I free feed, and they share two food dispensers.
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I free feed, and they share two food dispensers.
Thank you for all of your responses. They are all very interesting. It gives me a lot to think about.
Maggie has her own food and water. Marty and Alex usually share food and water, Dolly has her own bowls in her crate. In the little dogs outside kennel there is 2 food bowls and 2 water bowls, we free freed them.
Mine each have their own food bowls but they share the same water bowl. Tango hates it when Winston and Tia try to take her food.
Mine have seperate bowls,and get fed twice daily,dry and canned.Mine can't share bowls,we've already had a few moments when they snap at eachother.so seperate bowls they have!They dont even try to go in eachothers food anymore.They share the same waterbowl.
Everyone gets their own bowl here, with several shared water bowls around.
Feeding time is a little nutty here. Some of them have to eat alone--Deuce & Kayleigh. Heyoka gets tied up to eat. If he was loose, no one else would get any food. Hobo eats alone in the porch--he looses what little control he has at the mere sight of food. He'd get beat up if he ate with the others. Paxil, Preacher & Sleet eat different food than the rest of them. Those three eat inside, but with their own bowls. Paxil is extremely fussy and underweight so I often bribe her to eat with extra canned food or gravy.
Chase & Goldie eat in their pen, far away from each other. Goldie doesn't like Chase getting too close to her food. In Raven's pen there are usually four dogs. Deuce gets pulled out to eat into the "holding pen". Raven, Founder and Mac each get their own bowl, but they tend to switch around. Mac gets an extra bit of food hand fed to him--he needs more food than the others. Pingo eats in the main yard, but inside her dog house. It's chaos!
I free feed and i only have one dog. :o
but if i had other dogs i know i would have to do something different with the food. he has issues with other dogs enough as it is when hes not eating. LOL
Glacier, I must admit that I am very surprised at your response. I guess I figured that the only way to manage such a large crew of big, hungry, active dogs was to have several bowls around and free feed. Wow, I cannot imagine what it must be like trying to accommodate that large crew at dinner time :). My admiration for you and what you do for those dogs continues to grow.
6 dogs, 6 bowls and a "guest bowl" when we have guest dog(s). Same two always eat upstairs, others in the kitchen . One shared, large water bowl in kitchen (freshly filled whenever anyone walks through) and one constantly (by a drippy faucet) being filled water bucket outside. The 5 cats eat wherever and whenever (within reason) they want :rolleyes: :D
They share the water dish but for food they each get their own.
This way I am preventing any aggression issues. I can also monitor their food intake.
Seperate bowls :)
Ditto. I feed my cats twice a day, and they each get a measured amount out of their own dish.Quote:
Originally posted by finn's mom
I had multiple cats, and, never left food down for them. I would do the same with dogs. We fed our cats in seperate bowls, with a measured amount of food. I think it's the best way to do it with cats and with dogs, it cuts back on the agression, as stated, and, also helps if they need different food (already stated), but, it also helps avoid having overweight pets.
My dogs eat once a day. I feed them each a measured amount. Nacey, Nova, and Charlie each eat in their crates. Bitsy eats in the kitchen and Buster eats in the living room.
So I have 5 dog dishes and 6 cat dishes.
Free feeding would lead to bloodshed! We haven't done that since added the third dog--and that was a long time ago! This way everyone eats without feeling threatened. Some of my dogs have been strays and been hungry or been starved by their first owners. It's important for them to have a routine to their meals and that they can eat without other dogs stealing their food. I try to feed at approximately the same time everyday. This way also gives me some control over how much food they get. Their needs vary widely. Mac & Ozzy need as much food as the malamutes, despite the fact that Heyoka's head weighs as much as Ozzy's whole body! The hound in them makes their energy needs very high. Sleet gains weight easily and needs less than she used to.Quote:
Originally posted by Ginger's Mom
Glacier, I must admit that I am very surprised at your response. I guess I figured that the only way to manage such a large crew of big, hungry, active dogs was to have several bowls around and free feed. Wow, I cannot imagine what it must be like trying to accommodate that large crew at dinner time :). My admiration for you and what you do for those dogs continues to grow.
They do have some bones scattered around that they can chew on whenever they want to.
You can't hear them at feeding time? Good to know the racket doesn't carry that far! ;) I know everyone within a few miles of my house knows when I am feeding!
lol I am trying to mmuliply the noise my 5 dogs make at feeding time by 4 or 5 lol hmm the sound of a flyball tourniment every feeding time... :eek:
Reggie and Sydney have food in their pen in the basement where we leave them when we're gone. There's a couple of bowls, they can eat as much as they want...my mom feeds them.
Nebo is fed once a day, wherever I happen to be...usually in my room. He is fine with people around food but not other dogs, he must be fed alone.