Challenge Feeding an "Only" Dog

CHALLENGE FEEDING YOUR DOG

Ways to prevent boredom in “only” dogs!

Is your dog looking for a new challenge?
Does he have too much time on his paws and energy to spare despite your best efforts to exhaust him with long walks?

Perhaps you need to think again about his meal times.

For many dogs feeding times are the highlight of the day, but 30 seconds later the bowl is empty and he is left with nothing to look forward to. This is obviously a very unnatural situation. Wild dogs and wolves spend a large portion of time and effort acquiring food.

No one is suggesting that you stop feeding your dog and send him out to find his own dinner, but you can make getting food slightly more challenging.

The first step is to do away with the food bowl. Eating a pile of food is never going to be a challenge. Instead, try scattering dry food around the garden. Not only does this encourage your dog to use his nose, which is mentally tiring, but you will be amazed at how much energy he will expend criss-crossing the garden to ensure that he has found every
last crumb.

Try filling a plastic container with snacks and dry food. Then, as your dog nudges it around he will be rewarded with food falling out. Alternatively, suspending a similar container just above nose height will encourage aerial nudging! There are also commercial product such as the Buster® Cube which work the same way. If you really want to up the ante, stuff food into sterilised bones, or specially made toys such as a Kong®. These have an advantage as canned food can be put in as well. Once your dog gets adept at emptying his Kong®, try freezing it - that will slow him down a bit. Obviously supervise your dog when ever he is chewing toys to make sure he only eats the food and not the toy!

So why bother? Apart from prolonging your dog's mealtimes and consequently his pleasure at being fed, these are great energy-burners. Too often we try to physically exhaust our dogs with long walks without burning off any mental energy. The other advantage is that all dogs can do this, even the older ones which are no longer up to two hour walks or long games of fetch, but still need something to keep them occupied if they are not going to get depressed.

Have fun feeding your dog!