On the average day, over half of the pets that I treat are ‘heavier than ideal,’ and about 10 percent are what I would call morbidly obese—meaning that their weight is going to cause serious health problems in the near future.
Most owners feel guilty when told their pet is too fat, but I’ve come to realize that it really isn’t their fault—the feeding of our pets is an innate human behavior—almost as basic as laughing or walking.
Even toddlers seem to understand this relationship. Children don’t need to be coached to share their food with the family dog. Instead, youngsters take great delight in throwing handfuls of delicious bounty off of the high chair tray and down to the waiting furry friend below.
This human-dog dynamic—the exchange of food for affection and protection—is probably what domesticated the dog in the first place. Pavlov explored this relationship further when he would ring a bell before every meal for the dogs. Pretty soon, the dogs were drooling as soon as they heard the bell. The dogs became conditioned to perform the behavior of drooling in response to the bell and not the food.
If you are one of those owners who gives your dog a treat every time you open the fridge, or every time he does something cute, then it is time to ask for “whom the bell tolls.” In other words-- who is ringing the bell and who is performing the behavior? Many owners don’t even realize that their dog is the trainer who has taught the person to feed them on command. Oh, we are so easily trained . . .
Cleverly, dogs gradually train their owners. A dog’s introductory training course starts with him asking for an extra treat every once in awhile. Then, if you are ‘smart enough’ to be trained, the dog will expect a treat whenever he performs a behavior (e.g. barking, sniffing at the treat cabinet, etc.) You’ve entered the advanced class of dog training when your dog goes to the food bowl and then looks at you with big, sad eyes. This passive-aggressive canine is saying “I’d eat this horrible food, if only you loved me enough to put some chicken on it.” Tsk, tsk.
And you are the college level if your dog will only eat when you hand feed him. People! Have you lost your minds? You’re hand feeding your dog—and I’ll bet that he isn’t that skinny, is he?
Dogs that are overweight are at a far greater risk of heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis. Research has proven that overweight dogs don’t live as long and they have more health problems—in other words, your dog may look fat and happy, but he’d be happier (and live longer) if he was a little leaner.
Don’t allow your dog to be the Leader of the Snack. Instead, offer him two measured meals at specific times of the day. Give him fifteen minutes to eat his food, and if he doesn’t eat it, then pick up the food. Within two or three days, he will be eating at mealtime--- without drama or hesitation. I recommend counting out a very limited number of treats. When the treats are gone, they’re gone. Be tough, and don’t feel silly that you’ve been trained by your dog. After all, it isn’t all your fault, we’ve been hard-wired to do it!
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Less Food, But Served In More Interesting Ways
I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Jon about most dogs being overfed and subsequently over-sized. I think it is very important to measure out your dog's daily ration and use it in creative ways throughout the day. Especially if you like to give your dog snacks or chew-projects to keep him/her busy.
My only departure from the advice above is to feed the kibble not in a bowl, but in a food dispensing toy (or two or three) such as the Premier Busy Buddy line of toys, Kong products, Molecule Balls, etc. There are plenty of these types of interactive dog toys on the market.
By feeding your dog via these toys, rather than fro a bowl, you'll get much more mileage out of your dog's meals. For many dogs mealtime lasts only seconds – not even a full minute! With the aid of interactive food dispensing toys your dog's mealtime will last 30 minutes or more. This keeps the dog busy, quiet, and calm doing what they've done naturally for thousands of year – working at getting their meal and problem solving rather than simply gulping down their chow and having nothing to do all day.
Kelly Gorman Dunbar
Editor, Dog Star Daily
What's a treat?
Just like with kids, dogs can have healthier treat choices, too! My dogs love apples, bananas and carrots. I also give them plenty of little rawhide chews. They go a lot farther than biscuits.
Low-sodium chicken broth makes a great gravy for kibble! Soak the kibble in broth, stuff in a Kong and freeze. Yummy!!
