Dinner from Chew toys, Not from Bowls
When you allow your puppy to wolf down dinner from a bowl, he will be at a loss for what to do for the rest of the day. In the wild, dogs spend a good 90 percent of their waking hours searching for something to eat, and so in a sense, regular bowl-feeding deprives a dog of his principal activity — searching for food. Instead, after eating, your inquisitive puppy will search for entertainment for the rest of the day.
Within seconds of gulping his meal, the poor pup now faces a mental void for the rest of his day with nothing but long, lonely hours to worry and fret, or work himself into frenzy.
As your puppy adapts to fill the void, normal behaviours such as chewing, barking, strolling, grooming, and playing become repetitive. Investigative chewing becomes destructive chewing. Alarm barking becomes incessant barking. Strolling from one place to another becomes repetitively pacing, or racing back and forth. Investigating a shadow or light becomes a neurotic fixation. Routine grooming becomes excessive licking, scratching, tail-chasing, head-pressing, or in extreme cases, self-mutilation.
These behaviours cause the release of endorphins, perpetuating their repetition, and in a sense, the dog becomes drugged and hooked on mindless, repetitive activity.
A vital facet of your puppy’s early education is to teach him how to peacefully pass the time of day. Feeding your puppy’s kibble only from hollow chew toys keeps your puppy happily occupied and content for hours on end. Each piece of extracted kibble also rewards your puppy for settling down calmly, for chewing an appropriate chew toy, and for not barking.
Chew toy Stuffing
If you use kibble from your puppy’s normal daily ration your puppy will not put on weight. To protect your puppy’s waistline it’s important to minimize the use of treats in training. Use kibble as lures and rewards for puppies when teaching basic manners and reserve freeze-dried liver treats for initial housetraining, for meeting children, men, and strangers, as a garnish for stuffing Kongs and as an occasional jackpot reward for especially good behavior.
The basic principle of Kong stuffing ensures that some food comes out quickly and easily to instantly reward your puppy for initially contacting his chew toy; bits of food come out over a long period of time to periodically reward your puppy for continuing to chew; and some of the best bits never come out, so your puppy never loses interest. Squish a small piece of freeze-dried liver in the small hole in the tip of the Kong so your puppy will never be able to get it out. Smear a little honey around the inside of the Kong, fill it up with kibble, and then block the big hole with crossed dog biscuits.
Liz Bradley is a dog lover who lives in Ottawa, Ontario with her husband,