# Transitioning your dog from portion to free feeding



## melundie (Aug 2, 2011)

I know this sounds backwards, but now that our 7.5 month old border collie pup is fully potty-trained, we would like to transition her from being portion fed twice a day to having food out all day (free or choice feeding). 

Before anyone freaks out about the risk of pet obesity, let me tell you that despite being fed twice what is nutritionally recommended (FYI--she eats Pinnacle, which is the only dog food we've found that agrees with her very sensitive stomach) she's still a bit underweight (just about 27lbs). Her mom is 35lbs and dad is 55lbs, so we expect her to be somewhere in the 40lb range. With that said, we've been to our vet and there is nothing physically wrong with her (aside from having a really fast metabolism--couldn't we all have this problem?). All kidding aside, even the vet said she would be a great candidate for free/choice feeding based on breed/age requirements and the amount of daily exercise she gets. Furthermore, she is extremely toy-motivated (more so than food) so I'm not worried that I'll lose the "currency" of food if she always has it out. 

In terms of making the transition, whenever I put her food out she gobbles down the whole bowl. I've tried "sneaking" additional food, but as soon as she notices it's in her bowl, she scarfs it all. She also guards her food from other dogs or from our cat (who could care less about what she's eating) and it is my understanding that pretty much the only thing that causes food aggression in dogs is a hungry puppy. For the record, she has never shown aggression towards any humans.

It could be that I'm just being impatient or inconsistent with sneaking more food into her bowl. Does anyone have experience with this? How long does it typically take a dog to get used to always having food in their bowl? I'm not interested in getting into a debate about the pros and cons of portion-controlled versus choice feeding. If you have experience or tips, I would really appreciate them. Otherwise, please keep your opinion to yourself! 

Thanks


----------



## HerdersForMe (Jul 26, 2011)

If she eats her food that quickly why does she need free feeding? Just increase the amount of food she gets at each meal until she is at a healthy weight.


----------



## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

I've found that free-fed dogs actually eat less than meal-fed dogs (except for those who eat it all and get fat!). I guess they lose the excitement about meals and just don't bother to eat. If she's too thin, just increase her food amount, or feed her more often. . .I don't see how free-feeding would help her gain weight.


----------



## HerdersForMe (Jul 26, 2011)

Willowy said:


> I've found that free-fed dogs actually eat less than meal-fed dogs (except for those who eat it all and get fat!). I guess they lose the excitement about meals and just don't bother to eat. If she's too thin, just increase her food amount, or feed her more often. . .I don't see how free-feeding would help her gain weight.


Kind of what I was thinking too. Usually free fed dogs are ones who _don't_ immediately down their food when fed.


----------



## dmickle1 (Jun 19, 2011)

HerdersForMe said:


> If she eats her food that quickly why does she need free feeding? Just increase the amount of food she gets at each meal until she is at a healthy weight.


Agreed!


----------



## melundie (Aug 2, 2011)

HerdersForMe said:


> Kind of what I was thinking too. Usually free fed dogs are ones who _don't_ immediately down their food when fed.


Hm, interesting. I hadn't though of it that way. I guess I also wanted to remedy the food aggression issues towards the cat in particular that I'm seeing and I figured that making food constantly available might do it.

As an aside, can dogs really eat themselves to death?


----------



## HerdersForMe (Jul 26, 2011)

melundie said:


> Hm, interesting. I hadn't though of it that way. I guess I also wanted to remedy the food aggression issues towards the cat in particular that I'm seeing and I figured that making food constantly available might do it.
> 
> As an aside, can dogs really eat themselves to death?


We generally just stay with the dogs when they eat. It tends to calm them down if the "pack leaders" are watching over them as they eat. 

I guess theoretically yes but generally they will just eat until they throw up.


----------



## Labmom4 (Feb 1, 2011)

I dont know about eating to death, but I had a dog eat probably about 1/3 of a 44lb bag once. I came home to the most miserable roundest dog I ever saw. She could hardly move. The vet said to let nature take its course and it did. She could've eaten more, if she wanted to, but she did stop, thank goodness!


