Dog Health Questions: Is it bad to leave dog food down all the time?

My dog doesn't always eat all his food but he comes back later to finish it. I watch dog training shows and apparently you should take their food up after just 30 minutes but my dog wouldn't have touched it. He's house trained so it doesn't matter about that and I do feed him at a routine time everyday but I don't know if I should be leaving it down for him to pick at it or not? He loses weight easily so I don't want to risk that.

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i feed my dogs at a schedualed time and they eat all their food up right away. Some people like to allow their dogs to free feed. I would say that is your dog is the only dog in the house it is fine to leave it out and allow him to come back to it, especially if he has a hard time keeping his weight. Make sure that you are still measuring his daily food intake and that you are not laving it out to spoil. Kibble will not spoil if it is left in a bowl but a raw diet or canned food can if it gts warm. (so can kibble that is moistened)

Aggressive Dog Training - Expert Advice

• It's not too bad but I wouldn't recommend it for the following reasons...
  -imbalanced diet
  -food may become bug infested
  -may get bad just sitting out all day
  -dog may have more poo than usual.
  
  What I did was take the food out and the whether the dog finishes it or not, I remove it and bring it back out at dinner time. Dogs eating whenever they want is like humans eating a big plate of food and they leave the plate and come back to eat some more and come back to eat some more which makes them snack on that one plate of food all day. My mom would give us food and whether we finished or not, she would put it in the microwave until next mealtime. For your dog, it helps you keep track of how much he eats and schedule his eating time.


• Free feeding is okay in some instances, where a dog isn't a gobbler when it comes to food. Its okay if you leave one serving down, but don't constantly be filling the bowl up all day. But if you did decide to pick it up before your dog eats it, she will get hungry enough that the next day she would probably dive right in and eat it all.


• my dog always has food available to her.i measure out w/a measuring cup and place it in a water bottle.1/8 cup of dry dog food(different brands/flavors)in a water bottle.my dog rarely ever over eats so it's not a major issue.her weight is monitored monthly.i also offer can food at least 2-3 times a day.


• I dont and wouldnt do it for a number of reasons.
  
  what if he gets sick, you never know the last time he ate. And this can be many problems.
  What if you need to know how much he ate? you wont ever know the exact amount he eats a day.
  over feeding is a major issue as well.
  
  A dog will NOT starve themselves. It may take a few days for your dog to relize that food is only down for 15mins 2 times a day and thats it. But he will catch on soon enough. I hate the idea of free feeding.


• You are taking a chance that ants or flies could get into the food. You could try feeding him twice a day. If that doesn't work, leave the food down, but make sure it is fresh and bug free.


• it's not bad . but if you do leave food there then only put a little bit in at a time .


• A lot of people will tell you it is wrong but I have free fed for many many years & all is fine (except I think I feed more birds than dogs).