Experienced Sibe Owner Advice Needed Re: Change In Food Handling Procedure

[elenamarie]

Hi Everyone--

 

I need to change the food handling procedure with Sarah and am concerned with how that change will impact her behavior and training.

 

History:

 

Sarah will be 3 in a couple of months. She has been with us since she was 10 weeks old. As far as I'm concerned she is the perfect Siberian Husky, and most everyone agrees with my assessment. She is obedience trained to both voice and hand signals with a 95% response rate (for me, a little less for my husband and son.) She is an indoor dog and is not destructive. The only vice she has was created by me and my circumstances so I can't blame her for that (she can't be left alone for long at all, but I am responsible for that trait.) She has never been abused or neglected.

 

I've used the Nothing In Life Is Free approach with her since the day she came home and it's worked very well. Specific to this topic, when she's fed the routine is:

1. Come (not allowed to crowd me while I'm getting her food ready. "Come" means touch the palm of my hand with her nose.)
2. Sit
3. Wait for me to put the bowl down
4. Wait until I tap the floor to approach food. I can walk away for as long as five minutes and she will sit and wait until I return to tap the floor.
5. If I approach food while she's eating, she must back away from the bowl until I tap the floor again.
6. The bowl remains down for 30-45 minutes and then is picked up regardless of how much or little she's eaten.

Sarah doesn't eat during the day. I tried to break her meals into two during her first year but she always refused the morning meal. She seems to prefer to wait to eat until the family is at the table eating dinner (a nightly event.) She does like to browse throughout the day for hidden goodies and the parrot pellets/seeds that my cockatoo throws out of his cage.

 

Because of a case of pancreatitis, I need to change her feeding schedule to two or three small meals per day. I tried to use the standard food procedure this morning but she refused to come. She has no interest whatsoever in eating right now.

 

Question:

 

I've thought about going to a free-feeding protocol to address the pancreatitis issue but that is so radically different from the NILIF standard that I'm concerned about how it would impact her general behavior and training.

 

What do you think? Would her behavior and training be adversely impacted by moving to free-feeding? Or is she old enough, and the extent of her training and experience strong enough, that the change in food procedure likely wouldn't impact the rest of her life?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

[Andy]

Have you tried reducing her evening meal to a third.

Then she may be hungry in the morning to take another third in the morning

and again around midday ??

[elenamarie]

Have you tried reducing her evening meal to a third.

Then she may be hungry in the morning to take another third in the morning

and again around midday ??

 

I gave her half of her normal ration last night thinking the same thing but this morning she gave me the "seriously?" look. Perhaps it will take several more days?

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

I'd try what Andy has suggested first and see if that helps if not then my 3 have had no problems with free feeding at all

[Removed #5]

Since you and she are stable with the scheduled feeding, I'd go along with Andy and reduce her evening meal possibly by quarters until she eats in the morning, then go with your desired three times a day routine.

 

On that note, Sasha is the only dog I've had in many years who I don't free feed.  She'll eat anything she can get her teeth into (though I have to admit that she's gotten much better over the months I've had her).  Free feeding is acceptable given the following caveats:

• She and the other dogs (if there are any) can eat sociably.
• She doesn't gain weight - expect a weight gain when you begin to free feed, but that should come under control when she realizes that the food is there all the time. 

Free feeding is, of course, contraindicated in an animal who can't adapt to the free feeding routine - they continue to eat everything all the time or one who continues to gain weight after the initial two to three week "break in" period.  They should revert to normal weight after they adapt.  

 

From experience any animal who will adapt to free feeding won't gain weight - in fact the one I do free feed, Avalanche, could afford to put on about 20 pounds; the one who's on a schedule could afford to lose an easy 15 pounds!