Most people feed their dogs on a schedule. This practice is absolutely legitimate and many feel they have no choice but we have successfully free fed our long line of dogs for the past 40 years. Read on to hear my thoughts on this subject.
Food Choice
I’ll start with WHAT food they get since I believe that is a key player in this discussion. Do your Goldens need to LOVE their food? The short answer in my opinion is: No. It is absolutely critical that you feed them really good quality food that is high in protein and has Taurine (more on this later) but feeding them food they get really excited about can be a problem. 
Golden Retrievers (and many other dog breeds) tend to over eat and will become obese if not controlled. Obesity is bad for your fur baby on so many levels, not the least of which is increased risk of heart disease and hip dysplasia. Most control their pet’s weight with scheduled feedings but it can be done as well with free feeding.
Taurine
OK this is my blog so I can get on a soapbox if I want to. Recent Studies have determined that an amino acid called Taurine can be a big player in the longevity and health of your Golden Retriever. This is especially true in large dog breeds including the Golden Retriever. The most common and scariest effect of Taurine deficiency is increased risk for a fatal heart disease (Dilated Cardiomyopathy).
Taurine is a naturally occurring amino acid in many types of meat but is least present in some very lean wild meats like Bison and Venison. Fowl (chicken, ducks, etc), beef and lamb tend to be higher in naturally occurring Taurine. Taurine can be had as an additive as well bit it’s typically expensive over time and the additive has not been proven in all cases to be effective. Some dog food manufacturers are beginning to add it to their food but if you cannot find it on the label, consider at least giving your Golden Retriever good quality food that uses chicken, duck, beef, and/or lamb as it’s primary ingredient to provide the necessary building blocks for your dog to make their own Taurine. You can also add sardines, goats milk or real chicken to their feeding rotation or as a snack to give added Taurine. Try to avoid foods that have main ingredients listing peas and legumes in the first 5 ingredients (these ingredients can counteract the effects of taurine) and any product that simply says “meat meal”. Most wild or exotic meats (Bison, Venison, etc) are good for your Golden but seldom have naturally occurring Taurine.
The following video was an assignment that I turned in (and passed) at Western Governors University for a communications course. Yes… I’m almost 60 and still in school.. I don’t know that I’ll EVER stop learning. The video had time constraints and I had to rip through much of the information faster than I wanted and is a little dated now but it should provide a good (if quick) summary and a basis for further research.
The podcast below is definitely worth a listen as one of the leading, unbiased experts in the field explains the science behind avoiding “Grain Free” and “Raw” diets.
I’ve included a few links at the bottom of this article if you’d like to read more on the subject.
Free Feeding
Terri and I have free fed all our dogs for the past 40 years. Few of our dogs ever became overweight (and those that did we resolved by changing their food – see #2 below) and all lived unusually long lives. While we cannot attribute the length of their lives to the free feeding it does go to show that free feeding is not necessarily evil. You will of course need to monitor your Golden’s weight to assure adjustments are not needed and keep your puppy active and happy so they don’t eat just because they are bored but it does work and it can be much easier than scheduled feeding if your fur babies can adjust to it.
Free feeding is the act of always having food in the bowl; it essentially never gets empty. Most people do not do this because they see their dogs gorge down the food whenever food is visible. This gorging behavior can be caused by any of several reasons.
- The Golden remembers being hungry and when it sees food, it wolfs it down as a conditioned response.
- The Golden REALLY loves the food and wolfs it down because, well, it LOVES the food.
- There are other dogs in the pack and the Golden wolfs down the food based on fear that the other dog will eat it all.
- Your Golden Retriever is bored.
Healthy free feeding is easiest to accomplish when started as a puppy. If the puppy never feels that the bowl will be empty they feel no driving need to eat any food they see just because it is there. That fact removes #1 and #3 above as an issue. I imagine that it might be difficult to train free feeding with a Golden that is not a puppy and is already used to scheduled feeding but it’s a natural and easy practice in my experience when started as a puppy. We did convert a 6 month old, starving stray German Shepherd to free feeding one time but that is the limit of our experience in that area and it took a while to pull it off.
#2 above is also easy to resolve and probably should be a concern no matter which feeding method you use. To fix this simply feed a really good quality food (usually kibble) that they like but don’t LOVE. Which food this is will vary somewhat by dog so you may have to experiment to find the right one but be sure to give each food a little time as new foods are foods to be excited about in their minds and it may take a bit for the new to wear off. 
We used to use Taste of the Wild (the variety with lots of chicken, not the wild meat) but but no longer do. Because of recent well executed studies concerning Taurine issues that can severely affect Golden Retrievers we have dropped them and changed the Purina Pro Plan Savor Shredded Chicken and Rice. We use one blend for puppies and another for our adult dogs. 
They both have the right amount of protein, and tons of great quality ingredients, none of which are on the problem list for Taurine absorption. We’ve found so far that our Goldens like the it but they don’t love it. This means they are happy to eat when hungry but stop when they are no longer hungry. Doing this can also reduce gorging when using scheduled feeding over time. I am fully aware that we all want to make your fur babies as happy as possible but the food department is something they have little if any natural control over, so you’ll have to be the parent in this case.
