[Leona2025]

So I bought Gigi one of those dog feeders which automatically poor out the food. Omg she looks like she gained 2lbs overnight. She is so fat and swollen. I had also put down a bowl of wet dog food. Clearly I made a mistake, but she always acts like she doesn't want to eat and I can not believe she ate all that food.

 

[CHITheresa]

Amberleah is free fed and wont gain any weight, I am hoping after they figure out what is wrong with her on Tues she will gain some weight.

 

[MiniGrace]

Charlie was free fed by his breeder and he was overweight when I got him. Iswitched him to two meals a day and now he looks great. My last small dog was a dachshund and I did free feed her. She maintained her weight perfectly her whole life. I think it depends on the dog.

 

[Cream Chi's]

So I bought Gigi one of those dog feeders which automatically poor out the food. Omg she looks like she gained 2lbs overnight. She is so fat and swollen. I had also put down a bowl of wet dog food. Clearly I made a mistake, but she always acts like she doesn't want to eat and I can not believe she ate all that food.

Not to worry you but keep a close eye on her if she looks fat and swollen, was it dry food? it can swell up lots!

 

[LowClassCC]

when switching new dogs to free feeding who only received set amounts before can be trying. alex our chinese crested and ziggy our 2nd border collie both would devour the food in the beginning. they would over eat to the point that they had to purge the food back out. alex only did this for a few days but ziggy continued for a few weeks. i just always made sure that the bowl of food was always full. that both learned they did not have to devour the food like that. none of our dogs are overweight and they have all cut back on how much they eat.

don't give up on the idea just yet. give it a month. if after a month you are still having issues go back to the way you had been feeding.

 

[svdreamer]

All mine are free fed. Like LowClassCC said, when I first get a new one that was used to either being fed at set times or underfed, they would gulp a lot of food at once. Once they got used to it, they backed off and their weight went down and stabilized. Only Reggie is overweight since his neuter. The rest are at good weights.

 

[AllaboutEve]

I think poppy would eat til she.... Well popped!! She has always been obssessed with food & acts like she is starving all the time!! We just give her her ZP at meal times & healthy treats in-between!

 

[mooberry]

Amberleah is free fed and wont gain any weight, I am hoping after they figure out what is wrong with her on Tues she will gain some weight.

I'm sorry to Hijack this but Your finding out Tuesday?! I'm so happy for you!!!

 

[Leona2025]

She is fine today. I went back to her timely meals. It was a full bowl of dry dog food and a full bowl of canned dog food. It surprise me because she is not a picky puppy, but she rarely eats all her food. I only have the one pup so it's not a chore to feed her, but it thought it would be nice for her to have her food whenever she wanted it.