----------



## HerdersForMe (Jul 26, 2011)

Labmom4 said:


> I dont know about eating to death, but I had a dog eat probably about 1/3 of a 44lb bag once. I came home to the most miserable roundest dog I ever saw. She could hardly move. The vet said to let nature take its course and it did. She could've eaten more, if she wanted to, but she did stop, thank goodness!


Our sheltie managed to get the fridge open once and ate a tub of butter, leftover spaghetti and meatballs, and a brick of cheddar cheese. I came home to two giant piles of puke and a very normal acting sheltie...


----------



## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Plus an 8.5 month pup hasn't nearly finished growing. Add a meal if you think she is painfully skinny but BC usually are lean dogs. I don't care about the weight, put your hands on her. I expect there will be a dip between her hip bones but hope it isn't too deep. Just because her parents weigh a certain amount doesn't mean a thing.

Sassy got into a new bag of kibble once and stopped eating before all 40 pounds was gone. She didn't finish off the 10 pounds of raw rice either. We were surprised a bit but that dog food was nearly as big as she was! 24 ounces of bread and 16 ounces of margarine was no problem though, one of her favorites. You have to be concerned with bloat if a dog overeats like that I think.


----------



## OliveSheprador (Jul 14, 2011)

I'd feed more per serving.

I've never been able to free-feed any of our dogs. They always eat everything, no matter how much. My lab/shep mix never seems to ever be full!


----------



## LuvMyAngels (May 24, 2009)

I want to know exactly what my dog is eating, both per meal and per day. Knowing when he's even slightly off his food has meant I have been able to catch illnesses before they become serious issues. 

I would think having food always out would increase the resource guarding since the dog would be constantly guarding the bowl.


----------



## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

Honestly, I don't think having food out all the time is going to make the food guarding/aggression any better. Food guarding and aggression don't usually have anything to do with how abundant a resource is IME. "Mine!" by Jean Donaldson is a great resource for this issue.


----------



## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

I free feed all my dogs but have done so since they were puppies. I have found my dogs do not "graze" all day but just eat either in the morning or at night whichever they prefer. They maintain a nice healthy weight, are not fat and are not protective of their food. They are Shih Tzu x Maltese and I am sure it would not work for every dog.

I think it would be a lot harder to switch a dog over from two or three meals a day to free feed as they are used to cleaning up all their food at one time and could eat till they were sick. I would just either feed them more times a day or increase the amount you feed.


----------



## KodiBarracuda (Jul 4, 2011)

I too free feed all of my dogs and have since they were puppies. Mine will take maybe one bite every two hours, they don't wolf down their food (I think portion feeding can lead to wolfing food) they will grab a mouthful and then go about their business. 
None of them are fat and the two house dogs eat out of the same bowl. 
I think free feeding would prevent resource guarding because the resource is always there and it doesn't matter how much the other dog eats, the bowl will always be refilled, but that is just my theory.

I would say my dogs go through one and a half bowls of food a day (this is between a 60 pound Aussie and a 20 pound Schnoodle). Even with free feeding you are still controlling the food, you are the one that refills the bowl. I would know if one of my dogs was off their food because the bowl wouldn't empty as fast as it normally does.

I'm not sure how you would switch though because your dog already wolfs down its food. I might feed constantly throughout the day, every time your dog isn't looking or is in the other room, put just a few kibbles in the bowl and don't tell her about it, stop giving her full meals from her bowl, this would prevent your dog from gobbling a whole meal at one time and if every time your dog enters a room there is food in her bowl she _may_ realize that there will always be food in her bowls and she doesn't need to wolf it. But because I have never dealt with a food gobbling dog I am not the best source.


----------



## HerdersForMe (Jul 26, 2011)

KodiBarracuda said:


> l.
> I think free feeding would prevent resource guarding because the resource is always there and it doesn't matter how much the other dog eats, the bowl will always be refilled, but that is just my theory.


