why do some breeds "free eat" and some you must feed on a schedule?

[Anonymous]

Our rescue mutt (lab pointer) started out missing meals. We'd put down a full bowl while we ate breakfast when the family was done eating the bowl went away, same for dinner. She is high energy so we couldn't believe that she could miss a meal and not care. Our cats are schedule eaters and if you miss, by so much as a minute they are making sure you remember. Finally after several months our dog now eats her bowl when we eat (breakfast and dinner). If she leaves anything in the bowl at the end of meal time it goes away. Remember you can control the quantity of food based on size, age, etc. Our cats would eat all day long if we let them but we have one cat that needs to lose weight so we have to be carefully she eats what we give her and doesn't free eat. Our dog would probably be fine as a free eater but we decided it worked better for all of us is she was also on a schedule.

[Anonymous]

we free feed and pup grazes much of the day, usually eating most of the food at the end of the day. our pup is a rescue - some kind of retriever mix. on the advice of vets and trainer, we tried to switch by taking away her food after "meal time." But she never took to eating it all at once, lost weight for a few weeks, and we gave up when the vet said we needed to get her to eat more.

all the other dogs i have ever owned have just been crazy for food and would gulp it down the moment it appeared. no idea why this dog is different, but she's not changing.

[Anonymous]

My oldest child is a free-eater and loses weight if we take away his uneaten food after mealtimes, my youngest would explode if she free-ate

Just understand that all animals are individuals and that you should respect their individual needs.

[Anonymous]

My dog snarfs his food so fast there is nothing left. He gets fed 2 times a day. Our vet said this is normal.