he eats at his leisure or when you set the bowl down as long as he is eating.
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Post by KikiPea on Aug 4, 2014 15:42:47 GMT
I guess I don't understand those who say they won't leave food out all day because the dog will over eat and get fat.
How is that even possible if you put the exact same amount in their bowl to leave all day as you would if you fed them twice a day and picked up the bowl between meals. They would be getting the same amount of food either way.
Wili gets 1/2 a cup twice a day. Sometimes he has to be force fed (If he has had any changes in the previous days like lots of company...), but usually he will eat the 1/2 cup all at once each meal. He then gets 2-4 small, USA made, healthy treats throughout the day.
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IAmUnoriginal
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,894
Jun 25, 2014 23:27:45 GMT
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Post by IAmUnoriginal on Aug 4, 2014 15:42:52 GMT
Our schnauzer is fed twice a day. She is like clockwork and will get in your face if you're not filling that bowl on time. We couldn't free feed her. She has no self control when it comes to food. Her favorite place in the world is under YDS's chair. She knows she's going to get something.
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Post by gailoh on Aug 4, 2014 15:48:12 GMT
I do not just leave food in bowl because free grazing added weight to my pup...he comes to me ariund 4 pm knowing it is time to eat and I feed him once a day...he gained to much weight when fed twice and has bad joints so weight was an issue.
He also know around 7 pm tat it is time for his treat...
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Post by formerpea on Aug 4, 2014 15:59:25 GMT
We have 4 large dogs. They are fed 1c of kibble, mixed with 1/2 can dog food in the am & 2 bowls of kibble are left out for them. They are extremely active (they run in the woods & romp all day) they are quite satisfied.
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Dogs are gross. 
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