Hey there. My girlfriend and I are bringing a new puppy home soon, either in August or September, so we’re doing a lot of reading to get ready.
I’ve been going through Zak George’s book and ‘The Seven-Day Perfect Puppy’ and have a question about the best way to feed our pup. Zak mentions that he uses some of the puppy’s food for training treats, though he still uses a metal food bowl most of the time to keep the pup excited about treats.
But Dr. Yin has a totally different approach… she says never to feed a puppy from a bowl and to use all the food for training.
Has anyone here tried these methods? What seems to work better, or do you use a mix of both? Thanks for any advice.
I think it just depends on the dog. I use my dog’s kibble to teach him tricks, but I’ve got a lab, so he’s pretty much excited to eat anything, anytime. I’ll even take a handful of kibble, ask him to do a trick, and he’s all in… even though he’s got the same kibble sitting in his bowl.
@LillyGrace
Same with my Lab mix. He loves any kind of food and even some veggies. I use kibble for easy tasks and save the really tasty stuff for harder tricks.
I skipped the food bowl until my puppy was about 6 months old, and even then, only once a day. Most meals were for training, as our trainers recommended. Now I help teach those same puppy classes.
My pup’s a super high-energy and smart breed, so meal training kept her engaged and happy. By one year, she was ready for trick titles and training was such a fun experience for both of us.
One bonus is that it keeps her from gulping food. Since she got used to eating slowly, now she paces herself well when she eats from a bowl. And training with food definitely helped develop her motivation. Every pup’s different, though, and meal training isn’t the only way to go, but I found it to be really beneficial for us.
Totally depends on your pup’s personality. My dog is small, so I don’t have a lot of extra food to use for training each day. But he’s thrilled to train with kibble since he loves it so much. With bigger dogs, you can usually give them a bit in a bowl and still have extra for training.
Also, feeding on a schedule is key for potty training and helps prevent any extra hunger issues.
Both methods work in different ways. Most trainers do use the whole daily amount as rewards during training sessions, which does keep a pup more engaged.
If you have time to train often, go for it with the day’s kibble, but you can always give the rest in a bowl later on. Or, if you want to feed normally, just save a special treat for training sessions. But yeah, using food from training builds motivation.
We’ve got a puppy who eats 330g daily, so we put part of it in Kongs, leaving around 250g for meals. He loves food, so we mostly use kibble for training, with a few treats mixed in.
Starting with hand-feeding really helps with bonding and is a great way to introduce the puppy to their name while you feed them.
It just depends on the dog! My pup is a big eater, so I give him kibble during training to tire him out. He eats about 3 cups daily - 1 cup from his bowl for dinner and the rest from Kong toys and puzzles. I also save special treats for harder tasks when we’re on walks or hikes.
I like mixing things up. One meal I hand-feed during training, a little at a time, or a handful if I’m busy. Then I might use a Kong Wobbler or put the rest in a bowl if I’m too tired for training. New tricks usually need high-value treats, but kibble works fine for stuff he already knows.