Welcome to week two of Pierre’s Dog Emporium tips and news. This week we’re going to be talking to you about feeding your dog. We hope that your potty training has gone well and the tips that I gave you were helpful.
Please note: I’m not an expert. Consult your dog experts (pet trainer, vet or dog store such as Petsmart).
I’m not going to recommend any particular dog food brand. I believe that’s up to you to discuss with your dog’s vet. Each dog has different needs.
What I will recommend (and it’s my opinion) is that once you’ve started using a particular food, you stick with it (unless your vet recommends something different or your pup ages from puppy to adult).
Your dog may go through stages of not wanting to eat his/her food. This is normal, especially during the early training of your dog. During this time, you will be training your dog with treats.
Your dog will love the treats and may come to expect them. They’re no different then us. Wouldn’t we prefer to eat chocolate rather then fruit or pasta other then vegetables? Of course most of us would but it’s not healthy.
Our dog Pierre went through a stage of not wanting to eat his food. We were able to use a couple of techniques to get him back in the game.
So what can you do? The first thing to remember is to feed your dog at set times during the day. We feed Pierre twice a day, in the morning and evening. He gets half his food at those times.
If Pierre doesn’t eat in the morning we take the food and add it to his second feeding. If he doesn’t finish his food we put it back in the dog food container and start fresh the next day.
We never leave his food bowl out. We believe he needs to be aware of when his feeding times are. Don’t worry if your dog has not eaten very much. Most dogs have the capacity of storing food for a decent amount of time (if you’re not sure if he/she is ok, consult with your vet).
Like most training it’s important to stick to a routine. It makes it much easier to train your dog.
Ok. You’re still wondering about the techniques you can use to try and get your dog to eat their food. I mentioned earlier that you will be using treats to train your dog. Your dog will come to expect those rewards when he/she does a particular training element correctly.
When Pierre wasn’t eating his regular food, we substituted his food for the treat. Pierre still thought he was getting a treat.
When we put his dog bowl out, he was more inclined to eat his food.
The second step we took was to point at his food when we gave it to him and said “eat your food”. As you will learn in the weeks that follow, it’s important to use repetitiveive actions and words that your dog will learn.
Pierre now knows the hand and verbal cues for him to eat. He understands he’s not just being put in his pen (Kennel).
Those were the techniques that we used and they’ve worked for us.
PLEASE NOTE: Always keep a bowl of water out for your dog. Your dog requires lots of water and unlike the food, drinking water throughout the day is healthy for him/her.
Next week we will talk about teaching your dog to sit.
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