12.09.2020

Dog Behaviour. Dog Training. How does this Dog Behavioural Consultant feed her dogs?

How does this Dog Behavioural Consultant feed her dogs?
With enrichment.
We split our dogs daily feed portion up and alternate between all of the below methods for feeding – variety is the spice of life!
- Placing biscuits in a maze like dish to be pushed and licked out (ours is a Trixie feeder but other brands are available).
- Stuffing lamb mince into Trev and Lily’s Kong’s and freezing them (these also get trapped inside ice blocks in Summer with some veges.)
- The biscuits in a Wobble Toy, wobbled and rolled around the room.
- Scatter feeding outside on the lawn (especially great when I am running late in the mornings but great for stimulation, especially for dogs that were bred to be more inclined for scent work.
- Biscuits hidden in a snuffle mat. Trev and Lily search and snuffle their way around their mats to find the hidden biscuits buried in the fabric.
- A biscuit portion could be in a feed ball (from experience make sure you get a sturdy one here and that biscuits flow easily around in it – so possibly a slightly bigger size than you think, dogs once they learn about a feed ball, LOVE IT!)
- We are more likely to use on the weekend, when there is more time, a ‘pull-out’ Hol-ee Ball. These balls can be purchased in many pet stores and online. Cut up a medium sized old rag into strips (just smaller than the width of the holes) and roll up biscuits (or treats) into each rag strip. The dog pulls and tears out the fabric from the holes to get to the biscuits
Selina McIntyre, Dog Behavioural Consultant & Dog Trainer, Dogs Best Friend.