To Graze or Not to Graze
Up to that point in his 9 months of life he was given meals at regular times and allowed to eat whenever he felt like it. Sometimes he would eat right away but others he would wait a long time. If we pick up his food he doesn't wolf it down when he is offered it next, in fact sometimes he walks away from it for a while, preferring to be with us than stand in another room to eat. Food just doesn't seem very high on his list of priorities. Food in a bowl that is, he loves snacks; odd snacks he finds or snacks we give him. Since we have been picking his food up he has had one meal a day more often that he has had 2. It seems it is more important for him to get 2 meals than it is to teach him to each as soon as it is served. His bowel routine was more regular when he ate when he felt like it than it is now. |
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| If you have one dog, and only plan to have one dog - it's not really that much of a concern. As long as he doesn't have bowel issues (which sounds like it's actually better grazing - the benefit of planned meals is usually that you get planned poops!), it isn't that critical. However it just doesn't work as well in a multidog household. One gets more (they eat 2 dog's worth in the most extreme case), the other gets less (or none). It also can cause food guarding, as one or both can and do often lay claim to the food that lingers around for a long time. One may even get real bossy and claim both bowls, going back and forth keeping the other away. So with ours, having each go right to their own dish and eating it is best. Some eat slow, some eat fast, but they all eat in about 5-10 minutes tops. They do eat in separate areas, so no one feels rushed, or pressured by another dog hovering around them. It's also beneficial with travelling and especially competition - as I need to feed them several hours before they compete, so the ability to feed at 5am and have them all digested for activity at 8am is essential. Or if we are traveling, they eat and then potty and are good for the trip. |
| Our old GSD/Dobie mix was free fed, and he did really well with it. He was so great at self-regulating, that we never bothered to measure it out, and he maintained the same weight (give or take 2 pounds) all of his adult life. Benson now has food available all the time, but we do check & refill her bowl regularly. She is given a portion of food every time we sit down for a meal, and generally eats a little more than half of that at each sitting, keeping the rest to nosh on later. We keep an eye on how much she eats in a day, but that's it. She's the only animal in the house, too, so it's easy to leave her food down. Unless there is another reason to set specific mealtimes, it sounds like grazing works better for you and for Dexter. |
| There's nothing wrong with grazing in a one pet house......other than possible attraction to misc pests. Just be careful you carefully monitor how much is being eaten in 24 hours. In our multi dog house one of us has always stood by as the dogs eat...in the same room. This way there is not stealing, so each dog is relaxed. Every so often one will now walk alway........age I assume. We immediately pick up the bowl least the others think they can grab it, and offer it again an hour or two later. Usually it is eaten the second time. If not, no big deal, there's another feeding later in the day. Rarely have they gone more than 2 meals w/o eating. |
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