Note: “Grain free” foods in general have been linked to Taurine deficiency. Be sure to pick a good quality food that includes meats that provide Taurine and/or have Taurine additives and have little or no legumes, peas or potatoes. This subject has become so sensitive that Taste of the Wild has recently started adding Taurine to their foods. We quit feeding Taste of the Wild as soon as we found out.
#4 is all on you. Golden Retrievers are very intelligent, energetic, athletic and LOVE attention from their loved ones (you). If you allow them to get bored and/or ignore them often you may have all kinds of trouble. If bored or neglected they will chew on things, dig holes, find a way to get out of the yard and other mischief. They may also just eat to make themselves feel better. This breed needs attention and exercise every day. If they feel bored or neglected they will likely do as humans do and look to food for comfort. Dogs should eat because they need to and because they are actually hungry; grazing out of boredom or sadness is a bad thing. Scheduled/measured feeding can control this but you are not fixing the real problem.
Side note: You dog will almost certainly LOVE cheap food. What cheap food lacks in nutrients they often make up with artificial flavors. It’s much like eating cake and candy; it tastes great but is not particularly good for you. Really good food will usually taste good but not good enough to make them all that excited after the new wears off (which is a good thing). Do your research and shop at more places than your personal grocery store. In our experience we seldom if ever see really good food on the shelves at Walmart; it can happen but it’s rare. Our suggestion is to do very thorough research online then go find where your chosen food food can be had. Major pet supply chains like PetSmart will be a resource for quality food but are typically expensive; we use Tractor Supply and a local feed store called Struttys. Once you have decided which food you want, we suggest getting auto ship set up with chewy.com. We have had outstanding experience with Chewy, they deliver those heavy bags to our doorstep and if you order more than $50 (two bags, or one bag and treats and/or dental chews), the shipping is FREE. they even have a convenient app for your phone and their customer service is the best there is; anywhere. (No… we were not reimbursed in any way for this plug..)
We’ve spent some time warning people off of low quality food but don’t be fooled by the extremely high end and breed specific food either. In our research, the middle range of the higher end foods are about as good as it gets. Don’t be fooled by prescription food from your vet either; do your research, check ingredients, the history of the pet food, cost and move on. Prescription food is not necessarily better than commercial foods and in fact is often worse and is almost always a substantially higher cost.
There is typically no reason to spend $75 or more per month per dog; no additional benefit at all. We feed 2 young adult, energetic and healthy Golden Retrievers for around $100 per month (~$50 per dog) and feel we are delivering EXCELLENT quality food at a reasonable price. Purina Pro Plan food is one example; there are others to choose from. The message here is to find really good food that tastes good but not too good and does not break the bank; find the balance that works for you.
Scheduled Feeding
Scheduled feeding is the act of providing measured amounts of food for your Golden on a schedule. Note that this should always be twice or more per day, not once. If your golden is really, really hungry when food is provided, they will always try to wolf down their food.
Scheduled feeding is a great way to assure that one dog is not hogging the food from the other and to carefully maintain weight; it is also a hassle. To be clear, most people feed this way and it’s absolutely legitimate but we’ve found that it’s not been necessary with our dogs thus far. We do feed our cat on a schedule of sorts but that’s another story.
There are special bowls that can be used to force your dog to eat slower during a scheduled feed but in our opinion that not a good way to go if it can be avoided. If your dog is wolfing down their food they either have a food that is way too tasty, have not been fed often enough or competition with other dogs for food has not been managed. Eating food quickly has the same negative effect on dogs as it does humans; they will overeat and the food is usually not chewed enough to be efficiently processed by their bodies. The body needs some time to process the intake of food to slow down hunger and if the food is eaten too fast, they will take in way more food than they should before they feel full. Wolfing down too much food too fast can also be fatal as it can also contribute to Canine Bloat.
Summary
Either way is fine; scheduled or free feed. It is entirely a matter of preference and your situation. We at Texas TLC Goldens prefer free feeding our dogs but schedule our cat to control his diabetes and we’ve had good success with both. The main thing is that you have thought about it and considered what is best for you, your family and your lovely pet. Along with feeding schedule be sure to get good quality food (very few are sold at Walmart) that can also be a source of Taurine building blocks, then plan for their health and weight. A Golden Retriever owner would not raise their human children on ramen noodles, sugar cookies, macaroni and cheese and Big Macs, don’t do that to your fur baby either. You also don’t need to throw away money or break the bank. Do your research and find a really good quality food that you can afford.
Links
NBC: Canine heart disease linked to dog food
Time: Dog Heart Disease May Be Linked to Potato-Based Pet Food, FDA Says
FDA: Investigating link between canine heart disease and grain-free foods
About the author.
Bryan Curry loves all dogs in general, especially Golden Retrievers. He has had dogs for all but 6 months of his long life and all have lived happy and much longer than average lives. Bryan and his wife Terri are co-owners of Texas TLC Goldens; a small responsible breeder producing high quality Golden Retriever puppies.