# Feeding Puppies Via Kong?



## murbanski (Sep 25, 2012)

Okay, so I am getting a puppy on January 14th (mini Aussie), so I am brushing up on my puppy training. There is a book that I am reading and it says for the first couple of weeks you should only feed the puppy their daily ration of food by stuffing the majority of it in a Kong toy and then giving the rest of it as treats throughout the day. The trainer goes on to explain that this makes the puppy "Chew toy obsessed", which eases crate training. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Can someone enlighten me? Or explain this a little better?

He also goes on to say that the puppy should spend the majority of its time in a crate, and that you need to take the puppy out of the crate every hour on the hour to go potty. The reason is because you are completely in control of when the puppy relieves itself and so the puppy doesn't become overly dependent on you, which reduces separation anxiety later on. 

I don't know about everyone else, but I plan on spending a lot of my time with my puppy....and I don't like the idea of having it in the crate for the whole day. I guess I can kind of understand the over dependence/separation anxiety thing, but still. 

I also live above where I work, so the puppy wouldn't be home for long periods of time during the day. My shifts are usually 5 hours long but I can take breaks whenever I want to let the puppy out, play, etc. 

Thank you in advance!


----------



## SunRaven01 (Oct 6, 2012)

Actually, what I believe Dunbar says in "Before/After You Get Your Puppy" is that the dog should be in it's crate when you are not actively interacting with it or supervising it like a hawk. By all means, have the puppy out to play with you, train with you, cuddle with you ... but as soon as you start to check your phone, play on the computer, watch some TV, put puppy back in his crate (after taking him out to potty) so that he doesn't get the chance to learn he can sneak off under the table and use the bathroom.


----------



## murbanski (Sep 25, 2012)

Okay I must have misinterpreted it. Thank you. So what if I'm watching tv and my puppy falls asleep on my lap? Is that ok? Just have her in the crate whenever I can't have 100% attention/she has the ability to sneak away? And what about the only feeding their food with a kong?


----------



## Goldens&Labs4Me (Sep 2, 2012)

If you leave your puppy in a crate 24/7 and only let him out to potty--you'll have one miserable puppy and you. I can guarantee you it won't be fun at all. You can feed him in there--definitely let him sleep in there--and put him in there when you cannot keep your eyes 100% on him (like showers/going to the store, etc)...but by all means, let your puppy spend as much time with you as possible.

I'm not a feeder in the kong. It's kinda like crab legs--I like to eat them, but they sure are a pain in the butt to eat.  What I would suggest is maybe giving him a small amount of his kibble in the kong for some chew time--and quiet time for you--but then feed him breakfast and supper in his bowl. If he comes to you eating 2 cups a day (for example), maybe put a 1/4 cup of kibble in his kong for the day and then split the other 1 3/4 cups between the 2 meals.


----------



## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

I love making a dog work to eat. If I fed kibble my dog would eat every meal out of a kong or work to eat toy. What you are doing is taking eating time and making it useful. If your puppy has to work to eat, not only is he/she getting the food he/she would eat anyway but they are challenging their mind at the same time. You don't have to always use a kong, they have other work to eat toys as well, that work great (of course your puppy should always be supervised while using these items as some can be easily destroyed). And as your puppy gets better at it you can make it more difficult, like putting the kibble in there and then covering the hole with peanut butter and then freezing the kong. Or even watering down the kibble and stuffing it into the kong and then freezing it. It gives you many many options. Eating from a bowl is fine, but boring and some dogs are scarfers, you want a dog that has an appetite but doesn't inhale his/her food.

As for crating I agree that if you are not able to watch the puppy they should be in a crate, but if/when you are willing to keep an eye on them completely they can be out. I do not believe they should be in the crate 24/7, and only come out to potty. Also feeding and treating the the crate is very important, some dogs take to a crate with no issues other dogs can be a challenge, making the crate the best place in the world will make the transition easiest (I even throw treats in when the pups not even in the room, that way if they wander in on their own, surprise!). Also always try to put a tired pup in the crate, so after eating, playing, pottying is best.


----------



## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

Crate when you are not actively watching the dog. He can sleep in your lap because you'll know exactly where he is and what he's doing. But if he is awake you need to be watching, you may consider tethering the dog to you so you don't have to get up and follow him if he leaves your site, the tether will keep him in your site line. Unless the dog is sleeping, actively chewing a toy while lying down, or in a crate you shouldn't be watching TV or using the computer, that's when the puppy has accidents. The amount of supervision seems inconvenient and tiring, but a few months of it will be worth it for years of a well behaved dog. You don't want to be in the situation where you have to battle with housebreaking or stealing/destruction for years. As for separation anxiety, just make sure you do leave the dog daily. This can simply mean crating the dog and going into another room to do laundry or shower, or it can mean going to the store. A lot of people get puppies when they have a little time off, which is great, but don't let the dog be constantly with you during those days, or it'll be a big shock when he suddenly has to go hours without you.


I am a HUGE proponent of making a dog work for food. For me it's about occupying the dog (keeping him out of trouble), tiring the dog (a long hard meal leads to a long hard nap), working the dog's mind, and entertaining the dog. Dogs don't get to watch TV or read books when they are hanging out, working food out of a toy provides that for them. For my dog (not a puppy) his breakfast is used for training (he is learning to file his nails on sandpaper and also learning to wear a muzzle so that's where breakfast is going right now), and his dinner is fed out of a kong genius toy or his busy buddy squirrel dude toy. In the past when I have filled up his busy buddy and had some left over in the bowl I've put down the bowl with the leftover food in it and he has ignored it, even ran over, sniffed it and ran back to me, he's so excited to get the toy, he really enjoys working the food out of it. When Tucker was a puppy the 20 minutes he spent eating his food out of a toy was a godsend because we didn't have to be micromanaging him (he was a HUGE stealer and also harassed our cats), we could finally relax. 

If you do want to feed out of a bowl sometimes that is fine too, but use those occasions to work on food guarding prevention. Put the food in little by little as he eats. So drop 5 kibbles in, let him eat, when he's done bring your hand to the bowl and drop in 5 more kibbles, etc. until you've fed it all. This will teach that your hand coming into the bowl is good. You can also drop in special food while the dog eats kibble, like walk up and drop some leftover meat from your own dinner while the dog is eating his kibble. Again this teaches the dog that your hand approaching the bowl and his food is good.

The reason the author seems to like using the toys for feeding is because he believes it will teach the dog to love chewing on toys, that having food come out of the toys will build a very strong foundation of positive feelings about chewing on toys.

I just don't see any reason to waste all of that food by simply tossing the bowl down. So much training and entertainment could come out of it instead.


----------

