How often do you feed your shelties?

I feed Saidy once a day, some time in the afternoon or evening, if I put it out earlier in the afternoon she just pics at it until later.
Saidy is about 30 Ibs as well and we feed between 1 and 2 cups a day, it depends on how much she has been eating and what we've been doing, like if we go for a good hike we might give her 2 cups but if we have just been sitting around the house all day then probably only 1 cup.
 
Mine are fed twice a day. Fergus(15#) gets 2/3 cup a day and sometimes doesn't eat it all.

Baxter (36#) gets a little less than one cup a day. I know Baxter would eat a lot more if I would allow it. He's a real chow hound and will steal Fergus' left overs if I'm not careful. We're trying to adjust his quantities as he's just coming off his diet. If he continues to lose weight we'll have to increase a bit more till we get a stable weight.
 
2 cups does sound like a lot. He's probably not eating breakfast because he's still full from his dinner.

Bailey is 14.5 pounds, 13 1/2 inches. She is fed twice a day. 1/2 to 2/3 cup a day. Depends on how much activity or treats she will be getting that day.
 
Thanks all, at this time Sandstorm does eat all his food. I don't know how you all with multiple dogs can keep food measurements straight- at least once a week Sandstorm is looking at us like we are cruel because we "forgot" to feed him. I think my husband has fed him and he thinks I fed him!! :eek2:
Our old dog gained weight because I thought my husband didn't feed him and he thought I didn't feed him, so we both fed him!:(
And I won't even tell you what happened with our sons medication until we got the daily med pack!! :no:
Karen
 
I just always fill her bowl up when it gets empty filler back up, I don't understand why you would only fed a little in the morning and night or however. Ever since lace was a pup her food dish is always full and she eats when she wants or when she is hungry. Do your dogs eat all the food at once? This question only applys to dry kibble feeders
 
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Lacey'sMamma said:
I just always fill her bowl up when it gets empty, I don't understand why you would only fed a little in the morning and night or however. Ever since lace was a pup her food dish is always full and she eats when she wants or when she is hungry. Do your dogs eat all the food at once? This question only applys to dry kibble feeders
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When I fed kibble if I did that Ember and Diva would be about 40lbs(instead of 16 and 20lbs. They eat every scrap of food they can find. I've try to determine who is the bigger pig and its a toss up. Ember struggles with her weight as it is.

Now Justice would probably eat what he wants and would stop when full and never gain weight that boy has the metabolism of a humming bird.

Now my cat is free fed. He always has been. He eats when he is hungery and stops when full. First cat who has done that. The others again pigs and would eat until they explode.
 
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Free feeding one dog might be fine but there's too much competition with multiple dogs - the food wouldnt last long whether they were hungry or not. I know a lot of people that stopped free feeding for various reasons, the dogs put on a lot of weight (incl a dog we play with every day that as an adult is starting to look like a pudding ball), they got another dog, or, what seems most common, the dog loses interest in their food. I think in the latter case the food becomes fairly low value when its been sitting around all day, everyday. It tends to go one way or the other - pudding or starve.

A vet told me once that dogs dont have the same appetite as cats, because dogs are scavengers they may be gaps between meals so they can gorge themselves in a sitting and then not eat for days, whereas cats kill their own prey so when they are hungry the go catch someone fresh to eat. Dont know how true it is, but it makes sense. Mind you, I dont free feed my cats - seen too many fat cats around.
 
*Caro said:
Free feeding one dog might be fine but there's too much competition with multiple dogs - the food wouldnt last long whether they were hungry or not. I know a lot of people that stopped free feeding for various reasons, the dogs put on a lot of weight (incl a dog we play with every day that as an adult is starting to look like a pudding ball), they got another dog, or, what seems most common, the dog loses interest in their food. I think in the latter case the food becomes fairly low value when its been sitting around all day, everyday. It tends to go one way or the other - pudding or starve.

A vet told me once that dogs dont have the same appetite as cats, because dogs are scavengers they may be gaps between meals so they can gorge themselves in a sitting and then not eat for days, whereas cats kill their own prey so when they are hungry the go catch someone fresh to eat. Dont know how true it is, but it makes sense. Mind you, I dont free feed my cats - seen too many fat cats around.
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Cats eat small frequent meals naturally 20-30 smalls meals a day is the usual pattern. Dogs tend to be gorge eaters.

I just remembered another reason not to free feed dogs. Food is a strong primary reinforcer for training. If you give it away for free it loses its value for training. Not many dogs will work for the sake of working at first unless you make not working not fun though punishments. Many of them will eventually if it is paired with food, play etc though positive reinforcement. I always have hand fed my puppies half of their meals when training when I first get them. Helps with the bonding too.
 
Any dog we have ever had has never been free fed. They got a set amount in a day and depending on what the dog was fed, they got it once or twice a day. With Noah and Emma, I fed(feed) twice a day, half in the morning and half at night. There are times the food from the morning sat until afternoon, then it was eaten and so was the dinnertime feeding. If the bowl is filled up constantly, there is a danger, as mentioned, of weight gain and then the struggle comes to get it off. Looking at the package directions, I have found (and others may agree) that what it recommended for weight is not what Emma needs - it is far too much. Emma does not need two cups of food in a day. She would be way to heavy if I gave her that much. An alternative to filling up the dish all the time would be to cut back on the dog food and substitute a cookie. Emma gets these in place of more dry food, so that everything she gets is counted into her daily food limit.
 
Emmasmom said:
If the bowl is filled up constantly, there is a danger, as mentioned, of weight gain and then the struggle comes to get it off.
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In addition, feeding twice a day not only makes it easier to monitor your dogs eating habits (you discover more quickly when your dog goes off his/her food), but it also helps with training if food is not available all the time. It gives food a higher value, making your dog more interested in working for it.

Both of my girls eat every bit of kibble. If they don't I know someone isn't feeling well.
 
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