Common feeding mistakes.
Hello friends, today we are talking about feeding again, considering the dog’s feeding regime, and the main mistakes.
Feeding time (how often to feed)
It is advisable to feed the dog at the same time. For example, the first feed is at 7 am, the second at 7 pm. It is clear that you choose the time and frequency of feeding depending on your daily routine.
You can feed your pet more than twice a day ( the portions should be less in this case), but 2 times is the minimum, especially if you have a large dog. If you feed your dog once a day, then a large amount of food will eventually lead to changes in the stomach and its ligaments, which will increase the likelihood of volvulus.
With regular feeding, a reflex is formed in the dog and saliva is produced by the next meal and the appetite increases. In this case the dog eats more willingly, and the food is digested better, which means that there will be no digestive disorders: vomiting, diarrhea, constipation … The body adapts and works stably, which is what we need.
You probably know, if you are used to eating on time, you can tell when it is time to have lunch without looking at the clock. The stomach will definitely remind you.
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When to feed, after or before the walk?
It’s better to feed the dog after a walk, when it is in a balanced state.
Each dog has its own temperament, someone reacts violently to washing their paws, someone finds it difficult to climb the stairs. Let your pet calm down, bring breathing back to normal, then give it some food.
Clean water and food temperature
The dog must have consistently clean water of good quality. Unfortunately, many people forget about water or do not pay attention to its quality.
Some provide tap water – this can be done but only when the tap water is of good quality. There is an opinion that a dog does not care what water to drink, it is not a human being. In fact, a dog’s health will suffer faster from poor-quality water than a human’s. Animals live “faster” than us, so they have less body resources. So, water should be given filtered, specially prepared, purified, natural … there are many options, the main thing is that the water is of good quality.
Sometimes the dog uses bowls made of cheap plastic. If you care about your pet – buy a good one. Dishes for the animal should be made of safe materials and kept clean.
If we feed a pet with natural products, then the food should be at least not cold, but preferably warm. Less energy is needed to digest warm food, and there is also no negative effect on mucous membranes from low temperatures. And yet, heated food smells more appetizing, which is important when the dog is picky.
Some owners give their dog frozen meat or ice cubes as a treat. In this case, you need to gradually accustom your dog to the cold and the pet has to be healthy, that is, no gastritis or pancreatitis.
Now frequent feeding mistakes
Don’t spoil your dog.
How to make it right? You came from a walk, the dog calmed down, you give the food and only after the command you allow the pet to eat. If the dog refuses to eat, then take the bowl away until the next meal. It is important that no one feeds the dog during the breaks between feedings, otherwise your upbringing will not work.
But how do we often act in reality? You give the bowl with food, the dog comes up, sniffes, turns his nose away and leaves. You begin to persuade or give your pet at least a piece of sausage, otherwise it will starve to death.
I’ll tell you a case from practice. Some friends of mine invited me to examine the dog ( As I am a vet). they said: “The dog has become sad, does not eat anything, doctor, I’m afraid it’s sick, something needs to be done!”
I came, examined the dog, checked the vaccinations, that is, the usual collecting of information. The dog did not show any signs of illness, except for dandruff on some areas of the skin and may be a little overweight.
I asked the owners to tell me more about feeding, how many times a day they feed a dog , what food they give, so, I asked them to show the feeding process.
The owner agreed to show the process. Imagine, the dog is lying on the couch, and the owner with a plate with a piece of boiled chicken breast, a few pieces of sausage, a boiled egg and … there was something else, I don’t remember… comes to this lying dog.
The dog is offered a breast, an egg, but it turns his head away from this food. The only thing the dog ate with pleasure were sausages. I asked if the dog was fed this way all the time, or only after it “got sick.” And the answer was: ”It constantly eats like that, we love our pet very much, but now it doesn’t eat anything, it’s always like that”.
It is clear that the dog did not have any disease, the animal was just very spoiled.
There are many such examples. Just think, perhaps you do something like that.
Aggression during feeding.
When feeding, the dog should allow the owner to take food from the bowl, and if necessary, from the mouth. This is the correct option.
It’s not good the dog growls as soon as it gets its food and does not let anyone near the bowl.
Train your dog to trust you, stir the food with your hands to leave its scent. Also add some food to the bowl while feeding with your hand. This will form the right connection – your hands provide food, not take away.
The food is always in the bowl.
If your dog has food in the bowl all the time, then you are losing an important parenting tool. Whoever gives food is in charge. And when there is an abundance of food and it appears in a miraculous way, by itself, then there is no need to strain, to carry out any commands.
It will also be difficult for you to control the diet, it is not clear how much the dog eats per day. Most likely, excess weight and selective eating will appear.
In the warm season, food quickly deteriorates, so if the food is constantly in the bowl, then you can not keep track of it and it will turn sour.
Summary
- feed the dog on time, after the walk..
- give a treat only for work (after executing the command).
- monitor the quality of water and the temperature of the food.
- do not allow aggression during feeding.
- do not leave available food in the bowl between feeding.
The above recommendations should be used only for a healthy dog, if there are no chronic diseases. It is possible that for health reasons dogs should not go hungry, but these are special cases.
Keep Reading: 9 healthy foods for dogs , How to feed a puppy correctly
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