Puppy feeding can be so much more than just filling a bowl. Mealtimes can double as enrichment opportunities, keeping your puppy mentally and physically engaged. After all, what’s a better incentive for a puppy than tasty treats and kibble? In this blog, we’ll share simple ways to make puppy feeding ideas for mental enrichment part of your daily routine.
Frozen Kong
Kongs are a great way to turn a mealtime into an enrichment activity. Puppies have loads of energy, and feeding them from a Kong keeps them busy and reduces boredom. This will also help prevent your puppy from engaging in destructive behaviors, such as chewing on clothes, pillows, or furniture. A quick option is to stuff a Kong with peanut butter. However, to get an even better enrichment experience, we recommend freezing the Kong so it lasts longer and gives your puppy more of a challenge.
Frozen Kong Recipe
- Start with high-value treats: This can include fresh meats like ground beef and boiled chicken, freeze-dried chicken liver treats, or cheese.
- Add small bites: This can be blueberries, kibble, carrots, or dog jerky.
- Wet it all down: Pour in some water or low-sodium bone broth. This helps everything freeze together and last longer.
- Blend a topping: In a bowl, mix one creamy ingredient (cottage cheese, plain yogurt, peanut butter, mashed banana, or cream cheese) with one water-soluble ingredient (pumpkin puree, unsweetened applesauce, or canned dog food). You can add a topping into the Kong once it is all mixed.
- Freeze: Place the Kong in the freezer overnight. By morning, your puppy will have a long-lasting, enriching meal to enjoy.
Dog Feeding Puzzles
Feeding puzzles are a fun way to keep your dog occupied. With these puzzles, your dog must work to access their treats, sliding puzzles, lifting lids, or nudging compartments to solve the puzzle and earn their food.
There is a wide variety of feeding puzzles that can keep your dog mentally stimulated. From simple puzzles to more complex maze-style feeders. It’s best to start your dog on an easy puzzle and increase the difficulty as their puzzle problem-solving skills improve.
Tips for using feeding puzzles:
- Rotate puzzles regularly to keep mealtime exciting. Completing the puzzle too quickly may bore your dog.
- Pair puzzle time with their regular kibble or high-value treats to keep them interested.
The Wobble Treat ball
The Wobble treat ball is a combination of a dog ball and a puzzle toy. Your dog will need to push the wobble ball around for the treats and kibble to fall out. This is a fun way for your dog to stay physically and mentally stimulated, and also helps with digestion for those dogs who need a slower meal time.
Snuffle Mats
Snuffle mats make each meal last longer by forcing your dog to use their nose to find the kibble or treats inside the mats’ “grass”. This is engaging as your dog must be active in looking for food, keeping them occupied, and relieving them from boredom.
Groovs Interactive Dog Toy
A Groovs Interactive Dog Toy can be attached to a wired dog crate and can be filled with treats, kibble, or a frozen mixture. This helps reduce boredom and turn crate time into a rewarding experience.
We are here to help
We hope your puppy enjoys some of these puppy feeding ideas for enrichment. Do you have any training questions on obedience, manners, or behavior?
At Beyond the Dog, our training is science-based and backed by over 20 years of experience. Co-founded by Dr. Kristyn Echterling-Savage, Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB) and Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), our programs draw from her research and decades of hands-on experience. Every dog and household is unique, which is why our training is fully customized to your training goals. All of our training programs are offered through one-on-one sessions at your home or local Tampa Bay neighborhood, depending on your training goals. If you are ready for training that delivers long-term positive change, schedule a free consult today.
