Automatic feeders

[Buckshot101]

So the moral of the story is, if you've the time to interact with your hounds every day, don't throw their food in a tin box to sit for days and go stale and grow mold, or draw birds, bugs or other disease carrying rats and rodents, give it fresh each day and tell them how much you think of them.

That is not true. I have an outside kennel and a inside kennel.

Feeder is in the inside kennel which is one big room -- heated and cooled with a place to sleep on as well as treatment area. It is connected by a one and half doorway to my office.

I have 7 hounds that eat from it -- 6 bassets and 1 coounhound.

6 other dogs are hand fed.

Trust me, the food is fresh.........with 7 hounds that eat from it, it has to be filled regulary.

I have a heat pen in one of the outside kennels.........I have more problems with field rats and birds with a food pan so placing a feeder in the heat pen solves that problem ..............That is not a no brainer, I don't want the field rats and bird crap all over in the pen. The feeder in the heat pen is small feeder that gets food added to it once a day.

I think alot of my hounds.............and no their feeder does not have the problems you listed.

[tickledblue]

I keep around 50 dogs and feed each one in it's own bowl daily. They are kept in kennels from 1 to 3 per kennel. They are trained to stay back until I get the food in the pans. I say "OK" and they dive in. I watch the greedy ones and they watch me. They know better than to steal food while I'm watching. I separate them by sex, age, etc.. I have feeders that I use for puppies until they are about 6 months old and too fat then they go to individual bowls. If feeders would work for me it would sure cut down on my work. From 50 years and over with dogs my experience has been that feeders equal fat dogs and wasted food. It also causes me to see each individual dog each day.

[ANTHONY KERR]

I feed, scoop, water, and pet at 5:30 every afternoon. I have one female that would not stop eating until she exploded. If you don't beleive me ask Big Dog. She has not chewed a single kibble since she came here in 2006. Eats like an electrolux.
I think the bonding time is important as well as feeding at the same time. I can set my watch by one males regularity.
I feed one soup can of food per day and a meat treat once or twice per week except for pups.

[S.R.Patch]

So the moral of the story is, if you've the time to interact with your hounds every day, don't throw their food in a tin box to sit for days and go stale and grow mold, or draw birds, bugs or other disease carrying rats and rodents, give it fresh each day and tell them how much you think of them.

That is not true. I have an outside kennel and a inside kennel.
Feeder is in the inside kennel which is one big room -- heated and cooled with a place to sleep on as well as treatment area. It is connected by a one and half doorway to my office.
I have 7 hounds that eat from it -- 6 bassets and 1 coounhound.
6 other dogs are hand fed.
Trust me, the food is fresh.........with 7 hounds that eat from it, it has to be filled regulary.
I have a heat pen in one of the outside kennels.........I have more problems with field rats and birds with a food pan so placing a feeder in the heat pen solves that problem ..............That is not a no brainer, I don't want the field rats and bird crap all over in the pen. The feeder in the heat pen is small feeder that gets food added to it once a day.
I think alot of my hounds.............and no their feeder does not have the problems you listed.

Mr. Buckshot,
My post was not directed at you solely, as per your discription, I can see you are a very special man with a very special kennel. My post was more directed at the average "joe" like myself with a kennel where rain and dust doth corrupt...
Nothing personal was intended your direction...

[Buckshot101]

No offense taken...........I was just pointing out that not all feeders are that way.

Just like I think you make what you will with your hounds whether you hand feed them or have them on self feeders.
I have seen hounds still ignored being hand fed.

I use to be against self feeders as all I have ever done was hand fed.

I had a few young basset pups that just wanted to munch on their food and I never knew who was getting their fair share.
So I tried them out on a self feeder and it works for me. Had a litter of coonhound pups back Oct 2007 and the one I kept eats on the self feeder with the bassets.

I can see some using self feeders as being lazy and not checking on their dogs daily and interacting with them -- especially on rainy days or when it's very cold outside. If you don't check on your dogs daily, you can miss something health wise that could have been prevented or not allowed to escalate to a worst condition.

Which is a good reason to hand feed if you do not interact with your dogs much. Which is another whole topic in iteself on why would you keep a dog that you pay no attention to anyways.