Meh I kind of disagree. Just because it's always there doesn't mean the dog won't get defensive. Dogs get defensive over toys even when there's a hundred toys on the ground that are always there.


----------



## melundie (Aug 2, 2011)

HerdersForMe said:


> Meh I kind of disagree. Just because it's always there doesn't mean the dog won't get defensive. Dogs get defensive over toys even when there's a hundred toys on the ground that are always there.


That's a valid point and one I've never really considered, but our dog never shows guarding behavior towards any of her toys or bones (which I think are more typical of being guarded) and they always happen to be out. I know that's not necessarily the point you're making, but I think it's an interesting coincidence that she feels she needs to be protective of her food, which is only out at meal-time. Her brother, that my parents got from the same breeder a year before, is quite food aggressive (again, only food) and I surmised it was because when he was a puppy the breeder may have fed the whole litter in the same area and it created a situation where whichever pup finished first moved on to the next bowl and so on. This taught the pups not only to scarf their food, but also to guard any food they had from other, faster eaters. 

On a related note, does anyone have any thoughts on how to stop the food aggression towards other animals?


----------



## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

Honestly, I'm not understanding why you want to do this. There are SO many drawbacks to free feeding, especially if you have a food guardy dog in a multiple dog household. and free feeding can make picky eaters. If you'd like her to gain more weight, why not just increase her meals a bit?



melundie said:


> Hm, interesting. I hadn't though of it that way. I guess I also wanted to remedy the food aggression issues towards the cat in particular that I'm seeing and I figured that making food constantly available might do it.
> 
> As an aside, can dogs really eat themselves to death?


One of the first protocols for resource guarders is to pick the food bowl up. Food always available frequently makes for more guarding.



KodiBarracuda said:


> I too free feed all of my dogs and have since they were puppies. Mine will take maybe one bite every two hours, they don't wolf down their food (I think portion feeding can lead to wolfing food) they will grab a mouthful and then go about their business.
> None of them are fat and the two house dogs eat out of the same bowl.
> I think free feeding would prevent resource guarding because the resource is always there and it doesn't matter how much the other dog eats, the bowl will always be refilled, but that is just my theory.
> 
> ...


So, with two dogs who eat causally when they want to, how long does it take to notice a dog is off its feed? I know immediately if I put down a bowl and someone turns their nose away - because that's not normal behavior for them.


----------



## KodiBarracuda (Jul 4, 2011)

Pawzk9 said:


> So, with two dogs who eat causally when they want to, how long does it take to notice a dog is off its feed? I know immediately if I put down a bowl and someone turns their nose away - because that's not normal behavior for them.



Less than a day, they always need a refilling around the same time every day so I know that one of them is off their food if there is still food when I go to refill it. I am also not going to be worried if my dog is off of food a little bit, cant go running to a vet every time Kodi sneezes and there are other ways to determine if they are feeling ill or not.


----------



## zimandtakandgrrandmimi (May 8, 2008)

know at least six cases where free feeding a resource guarder in a multi animal household was the catalyst that took the dog in question from simple resource guarding to full blown extremely dangerous conditioned animal aggression complete with biting and in one case a dead cat.

i think its a terrible idea.


----------



## LuLuBelle (May 19, 2009)

I've always thought that free feeding a dog is wrong as dogs can eat ALL day if you allow them. I feed my dog a certain amount a day twice a day, and know what and how much she's eating. It also helps with the health of your dog and in knowing weather they have an illness. I find a dog that free feeds ends up either chuncky or FAT, and not good for there little hearts.


----------



## xxxxdogdragoness (Jul 22, 2010)

HerdersForMe said:


> We generally just stay with the dogs when they eat. It tends to calm them down if the "pack leaders" are watching over them as they eat.
> 
> I guess theoretically yes but generally they will just eat until they throw up.


By your name im judging that you have heelers... So do I , 

Mine wouldn't eat if I stood "over" them, I always give mine space when eat, I mean, they give me space when I eat, so I extend them the same courtesy.


----------

