Advantages:
* Dogs DONT gulp because they eat at leasure, when they are hungry
* Dogs dont have food agression because they eat from a common bowl, often at different times, and so are not competing for their 'share'
* Dogs dont feel the need to 'fill up' while theres food 'on the ground' and learn to regulate a healthy feeding amount.. they stabalize at a healthy weight
*I never have to 'worry' about being late and the gang going hungry
Please be careful that what works for one household/group of dogs, will not work for all.
Some dogs will still gulp even if they are free fed. They just walk by, grab a bite and keep going.
'Real' food aggression will not get better with free feeding, it will actually get worse. Free feeding a dog with real food aggression reinforces that he is in control of the food and there will be hell to pay if something or someone not of his liking is near his bowl even if he's not hungry. Free feeding can actually cause other dogs to not eat at all, even if its not 'noticed' to be a battle. Free feeding can also lead to picky eaters. Been there myself, and paid that price for years to come later.
While free feeding works for a lot of dogs, it will not work for all and there is absolutely no way to know with mutliple dogs who is getting what amount. If one gets ill it takes longer to notice which one went off its food.
The Leadership/Control of the resource doesn't matter to many dogs, but there are some who take it very seriously. Controling all food, is a good way to establish leadership in a subtle non-confrontational way and takes the pressure off all levels of multiple dogs. Not to mention that it provides a great training opportunity!
JMO,