Due to city ordinances on dogs in the city I live is the cause of the inside kennel -- that is the loophole in being able to own for more than 3 dogs.

[K.C.'s Beagles]

I agree with hand feeding. I like to be out there having contact with them every day.

[chapkosbeagles]

automatic feeders is the way to go. i use them in my outside dogs since i have had them. its simple they eat till they have had enough. dogs are different sizes,and each dog eats different. it makes no sence to feed my 40 pound beagle the same amount as my 15 pound beagle as i have seen so many do. i here people say i give my dogs 2 cups a day. well i say each dog eats different do to there different matabolizms. for instance i way about 140 pounds but eat more that most 250 pound guys.

once your dog is on the self feeder for a few weeks he will moderate himself on how much he eats. most hand feeders are just trying to save money. not saying every one is that way.

as far as people interacting with there hound they should clean there kennels everyday. when this is done it give you the time you say your hounds need to buddy up. i belive you shouldent even have a dog if you dont interact with it for a few hours a day.

when guys thow there dogs in a kennel and just take them running they dont know if they have a brain or not. i here so many say my dog has brains. most beagles i have seen are stupid as hell. the only thing they know is to run a rabbit. the olny reason they are like this is do to lack of interaction with people. a smart beagle is one that will do just about anything to please you. or for food. when i say this i mean things like tricks obedience as well as pound a rabbit.

since i lost my super smart beagle. i wanted to see how smart thease other dogs are they have passed every challange. i have my other two top male hounds sitting, sitting pretty,and shaking. i am working on shutting the door when they come in from out side. the hound that i lost could do all of these things and so much more. things like get the paper,open the frige.

with all this said guy that just thow there dogs food in the dish every day will never know the full potential of there hound. beagles are a super smart breed of dogs, but most will never know what they have. most will never bring the really cool things out of them. now they might be a ton of misspelled words and wrong punchuation but my wrist hurts now so deal with it

[S.R.Patch]

I agree with you, a feller who just throws feed into a bowl and doesn't interact with his beagles just shows he's to dumb to buy a self-feeder and only have to do it once a week...

[SilverZuk]

I use an automatic feeder, but hand feed pups.
The dogs get meat scraps most days after dinner, and get there head scratched every time I am out in the yard.
My beagles don't get as much attention as they did before the baby came. Now they are second class citizens that only get in the house about once a week instead of daily.

[rabbitgunner87]

Some people don't have the luxury of interacting with their dogs several hours everyday, some people have to work or go to school (you know REAL LIFE), which it sounds you don't have much experience of either. My dogs are for rabbit hunting, thats what they're breed and trained to do.

automatic feeders is the way to go. i use them in my outside dogs since i have had them. its simple they eat till they have had enough. dogs are different sizes,and each dog eats different. it makes no sence to feed my 40 pound beagle the same amount as my 15 pound beagle as i have seen so many do. i here people say i give my dogs 2 cups a day. well i say each dog eats different do to there different matabolizms. for instance i way about 140 pounds but eat more that most 250 pound guys.

once your dog is on the self feeder for a few weeks he will moderate himself on how much he eats. most hand feeders are just trying to save money. not saying every one is that way.

as far as people interacting with there hound they should clean there kennels everyday. when this is done it give you the time you say your hounds need to buddy up. i belive you shouldent even have a dog if you dont interact with it for a few hours a day.

when guys thow there dogs in a kennel and just take them running they dont know if they have a brain or not. i here so many say my dog has brains. most beagles i have seen are stupid as hell. the only thing they know is to run a rabbit. the olny reason they are like this is do to lack of interaction with people. a smart beagle is one that will do just about anything to please you. or for food. when i say this i mean things like tricks obedience as well as pound a rabbit.

since i lost my super smart beagle. i wanted to see how smart thease other dogs are they have passed every challange. i have my other two top male hounds sitting, sitting pretty,and shaking. i am working on shutting the door when they come in from out side. the hound that i lost could do all of these things and so much more. things like get the paper,open the frige.

with all this said guy that just thow there dogs food in the dish every day will never know the full potential of there hound. beagles are a super smart breed of dogs, but most will never know what they have. most will never bring the really cool things out of them. now they might be a ton of misspelled words and wrong punchuation but my wrist hurts now so deal with it