The other day I heard a reputable breeder say “never waste a meal”, and I got to thinking about how true that actually is! It can be very overwhelming to think about training a puppy, it truly is like to training a child, you are on call the whole time that puppy is awake, but if we can be intentional about the time we have, then it makes it so much easier for us and our puppy.
One thing that really helps us is to think about what we do throughout the day during our normal rhythms and routines that can be used as teaching or training points for our puppies. For us that is at meal times, during play and during trainings. At meal time it is an awesome thing to give a puppy their food in different ways to keep them entertained. We have purchased quite a few Outward Hound dishes and puzzles for them to eat their meals out of, and because we have several dogs we will rotate those to different dogs so they don’t get bored. We especially like the intermediate puzzles and more difficult ones for our Labradors since our girls are very smart and figure them out in record time!
There are also slow eater bowls that you can put the food in and it takes them around five minutes to eat it instead of a regular round dish. This is especially helpful for a dog that scarfs their food down really quickly. We have one girl that absolutely loves dinner and will eat it way too fast, so we put hers in a slow feeder and it does two things well – it helps her eat her food more slowly and actually chew up her meal well and it provides entertainment and something for her to focus on instead of just eating out of a normal bowl. As dog breeders we see a huge value in taking full advantage of every meal!
During normal play times for the puppies, we will often put a Kong toy in with them while watching them and see how they work to get the treats out of the toy. What we do is put peanut butter and their food mixed together inside of a Kong bone (toy) or a normal Kong toy and watch them go at it! I can’t say enough good things about Kong company, they have been one of the few toys I found that truly last for big chewers like our Labrador Retrievers. Ethical dog breeders focus on stimulating their puppies’ brains to help them learn and grow, especially in the first few weeks of life. Another idea is to put different foods in toys for them to try if you are comfortable with that. Just make sure you research what is safe for dogs, and even if it is dog food you will want to watch what you feed them. We had a lady tell us her puppy was allergic to salmon, so please be careful even with foods that are generally regarded as safe for dogs since any dog can have an allergy.
While we are training them, we use treats and even dog food as rewards, and especially with Labrador Retrievers it is a game changer! Labs are generally very food motivated so it is a great idea to use that in their training. We will give a treat here and there for good behavior and we never reward bad behavior, just the good, and labs are quite smart and pick on it up on it very quickly. One thing to remember is that if you are doing heavy training and giving lots of treats, especially at the beginning, you will want to adjust your meals and make them a little smaller so that you are not accidentally over feeding your pup.
Using meals intentionally can be one of the best ways to train your puppy and keep his or her brain active!