How NOT to feed your dog

How Not to Feed Your Dog.

The other day, I came across a discussion board and the topic up for discussion was “how do you feed your dog?”

As a technician in the veterinary practice for fourteen years, I have many clients ask me WHAT to feed their dog. We’ve discussed the benefits of premium food over the store brand.  I’ve debated with clients over the quality of the ingredients that go into the food and how that translates into lower medical care costs for your pet.  I’ve even argued the benefits of alternative protein sources and even vegan diets for the treatment of food allergies. 

 But…..HOW to feed your dog?  Now that’s a new one for me.  For most of my 40+ years here on this earth I have been feeding dogs once (or twice depending on the dog) a day.  I’ve handed over table scraps in between meals (against doctor’s orders) and given a million treats for jobs well done.  All of this time, I figured I was performing this most mundane of animal ownership tasks to the best of my ability.  Usually “Feed the Dogs” means, fill the cup with the nuggets and split it between the two dishes that are still laying on the floor from the meal before.

There are a variety of pet feeding supplies available, from automatic pet feeders, to personalized pet bowls to stainless steel. I bought a set of ceramic bowls at the dollar store a few months ago.  I even sprung for an extra set so that I could have one set on the floor at feeding time and the other in the dishwasher to be cleaned for the next meal.  Unfortunately, the extra set spends most of its time in the cupboard, forgotten, until I happen to see them there and change them out. It seemed like a good plan at the time, but the dogs don’t seem to mind re-using now and again.

Oh Yeah, their water bowl?  Actually, it’s a bucket.  Well, not just a bucket, but the empty bucket that the kitty litter comes in when we buy it from the warehouse store.  Don’t judge me, our dogs may be smart and the Worlds Greatest Dogs, but they still can’t read.  What they don’t know, won’t hurt them right?

So anyway…long story short (too late)…I come across this discussion board and the topic is, “How do you feed your dog?”  Most of the postings are on the benefits of plastic bowls, versus stainless steel, versus ceramic bowls….(by the way, ceramic seems to be the least popular). Then, out of nowhere, I read a post from a person who raises German Shepherds in the Midwest and she feeds her dogs by “Scatter” method…….

SCATTER?

Yes, I’m afraid that it is exactly as it sounds.  This “dog lover” throws six cups of food out on her patio when she gets home to “keep her dogs entertained” while she changes and decompresses from work. Hmmmmm….now call me a purist, BUT, I can’t help but picture in my mind, what feeding time is like for the lowest dog in that pecking order.  Waiting for all of the other dogs to get their fill and then scrounging through the leftover (and probably slobbery) nuggets to get a meal. 

I know that this is how wild dogs live.  They make a kill and then the strongest eat and leave the leftovers to the weaker dogs.  It’s the law of the wild. 

It seems just a little too undomesticated to me.  We took these dogs out of the wild and made them our pets. We teach them NOT to hunt by feeding them meals that we provide and serve at regular intervals.  We make ourselves the alpha in their lives. We care for them by vaccinating them against disease, grooming them and allow them to live in our houses.  In return, they serve us with unconditional love.  They protect, and comfort and entertain.

It seems like a small price to pay to give them a little dignity, a little comfort…food in a dish.  Even if it’s a cheap ceramic dish that cost a dollar….and hardly ever gets washed.