My Dog Eats Too Fast!

I've heard this time and time again, and I've got one of these gluttonous hounds in my house. I've tried every trick in the book:

• Putting a giant rock in the middle of her bowl, that way it takes her 30 seconds to scarf down her food instead of 10 seconds. 
• Adding water--at least it'll be easier on her digestive track. 
• Making her work for each morsel of food by turning meals into training sessions. Realistically, with three dogs to feed, I don't have time to do this twice a day.
• Putting food into a Kong or Smart Toy. I don't have this option since I have multiple dogs. Otherwise this is a great idea. The kibble would be dispensed slowly and the dog is psychologically challenged: working for his food. LOVE IT!

But then--SHAZAM! I found something that works:

• Put the usual amount of kibble in your dog's bowl
• Cover the bottom the bowl with a little bit of water
• If you mix the kibble with wet food, fantastic! Don't add water, merely mix in the wet food
• Put the bowl in the freezer
• When feeding time arrives, I just take it out and voila!

Instead of inhaling her food, my reigned in canine had to work to lick and pry her food from the bottom of her dish and then more licking, licking...it was like a kibble-sicle. For once my Shih Tzu finished his food LONG before she was licking the frozen bits from the corners of her dish.

Other freezing tips:
When using peanut butter or Kong filling, fill the toy or hollow bone and then freeze the toy/bone. That filling doesn't last long, however when it's frozen it lasts longer for those car rides or for anxious dogs left at home.

YOU Are the Key to Dog Training Success

Oftentimes, the dogs who make little to no progress are the ones where the clients make little to no change in their behavior. Or they pick and choose what part of the training prescription they want to follow.

What!?!? That seems rather bold. Could it not be the dog? Or what about the trainer? Hmmm?

Touché! However, it's pretty easy to spot the dog owner I'm referring to. If I were a fitness trainer this might be the equivalent conversation of a client not getting the physical results they were hoping for: 

“I ate one healthy meal like you suggested, and then I ate fast food the rest of the week because I was so busy. I don’t know why I’m not losing weight! Ugh!” 

Or

“I haven’t been doing the full workout; I’ve only been doing push-ups. My arms are looking great but my stomach and legs are still flabby! What’s wrong with my stomach and legs?” 

I know this sounds ridiculously silly, however some clients experience this disconnect. They’re disappointed with their dog’s lack of progress and shift blame to their dog. (Or trainer?)

On the flip side, I’ve had clients who are extremely motivated to change their dog’s behavior. A week after our initial training session we meet again and even I’m blown away by the radical shift in their dog’s conduct. As the weeks go by, not only is there a rapid shift with the dog, but the owner has changed. They’re more calm and confident with their dog. 

The owners start relaying my spiel back to me: 

“Once you have the right tools and know how to communicate with your dog, it’s just so easy.” 

Or

“I realized I was shouting at him and joining in [his energy], now it’s just so calm [in our house] and he listens.” 

I love having my own philosophy plugged back to me, and nothing makes me happier than seeing dogs and owners working effortlessly as a team.

I had a client who was being bitten by his dog. Even though he understood and agreed that my training methods would probably result in positive change, he and his wife didn’t want to interact with his dog differently. I appreciated his honesty, however--what did Einstein say? 

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

There are many parts to correcting unwanted dog behavior (see equation below), but in order for lasting effective change, the owner must change how they interact with their dog.

Dog Training Success = Right diagnosis + Correct Training Rx + Timing/Consistency/Energy

*There are rare cases where a dog has a medical condition or is so aggressive that owners cannot and should not train their own dogs. I am not referring to these extreme cases here. People who have aggressive dogs should seek help from a professional trainer and/or talk to their vet.