Think Out of the Bowl!

This valley in particular is very conscientious of exercising our dogs.  In fact, many times we over exercise our dogs, particularly puppies.  I was told by my vet back in the early 90’s that puppies should not be taken farther than one mile a day until they are over a year old.  Why?  A  17 24puppy’s joints are not even close to being developed at that point, and over-exercise can damage that growing joint.  That can contribute to lameness and even poor joint development.  We love taking our pups with us on wonderful hikes, especially here where there are so many wonderful places to go! I am not a veterinarian, but puppy and dog health is a huge part of dog training.  A dog or puppy that is in pain will inhibit the dog’s ability to learn and can contribute to behavior problems.  Another note is that dogs will not show their pain until it is very severe. I urge you to consult your own veterinarian about how far your young dog or puppy should go. 

Now that we have explored reasons to not over-exercise your dog, the question is what do we do to help our puppy burn up energy in a healthy way?  Today as I write this, we are having a very rainy day. Do we really want to walk when we know our dog will come back full of mud and soaked?  

Put your pups bowl away!  What?  Yes.  First, be sure you are feeding regular meals and not free feeding your dog.  Be creative and find as many ways as you can to feed your dog that become a challenge for him.  There are so many ways to give your pup challenges with food that keep his mind engaged.  Problem solving to figure out how to get the food uses up as much energy as a long walk does.  Here are some ideas that you can do at home.  I do something different every day, especially with puppies. 

• Measure your dog’s kibble, and then toss it all over the yard.  He will spend time finding every piece and enjoy using his nose. Many dogs will spend the rest of the day still searching! Mine do!
• Put an old towel on the floor.  Sprinkle measured kibble on the top. Cover the towel and kibble with a second towel. Now roll it all up so the pup has to figure out how to open the towels up to find the kibble.
• Get a slow down bowl so it takes a fast eater much longer to get the food.
• Use kibble dispensing toys such as Kong, Ruffwear, Starmark balls, or West Paw.  There are so many kibble dispensing toys.  These are just a few.
• Use a lick mat.  I try to use the ones that have deeper grooves.  I will also mix kibble with a canned wet food so the food will stick into the grooves making it harder for the pup.
• Save your boxes.  Put kibble or treats inside boxes so your pup has to use his nose to find the food.  It can be a challenge for many dogs to put their head inside a box.  This is a great confidence building exercise as well as one that stimulate problem solving.
• Take a plastic water bottle, let it dry and take the label off.  Then fill it with kibble so your pup has to spin it and push it around to get the food out. 90.

Be creative and find ways yourself to make meal time more challenging and rewarding!  Hikes and walks are still important, but so is challenging your dogs in other ways!  Think out of the bowl!  

Caption:  This little Labra-gator is learning to eat his meal in a slow down bowl!  That 3 second meal now takes him 15 minutes!