It’s no secret that the way to a dog’s heart is through their tummy, (much like pet parents) but it’s also a great bonding opportunity to prepare a special meal for your pet, packed with flavour and made with love. As humans we love variety and a mix of tastes and textures for each meal – why would we treat our beloved pets any differently?!
We’ve broken down interesting and fun ways to mix up mealtimes that add variety and nutritional benefits. It’s all in the mix and the sweet spot for most dogs is 70% dry mixed in with 30% either fresh, frozen, wet or raw.
A dog’s sense of smell is estimated to be 100,000 times more powerful than a human and it’s the best sense to entice and excite your pet when it comes to mealtimes. A dog leads with their nose, sniffing out smells, individual ingredients and scent profiles that are far more powerful than any human.
A dog doesn’t just smell the meat within their bowl, they sniff out and smell every single ingredient individually and can tell the difference between potatoes, carrots, chicken or lamb or even rosemary and other single condiments.
Your pet craves variety and introducing mixed feeding as part of their routine is a great way to excite their senses but also pack their bowl full of nutrients and benefits for their coat, wellbeing, digestion and mood.
It’s shown that by adding variety to your pets’ meals you can improve the happiness, health and wellbeing mentally and physically.
While we celebrate creativity, it’s also a timely reminder to remind yourselves of the foods to never feed dogs. Some of these include:
- cooked bones (as they can splinter and cause gastrointestinal damage)
- onions and onion powder
- garlic
- chocolate
- coffee or caffeine products
- mouldy or spoiled foods or compost
- bread dough and yeast
- grapes, raisins, sultanas (including in desserts) and currants
- nuts (in particular macadamia nuts)
- fruit stones , corncobs
- fatty trimmings/fatty foods
- xylitol (found in many sugar-free chewing gum, lollies, baking goods, toothpaste and sugar-free peanut butter)
How to excite your dog’s five senses when building a bowl
Smell
Try to include a mixture of foods within your dog’s bowl. A variety of smell profiles and different smells keep things interesting – for example, a meat protein, vegetables, fruits and other flavoursome nutrient dense foods or combinations. Stimulate your dog’s sense of smell with treat puzzles, by hiding treats or toys around the house or yard and letting him find them, or by enrolling him in the sport of canine nose work.
Taste
Chewy, dense and anything that adds a mixture of textures for your dog. Adding in dry food or a dental stick, or dental chews and other treats within a variety bowl can add to the taste of your dog’s bowl. Filling your bowl out with combination foods to add balance as well is a great tool to add to your dog’s palate with meats, vegetables or dry food combos.
Sight
Dogs aren’t known for their great vision. They tend to be near-sighted and their perception of colours somewhat resembles a human who is colour blind. Rather than designing them an aesthetically pleasing bowl, make them the happiest dog on the planet by ensuring that there are a mixture of tastes and textures for an exciting mealtime.
Sound
Get your pet excited by using various sounds to signify mealtime. Dry food pouring against a bowl or a spoon rattling around a can is a great way to call them to dinner and create an exciting ritual!
Touch
Keep it interesting, don’t make it too easy and make mealtimes fun for your pet. A slow feed bowl is a great tool to prolong feeds for your dog and make them enjoy their food mindfully!
By adding more variety to your pet’s bowl, you’re activating their senses and making feeding time more enjoyable and satisfying. What’s good for you isn’t always good for your pet though, so before you start thinking of feeding them last’s nights leftovers or all organic produce it’s important to understand how to build not only a bowl that’s full of nutritional benefits and exciting for your dog.