~ Cindy Bruckart, CPDT
Treats are an experience not a portion size
Remember also that a treat doesn't have to be big. Your dog wants to be given something; he doesn't want the treat because he's hungry. So training treats - tiny and smelly - are great. A treat can also be a favorite toy that doesn't lie around the house waiting to be played with. Or an ice cube (they are exciting when batted across the kitchen floor!). Make him work a little with a good sit or stay or whatever it is you want to reinforce and give him a taste (of food or fun), not a pile of it. He'll be just as happy as if you gave him something that'll make him fat.
I do enormous amounts of
I do enormous amounts of food work with dogs and my clients follow that example but what they don't see is that I adjust meals based on how much food I have given that dog throughout the day and I don't feed based on what the food bag says but rather on how the dog looks and feels to me. As a result my dogs are lean and healthy and get lots of treats and plenty of "people food."
Spoiled dogs
I inherited my beagle from an elderly next door neighbor who used to implore me, "If anything ever happens to me, promise that you'll take care of Snoopy." (What else would a little old lady name a beagle?) A little over a year ago she passed away and I kept my promise and took Dooper (as in Snooper Dooper) into my home. The first night I set out a bowl of food for her next to the bowl for my other dog, Flash, a rottie mix (Flash was 97 pounds when I adopted him, he now weighs in at a sleek 54). Dooper took one sniff of the bowl, looked at me with disgust and said "I'm sorry. I don't eat dog food." Having lived with an 82 year old woman who fed her all kinds of goodies all day, I understood her reaction. I picked up the bowl after 20 minutes and tried again the next morning. Again, she took a sniff and said something like "I thought I made myself clear. I don't eat this $#*@!" To make a 4 day story short, Dooper now gobbles down her food in 2 minutes or less and looks for more. She's lost 12 pounds and is a healthy happy dog.
Scott Fischer
www.TrainedK9.com
Dog feeding
Dog obesity is becoming a real problem especially because dog owners don't want to hear about it. They often think they're doing just right to make their dog happy and love them but they don't realize, as Dr Jon Klingborg said, that their behaviour has become automatical even conditionned and that it is a real disaster for their dog's health. People also often tend to say that their dogs get fat simply because he/she is spayed/neutered or aging. Puppies are also more and more concerned by this phenomenon just as children. Maybe this wouldn't be so dramatic if dogs had physical exercice enough and if people weighed their food.
I also wanted to talk about my own experience concerning dog feeding. When Thémis (my Boston Terrier) was a puppy, I used to only feed her with a bowl. I often gave her too many kibbles but I wanted to be sure she wouldn't be hungry during the day. She could even access her bowl at any time [be indulgent, we all make mistakes :)]... However, she never ate all the kibbles... Was she sick? Fortunately, she was not! I just gave her too much. If Thémis had been eager to eat too much she may have become over-sized!!! Finally, thanks to the advice of one of my friends, I simply started to weigh the kibbles and I found the right ration Thémis needed. Two years later as I became more and more interested in positive and friendly methods to raise a dog, I discovered that I could feed her in a way that would entertain her, keep her busy (mentally and physically) and quiet. So now her food is divided into three parts: one for training, one to put in food dispensive toys and the final one to put in a bowl [as I ever used to do ;)] but I must say she seems more happy to eat her kibbles from a Kong or from her food dispensive ball than when I call her to give her her bowl...
Concerning feeding dogs at specific times of the day, I just wanted to let you know I've noticed that most of my friends and acquaintances become nervous when dog meal time comes. I mean, you are enjoying a friendly moment and suddenly, the people you're talking to are only able to focus on their watch because they want to go home to feed their dog who becomes anxious or excited if not fed at the right time or, they just let you down for a while, apologising because they must feed their dogs who are beginning to bark or begging for their meal. I don't even talk about how difficult it becomes when we put the clocks forwards or backwards for winter time or summer time (with a gap of an hour)!!! So believe me, it's very comfortable not to have a meal time conditionned dog turning around you, growling or barking to get his food!!
Thank you all for your comments, blogs and websites that enable me to learn more and more about our four legged best friends!
Ludmilla
FRANCE, Alsace