Is free feeding your Chihuahua okay? People have such a strong emotional attachment to how food makes them feel that they want their pets to feel and experience the same love and comfort too.
There is no doubt that dogs LOVE to eat! But, did you know that there was a study done where dogs were given a choice between food and social interaction, and they struggled to decide? While the study may not have been scientific, it does show that dogs love social interaction equally as much as they love food.
FREE FEEDING PROS AND CONS
Before you decide whether to free-feed your dog or not you need to know the facts, not necessarily opinions.
I have done both. With my first two Chihuahuas (who have passed from old age) I put food out and left it out all day (free feeding). It was fine with those two, but not so with all dogs.
So Let’s look at the pros and cons:
Pros:
- It’s convenient, no set schedule to stick to.
- Easy
- May Lesson the chance of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
- May stop begging and whining for food during the day
Cons
- Your dog may overeat causing weight problems.
- Can’t feed them human-grade food because it will spoil if left out all day.
- If you have more than one dog you can’t control how much each is eating. One may over eat and the other may not be getting enough to eat.
- Free access to food may cause aggression
There is no doubt that your dog would prefer free-feeding 100% of the time
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO CONSIDER
If you let your dog free-feed it is very likely he or she may become overweight. Being overweight for a Chihuahua or small breed dog can be downright dangerous.
Obesity can cause a variety of very serious health issues such as:
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- Hypertension
- Osteoarthritis
- Urinary bladder stones
- Kidney disease
- Some types of cancer
- Liver disease
- Puts your dog at greater life-threatening complications when under anesthesia
Consider too the tremendous cost of treatments for any one of these obesity-related diseases.
IF YOUR DOG IS NOW OVERWEIGHT THERE IS HELP!
If your Chihuahua or small-breed dog is now overweight I can help! I have helped many people just like you to get their dogs to a healthy weight and keep it off for a lifetime. Just click the button below to learn more about it
