That was no dog. That was Jabba the Hutt.

When I was a young teen, before the fact that my mother worked for the police department was to come in handy a few times, I would occasionally do some babysitting. I wasn't too fond of it, but comic books didn't pay for themselves and the paper route money only went so far.

There was one family that I didn't mind babysitting for. The Brandenburgs had something called a "video tape recorder" and Mr. Brandenburg had well-connected friends. So I was able to see - on a television(!) - Star Wars. There were a few other movies, and even a videotaped Kiss concert, but seeing Star Wars - on a television! - was a Big Deal in 1978. (My first experience with letterboxing...but I digress.)

Of course in 2009 watching just about any movie at home, usually within six months of it leaving theaters, is not a Big Deal. It's really not even a Deal. With on demand, the iTunes store, Netflix, and of course Blockbuster and Walmart, we take seeing movies at home for granted. Many of us don't even bother with the theater at all.

I think about this state of affairs every once in a while, usually while discussing why someone's well-nigh morbidly obese dog won't take treats. In this situation, one of the first pieces of information I try to get from the client is how she feeds her dog. (Over 80% of the people that look for dog training services are women, so pardon the pronoun guys.) Not "what" she feeds, but how.

Frequently the client is doing what is called "free feeding:" keeping their dog's food bowl out all day and refilling it periodically. Most trainers (as in "all of the trainers I've ever discussed feeding with") dislike free feeding.

The main reason is what I refer to as the "Brandenburger Situation." If you lived in a house that had every movie ever made on demand would you be willing to do calisthenics in return for seeing one? If not, why would you expect your dog to be willing to work for a treat if he lives at the All-You-Can-Eat Kibble Palace?

It's usually not quite that extreme. Free feeding can lead to more subtle problems. Free fed dogs will frequently work for treats, but the treats may have to be extra-special. This limits your options when you need a higher value reinforcer later on. If you need to use liverwurst to get a "down" in class, what's left when it's time to work on coming-when-called outside with distractions? Or, a free-fed dog may just quit working 20 minutes into a session because he's not hungry anymore.

Free feeding can also greatly complicate house training. House training requires being able to manage where your dog does her "business," which usually means being able to predict when. If your dog can eat whenever she wants, predicting when she will eliminate will be difficult, if not impossible.

At least 75% of the free fed dogs I have come across have been overweight. (The rest were being free fed crappy food.) Free fed dogs will tend to eat more, and people that free feed tend to not track how much their dogs are eating.

Feeding your dog on a regular schedule is a good idea. It may take your dog a day or so to figure out that she needs to eat her fill at mealtimes instead of "grazing" but believe me, she won't starve. But please, before you make any serious changes in her feeding, consult your veterinarian.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mccun934/ / CC BY 2.0