Feeding a puppy thru chew toys

[dogsDearly]

I cross posted this on gs.com.. but i'm reading this Ian Dunbar book about puppy raising right now and one of the things he recommends is instead of feeding puppies out of a bowl at first.. you measure out the appropriate amount for the day, and then you use some for reinforcements and treats and you stuff their Kongs and chew toys with the rest so they can not only have something to do but learn to chew those instead of your house. That way, they are getting their food gradually throughout the day.

Has anyone done this? I was thinking if controlling grow is an important thing for swissies, this might be a good method. Thoughts?

-mel

[Swissy Mom]

When Cash was eating kibble, he always got at least one meal per day out of a Squirrel Dude, usually breakfast. We found that in the morning when the kids were getting ready for school and everyone is rushing around Cash would get overstimulated and had a tendency towards mouthiness. The Squirrel Dude kept this to a minimum. While everyone was running around getting ready he would be working to get his breakfast. He still tends to go for a toy when everyone is getting ready in the mornings, though he stopped getting food from toys long ago (can't really feed raw from a toy.) We found it was great when we had people over in the evening to give him dinner from a Squirrel Dude, too. It just gave him a constructive place to direct his energy.

[sam.i.am]

Yes, controlling growth and providing more meals/day for all puppies is important. Making sure that giants don't grow too fast allows their joints to develop as well as their genetics will allow, so that also relates to all dogs in the large and giant categories. That has to do with not over-feeding them and providing the proper ratio of nutrients and minerals -- a lot of discussion and focus is about Ca:P ratio for puppies and that should be managed carefully. But, making sure that their diet is optimal and bioavailable is very important (making food is not using fillers, or other unhelpful ingredients to provide bulk in the food without delivering valuable nutrition).

I've always fed puppies 3 or 4 times a day and have used their food as treats and motivators, etc. If you're feeding kibble, a toy is easy to use. You can also do that with some raw foods, but you'd need a way to thoroughly clean it (same thing with kibble, but less messy). I used bowls for two primary meals that would stay in place for the dog's lifetime, but mid-day meals were not fed in a bowl, but in a toy or as training 'treats'.

[ToBScholarly]

Squirrel Dude made me LOL

[dogsDearly]

Thanks everybody for the thoughtful responses. This all sounds good: the only thing that doesn't make sense to me is if you are feeding these throughout the day.. the puppy is eating all day long. So how do you keep track of when they have to potty? It's seems much easier to time that if you are only feeding 3 to 4 meals a day...

[sam.i.am]

I only did feed 3 or 4 meals....even eating from (most) toys doesn't take that long, so I counted those as one meal.

During potty-training I take dogs out before and after eating. I also take puppies out every hour on the hour for the first long while (as many weeks as it takes to have zero accidents at any time) and then start every 1.5 hours, etc. Preventing accidents and then praising the heck out of potty outside has always been sure-fire for me. Potty training doesn't take hugely long and it is relatively painless for everyone except your schedule.