Thanks for the responses. Interesting that some of you don't like schedules as much as we. That's why I love this forum, getting exposed to different approaches to things.
Bella is willing to eat ANY time of the day. If I were to put a bowl of food down for her at any hour of the day she would gobble it up. We've always used a set dinner time (which realistically means give or take 20 minutes) as a way for her to understand she needs to wait for the dinner hour until she receives her evening meal. This structure has seemed more helpful than harmful to us.
Maybe as humans we tend to assume what we would like applies to our dogs too. I like to eat dinner within the same hour every day, otherwise I get very crabby (just ask my husband...) Figured I was doing my dog a kindness by feeding her at fairly regular times.
You guys have given me food for thought
