Troubleshooting Feeding Times

Does  your hound constantly act like they’ve never had a meal in their lives?   It’s quite common, especially in the initial weeks, but it can be  frustrating!  But did you know that changing how you feed them can make a  big difference?

Dogs are, by  nature, opportunistic and social scavengers.  It’s written in their DNA;  they can’t help it.   If food is presented, it’s going to be eaten, and  quite often very quickly!   Also, for a lot of newly adopted greyhounds  this includes any food…not just what is presented to them to eat.  If  they can find it, they will eat it.

They  can get up on the counters, stealing the bread or tipping out the fruit  bowl.  Licking the dishes as you load them into the dishwasher, raiding  the bins or in some instances, fully jumping onto the middle of the  dining table in the middle of dinner, resulting in absolute chaos!  The  latter is uncommon, but it does happen from time to time!

Food is food, and if it’s there, they’ll try to get it

They  may also exhibit these behaviours, or a host of other unwanted  behaviours, in response to other stressors or triggers…and this doesn’t  just apply to newly adopted hounds.  Like any dog, greyhounds’  behaviours that humans consider to be ‘bad’ behaviour.  Owners often  believe they are being naughty, attention seeking or ‘acting  out’…they’re not, even if it seems that way!

But why?

During  their racing careers, living their formative years in kennels, they’ve  never had to learn boundaries around human food, they’ve never had to  really learn what ‘no’ means.  Everything that enters their kennel,  their home, their safe space…it belongs to them.  Food, treats, bones,  toys, their bed, everything.  

They  haven’t had to share their space and their belongings with humans, and  when they get adopted, it’s a big learning experience for them.  They  suddenly have access to more than they ever have before, like kitchens  and dining rooms, people eating on the sofa or children running around  with biscuits.  

Their kennel,  their home and safe space has now been replaced with your home…and that  means everything (in their mind at least) belongs to them.  They don’t  understand that certain things aren’t allowed or that certain behaviours  are not wanted. It’s all new to them, and teaching them these  boundaries comes with time, patience, and repetition.

Ultimately,  it’s like having a fully grown puppy.  They are learning everything for  the first time, but they will also be stressed and uncertain which will  lead them to fall back on their natural survival instincts which  predispose them to consume food rapidly as and when it is available.  

Even  if you’ve had the good sense of clearing the counters and making sure  anything edible is put away before taking your hound home, they may  still jump up at the counters due to the smells and they want to see  what’s what!

They are also quite  likely to eat their meals as if they’ve been starved, leaving you  wondering if they even tasted it or chewed it before swallowing!  They  then look at you like you haven’t fed them, because their stomach hasn’t  had time to register that it’s full!

Greyhounds,  and dogs in general, are creatures of habit and appreciate a regular  feeding schedule.  It gives them structure and predictability for their  day as well as meaning they are never left ‘hungry’.  But in coming into  the new environment, they don’t know what that feeding schedule or  structure is, so they can demolish their food as a form of safety  because they don’t know if it’s going to be taken away or when they  might next be fed.

For some, this  behaviour will always be in place, and it is an ingrained habit, but  for others it can be a reaction to the new environment, and it will fade  in time.  But in both instances, it can be improved upon and redirected  by providing appropriate and safe enrichment, and a change of feeding  style.

Now, enrichment is a word  that is thrown around a lot and is becoming more and more popular in  how people feed their dogs.  Not necessarily in response to behavioural  issues, but just because it’s good for them.

But  not everyone knows what enrichment is. In essence, it’s a way of  enhancing your dog’s quality of life by encouraging them to fulfil their  base instincts, providing them with purpose or a job to complete so to  make them feel fulfilled, relaxed and calmer…and less likely to eat like  they’ve been starved or display any other unwanted behaviours such as  chewing!

Now enrichment can come  in many different forms, it’s quite an endless subject, but we’re today  we’ll just be discussing it in the context of feeding and food-based  enrichment.  Because, in some instances, providing enrichment activities  at other times in your dog’s routine can help relieve many other  undesirable behaviours routed in frustration and boredom…but that’s a  subject for another day!

The  result of providing food-based enrichment, and in changing up their  feeding times, is to make feeding time more engaging and challenging for  the dog.  By encouraging mental and physical stimulation as part of  their mealtime routine, you will encourage and fulfil their base  scavenger instincts, leading to an all-round calmer hound.

To facilitate this, and we’ll be shouting this a lot in our posts…DITCH THE FOOD BOWL!

Food  bowls are a human convenience.  That is all.  They’re an easy way to  present food and an easy thing to clean up after.  But it is boring as  sin for a dog, and it allows them to gulp down their food like there is  no tomorrow.

Changing from a food  bowl to alternatives such as slow feeding bowls, puzzle feeders, Kongs,  wobbles, toppls, snufflemats, lickimats or any other ‘treat’ dispensing  dog toy/bowl can be so productive toward fulfilling your dog.

It  doesn’t have to be complicated; you can just put their food into a slow  feeding bowl instead of a normal bowl most days.  This slows them down  massively, and by the time it takes them to get their meal out of the  feeder, in having to use their little chicken brains, they will feel  physically satisfied because the delayed feeding will mean their bellies  actually know they have been fed!

You  can utilise the other items intermittently throughout the week, so they  don’t become too ‘easy’ for your hound.  You don’t have to use their  full meal either, you could do some in the food bowl and part in a kong  or snuffle mat either at feeding time or at other times such as after  walks to decompress and calm them ready to nap (not that greyhounds need  assistance in getting ready to nap!).  

These  tools allow the dog to express their natural behaviours and feel  accomplished and rewarded in gaining access to the food!  The mental  stimulation and satisfaction from having to use their base instincts  such as scavenging, investigating, and working for their food leaves  them feeling more fulfilled and less likely to be raiding the bins or  counter surfing!

Now, you may be  reading this thinking that this doesn’t work for you because your dog is  a grazer, or they regularly turn their nose up at their food.  Or that  they get plenty of enrichment and still act like some starved, neglected  dog…but we’ll cover this in a future post!

Food-based  enrichment offers a holistic approach to addressing feeding behaviours  and promoting the overall well-being of our canine companions.  As we’ve  said, by satisfying their instinctual needs and providing those mental  and physical stimulations and outlets, food-based enrichment not only  slows down eating habits but also fosters a happier, healthier, and more  fulfilled hound.  As responsible pet owners, incorporating food-based  enrichment into our dogs' daily routines is a simple, yet impactful way,  to enhance their quality of life!

If  you find that your hound is perfectly at peace the way things are, by  all means, you crack on.  But enrichment comes in many forms and why  wouldn’t we want to give them the best life they can possibly have?