Dogs Meals

Dogs meals can relate to anything from what to feed your dog to how you feed your dog.

If you’re unsure about what to feed your dog, have a read of our article on dog food to determine the right type of food.

Meals times on the other hand can be challenging for some depending on whether there are any concerning behaviours.

Weve prepared some answers to some of the top questions were asked about meal times:

How regularly should I feed my dog?

This will depend on the age of the dog and the breed of the dog. Younger dogs will generally need to be fed smaller portions more regularly. Whereas older dogs don’t usually need more than one feed per day.

If you are feeding your dog dried food, there will usually be a feeding guide on the label indicating the quantity you should be feeding your dog. This is based on their size and the nutritional value of the food itself.

How long should I leave the bowl out?

As a trainer, I generally recommend that the bowl is only left out with food for a maximum of half an hour. Why? Because it develops a structured eating routine. They’ll quickly learn to eat as much as they need rather than graze. Naturally the rules differ slightly if you’re feeding through the scatter approach for enrichment purposes.

Keeping the bowl out only for a short period of time can also help with toilet training and timing their toilet time walk.

What if my dog Growls when I take the bowl away?

If your dog is displaying aggressive behaviour when their food is taken away, you should seek help.

This behaviour is common in some dogs and its your dogs way of hoarding the food. They may feel like you’re trying to steal their food from them or there may be a range of other reasons.

We recommend you get a trainer in to help with this behaviour as soon as you identify it before it escalates.

Why does my dog go crazy and cant calm down at food time?

If you’re following the same routine each day, your dog has picked up on this. They know food time is coming and the sequence followed before food time.

If the behaviour is undesirable, then we don’t recommend you keep going with the routine and feeding them. Feeding them while they are in this state will only reinforce and reward the behaviour.

Instead, try changing the routine up a little. Move where you keep the dog food or change any part of the routine. Established routines will be identified by your dog so changing it will throw them off the scent and calm the behaviour.