Gobbler versus Grazer

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Hi all!

My currently doodle is a grazer, I put his daily amount of food in his bowl and he eats when he's hungry and has always been a great weight, he was even like this as a pup. Now that we are bringing puppy two home in a little over a month I was wondering if I should be trying to switch him to set meal times so him and the puppy don't have issues eating the others food, assuming this puppy might be a gobbler! Any thoughts would be great. The "free eating" seems to work great for my current doodle I'm just concerned that there could be problems and could be avoided.

Thanks all have a great weekend!

Jess and Loki (and soon Moose too!)

[Peri Kolakowski]

so are you recommending not feeding Natural Balance at all?  How do you feel about Merrick?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Personally, I would stick with the recommended brands: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/recomme...

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/recomme...

Natural Balance was moved to the "better than Purina, but..." list when they were sold. So better than Purina, but, lol.

[Peri Kolakowski]

Just curious why Merrick is not on the recommended list.  I have heard many good things about them

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Well, there's a long long history of recalls and questionable manufacturing practices. You can do a search here in TFG for info going back several years. 

I've heard many good things about Beneful, too, lol. Anecdotal info doesn;t mean much, which is why we try to stick with facts and science here rather than "what worked for me". :)

[Peri Kolakowski]

LOL on the Beneful (do you know no matter how much I tell people they still insist on feeding beneful to their dogs...idiots!)  OK, I'll probably go with the Orejen.  What about Merricks treats?  DJ loves their treats and he is picky picky picky even with treats!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The Merrick recalls have mostly involved their treats. :)

Take a look at our treat list, there are tons of great choices. And any treat made by one of our recommended food brands is great too; Orijen makes some amazing ones. 

[sarah c gammel]

same situation here. I always left Lotus food out and she ate when she felt like it. our new pup is a "gobbler". I feed Lotus in her crate twice a day as puppy would eat her food too.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

When we brought Lucy and Sophie home we were free feeders.  They did really well.  They even ate out of the same bowl.  it was funny that one seemed to eat one side of the bowl and the other ate the other side.  However, in hind site I don't think this was a good idea.  When we lost Sophie and brought little AnnaBelle home I had to start feeding at meal times for a few reasons.  One, Lucy hated AnnaBelle and meal time was a little bit of a challenge.  I was feeding two types of food, puppy and adult.  Also, having been through health issues with Sophie and having trouble getting her to eat I knew that I would need to know if one wasn't eating.  If you are free feeding you can't honestly monitor the intake of each.  They could lose a significant amount of weight before you realized that one wasn't eating and something was wrong.   If I hand't switched when I did, I would of had to know because Lucy has food allergies and I have to make sure she doesn't get any of AnnaBelle's food.   It takes a little getting used to after free feeding, but all in all I think it is better.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I once took in a foster GSD with megaesophagus. The rescue director was appalled when she brought him to my house and saw that my dog at that time was free-fed. It was a real problem figuring out what to do with my dog's food bowl to make sure that the Shepherd couldn't get at it. We ended up putting my dog's food bowl under the kitchen table where (with the chairs in the way) the Shepherd couldn't get at it, but my 14" Miniature Poodle could. 

After that, I vowed never to free feed again. 

[Peri Kolakowski]

sigh!  I think I'm going to go with the Wellness cause the Orajen is so damn expensive!!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I don't know what kinds of treats your dogs like, but there are lots and lots of good options. Fromm's treats are very reasonably priced, Cloudstar is another one with a good selection and decent prices. There are many. 

[Peri Kolakowski]

Thanks, will have to go on a shopping expedition soon :)