Ditch The Bowl: How To Train Your Dog Without Using Dog Treats!
At Listen Dog Training we are massive advocates of the ‘ditch the bowl’ approach, and it’s one of the first pieces of advice we’ll discuss at a consultation. But what does it mean? Never feeding your dog? Nope! Depriving them of their one or two meals a day that they love so much?! That’s one way to look at it. But how about looking at it this way – your dog loves their dinner. When they see you get out the food bowl, their little tails start wagging and they do that happy dance every dog owner knows! That food is valuable. And where are you pouring all that value? Straight into their bowl. And how long does it take for an entire day’s value to disappear? Anything from 30 seconds to 5 minutes depending on how quickly your dog inhales their dinner! Just minutes after it has begun, that enjoyable experience is over for your dog, and what have they learnt? To pay all the attention in the world to where their food bowl is… and nothing else.
But what if you could transfer that food-bowl-induced excitement to other, more valuable ideas? What if your dog could get that excited about laying on their bed, learning a new trick, being left home alone, not pulling on the lead, or not running off at the park? THIS is why we ditch the food bowl. Not only can you use your dog’s daily food allowance to pour value into events and behaviours that we want to see more of, but you can use it to grow value in your relationship too!
Imagine if your dog stopped focusing on the food bowl, and started focusing on you – because they no longer only get fed at 8am and 5pm, but they could be fed at any time, in any location for doing any positive behaviour.
How Does It Work?
People can approach the ‘Ditch the Bowl’ concept in so many different ways, depending on their lifestyle, but here are a few tips to get you started…
Begin by measuring out your dog’s daily food allowance at the start of the day, so you can keep track of whether they are getting the correct amount of food over 24 hours.
You could divide this into two or three pots and place these around your home, so that you’re ready to capture any great choices your dog makes, and pour value into those choices with his food! An example might be that you see your dog go and lay on their bed to relax. If you have a busy dog who is always under your feet, you probably consider this to be a useful and valuable behaviour, and something you wish your dog would choose for himself more often! If so, calmly and quietly go and sprinkle some of his kibble out on the bed in front of him. To begin with, your dog may find this exciting and get out of bed to follow you in the hopes of getting more food – but don’t worry! Ignore this behaviour and wait him out – when he eventually gives up and returns to bed, repeat the reward. You’ll be surprised how quickly he defaults to his bed once you start showing him it’s the most valuable choice to make!
Try allocating a portion of your dog’s daily food allowance to take out with you on walks, and use it to reward a great recall, nice lead-walking, or just to play some training games at the park.
Scatter-feeding is another great way to allow your dog to enjoy some of their food, and is a useful option for those owners who have busy schedules, and worry that there’s no way they’d be able to deliver enough food every day through training alone! You can do it at home – try scattering a handful of kibble around your garden and allowing your dog to spend the next 15 minutes foraging for it. It’s far more interesting for them than eating it all out of a bowl, encourages them to use their brain, and keeps them busy for a while. The act of searching out and eating food is also calming, and can be a great go-to option for owners whose dogs can find some scenarios scary. If your dog is worried by the approach of another dog in the distance, you can lower their arousal and therefore decrease the likelihood of a dramatic outburst, by stepping off to the side of the footpath and scatter-feeding for a couple of minutes.
Ditch the Bowl for an Enrichment-Filled Life
The dog market is awash with incredible toys, puzzles, games and more, and you can utilise so many of these – and even make your own using bits and bobs from your recycling bin – as part of your daily feeding routine. Swap your dog’s dinner bowl for a maze feeder, or deliver their daily food allowance in Kongs throughout the day. Snuffle mats are another great option, and offer all the benefits of scatter feeding in a much smaller space. Alternatively, you can hide treats under paper cups, inside twisted toilet roll tubes, and more. When life calls for a longer-lasting distraction, deliver your dog a frozen Kong on their boundary, and instead of hassling your visitor/begging at the dinner table, they’ll be kept happy, occupied, and out of the way.
‘But I Feed My Dog Raw!’
Don’t worry if you don’t feed your dog kibble – there are options for the raw feeders too! Treat dispensers/enrichment feeders are a great option. If you want to dole out rewards by hand, or carry some food on the go, lots of raw feeders have had amazing success using squeezy tubes! These are available to buy on eBay for pennies, and enable you to always have a pocket full of your dog’s raw dinner without any of the mess! Simply fill the tube with your dog’s food and, whenever you want to give them a treat, just pop the lid and squeeze, allowing your dog to eat it as it’s dispensed. Pop it in the dishwasher at the end of the day, and you’re done!
Alternatively, you can feed raw chunks cut into smaller pieces, or roll minced raw food into little balls (or use a mould) then re-freeze.
What If My Dog Isn’t Interested In Their Food?
Since we’ve talked so much about how valuable your dog’s dinner is to them, and why that value shouldn’t be wasted in a bowl, there may be some of you crying out ‘but my dog couldn’t care less about his dinner bowl!’ It’s true, there are dogs out there who will happily leave a bowlful of kibble alone for hours, and only return to eat it when they feel inclined, showing none of the enthusiasm of their canine counterparts who will lick that same bowl clean within a second of its delivery!
So how can we expect these dogs, who show no passion for a bowlful of food served up on a platter, to get excited about a single piece of kibble they have to work for? Well the answer is in this very question. They have to work for it.
By their very nature, dogs are naturally contra-freeloading animals, which means they would rather earn their food, than have it plopped in front of them for free. It is the way nature set them up to behave, and it has been proven many times over, in set-ups where dogs are given the choice between an easy meal, and a more challenging meal. Having to work for the food increases the value of the food to such an extent, that some dogs will exhibit contra-freeloading behaviours by walking away from a free piece of meat in order to work for a piece of kibble. I once worked with a Weimaraner who, within one training session, was walking past a bowlful of chopped cheese and sausage to work for her owner, who was only holding that dog’s dry dog food. True story!
So if you happen to own one of these unenthusiastic dogs who lacks passion for their supper, then do them a favour – stop making it so boring, and give them the chance to work for it – you’ll be amazed at the results!
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