From: terry@eece.ksu.edu (Terry Hull)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Re: feeding times (was: New Puppy - Need Advice!!)
Date: 8 Sep 1992 15:52:53 GMT
Organization: Kansas State University
NNTP-Posting-Host: ralph.eece.ksu.edu

bws20@duts.ccc.amdahl.com (Brian W Simmons) writes:

>In Message-ID: <17tf5mINNdl7@moe.ksu.ksu.edu> Terry Hull responded

>]bws20@duts.ccc.amdahl.com (Brian W Simmons) writes:

>]If you have a "normal" eater or one who is not overly picky, they
>]should eat all you put down in front of them.  If they are leaving
>]food, they may be overfed.  A good rule of thumb is to feed them 2/3
>]of what they would eat if fed by free choice.  Obviously, this does
>]not apply to dogs that are working very hard every day.  They may need
>]all the calories you can get into them.

>DO you _always_ clean your plate?  I mean every single meal?  

Yes, unless I am sick, I do.  I was trained to do that as a child and
I still do it.  With my Rottweilers, if they do not eat all that I put
down, something is wrong.  If my BC cross does not eat it all, she is
normally just being her finicky self.  She will eat sometime.  (She
has missed up to 6 meals in a row before with no ill effects on her.
It does have the effect of making ME nervous.)  

>I don't.
>I don't expect my dog to, either.  If he had a particularly exertive
>evening the night before, often he'd rather sleep.  When he feels like it,
>as I noted often around noon, he eats.  I do the same thing.Dogs and
>other animals I have owned and observed have moods and sometimes feel
>like doing one thing over another.  Your dogs may be different.  Then,
>they may have no choice and have wisely learned they damn well better eat
>when the bowl is full, or they'll just have to wait.

Somehow, I don't think that a missed meal will cause my dogs
very much suffering. . . I miss meals once in a while, and seem to
live through it OK.  

>'they may be overfed."  I think I am in a position to judge whether my dog
>is overfed.  I read extensively on dog subjects, I stay in contact with
>two vets, discuss dogs every chance I get, have a couple of degrees in
>biology--in short, not a total idiot who has fed his dog to gargantuan
>proportions.

Sorry, I did not mean to imply that you were an idiot.  Many people
actually read and follow the directions on the can or the bag of food
that they purchase, and many of them grossly overstate the dog's need
large quantities of food.  

>]A regular feeding and elimination schedule is especially useful if you
>]travel with your dogs.  This can save you lots of hassle as you go
>]down the road with your canine friends.

>Very true, but not mutually exclusive with what I do.

Not mutually exclusive, but your way is more difficult for the dog,
IMHO. When I go down the road, I normally stop to feed my dogs at
their scheduled feeding time.  They get their allotted time to eat and
then we are off down the road again.  That seems unfair to a dog that
normally eats sometime between 7:00 AM and noon.  How is he supposed
to know that breakfast will only be 10 minutes long today?  I know
lots of people have good success leaving food down in a moving car,
but after mine got sick while trying to eat in a moving car, I have
not tried it again.  (He has never been carsick before or since.)

I guess the last argument I would make for feeding the dogs only when
you are around is bloat.  I am normally around for more than an hour
after my dogs are fed so that I can see if they are in any discomfort.
Since Rottweilers are especially prone to bloat, that in and of itself
seems to be reason enough to control feeding times. 
--
Terry Hull  -  terry@eece.ksu.edu
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Kansas State University
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs