Larksmom - I’d be cautious about feeding that moist kibble in a bag stuff (I’m thinking it’s that “Moist & Meaty” burger stuff?) - your dog will probably totally love it, but it’s like doggy crack - lots of sugar, not much actual meat, or whole ingredients - it’s not something I’d feed my dogs if I could help it, personally.
I’m not wendy, but I agree that free feeding isn’t a great idea for dogs. If you’ve got multiple dogs who are loose together, how do you know who ate what? It’s a nightmare if you’ve got a skinny dog and a fat dog, or one dog who guards the bowl, or one who needs a special diet…
As far as free feeding keeping dogs from being food aggressive? I gotta disagree on that - my 4 all know that those bowls are MINE - I can give them, leave them, take them away half-eaten (you have to be fast to do that in my house!) or tell someone to wait before diving in. Food left around all the time is something that can (and may well) be guarded - and as I see it, that’s an opportunity to create a problem.
I can also tell you from experience that my hungry dogs (and yes, my dogs are hungry when meal times roll around) are NOT picky eaters! They eat what’s offered - and I mix things up quite a bit (brands/formulas of kibble, canned, raw - I am very fortunate that I don’t have anyone with food allergies or sensitivities, and I do keep everything grain-free and as high quality as I can afford) and none of my dogs turns down a meal unless they don’t feel well.
I also have a pretty good understanding of my dogs’ elimination schedules as well - because I know when the food went in, I have a pretty good idea of when they’re going to need to go out. If you have a dog door or your dog lives in a fenced yard or kennel, that might not be important to you, but I work full time outside the home and my dogs don’t go outside unless I’m with them - I need to know that everyone has pooped (or had the chance to) before I leave for work!
I also do agility and rally with my dogs - I don’t want to ask anybody to run an agility course/lesson/training session on a full stomach, and some dogs work better on an empty stomach, some need to have a little something in their bellies to really focus - - so again, I need to know who ate what and when.
As far as healthy - I think that dogs are designed to be food bolters - they have fairly short digestive tracts (especially when compared to horses, who are lovely examples of animals that should be free-fed!), and I think that anatomy lends itself to a bolting-style of eating, rather than an ongoing grazing pattern.
That’s my theory, and it works really well for me and my dogs, and our lifestyle - if free-feeding works for you, it’s your life, your dog, you know?
