my golden retriever, cooper, has always been a little on the thin side, but ever since he turned 1, he really has started to fill out. i have always free-fed both of my dogs. lately though i have started to kind of monitor how much cooper is eating though and it is too much! i switched foods recently, from solid gold large breed adult, to innova large breed adult, and i have decided to stop free feeding. i do not want to have fat dogs. so, today is my first day of attempting to feed them in different bowl and not leave food out. according to the feeding guidlines for innova, cooper should get 4 1/4 cups a day and my collie mix, who isnt a large breed, should get about 2 cups. im spliting those portions in half and will feed twice day. BUT they both just got done eating their first half, and they both seem to want more. cooper seemed to still be so hungry that i gave in and gave him one more cup, so hes already had 3 of his 4 cups and its not even 11am! so, my question is, how do i know that they are getting enough to eat?
they seem so hungry, and i am feeling like i am starving my babies, even though i know i am doing the right thing trying to keep them from becoming overweight. is it just going to take time for them to get use to eating their portions twice a day. and if so, about how long until they stop looking at me like they accusing me of starving them? lol. do you guys free-feed, or do you just feed once or twice a day? and how many hours do you put between feedings? thanks for any input, Leah