Many dog owners mistakenly think that their dog requires food to be available at all times.
The phrases "my dog is always hungry'', "my dog won't eat at dinner time so I leave the food out'' are common.
The reality of free feeding your dog is that your dog has no reason to listen to any command you ask for.
The one thing we must remember when we decide to bring canines into our homes is that originally all dog breeds were created to serve the purpose of assisting their owners with breed-specific jobs _ gun dog breeds to assist in hunting for wild game, terrier breeds for vermin control, toy breeds for companionship, working breeds for stock control, non-sporting and utility breeds for an array of alternative jobs.
Nowadays we have many breeds in our homes which no longer need to serve the original purpose they were bred for.
However, the reward or "payment'' for their work remains the same _ work means food.
Although the job description for our dogs has changed, everyday commands we ask them to do is in fact the "work'' we give our dogs.
When dogs are allowed to free feed in our homes, i.e. graze as they choose on a constant food source, they simply have no reason to listen to us.
Imagine having a job in which your employer pays you the same amount of money whether you turn up for the
whole week, part of the week or not at all. Would you listen to or respect this type of employer?
Likely not, so why then do you expect your dog to give you respect and listen to what you ask it to do if you are acting in the same manner? The key to regaining your dog's attention and respect is to control all the resources your dog needs for its survival; ultimately, this is food.
Pick your dog's bowl up off the floor after an allocated period of time. Ten minutes is more than enough time to have food on offer for your dog. After this time if your dog has not eaten, do not offer an alternative choice as the fussy dog has been trained to be so because it has an owner frantic about the seemingly small amount of food
it has eaten who then offers a smorgasbord of options to coax their dog to eat.
Dogs will not starve themselves so will soon accept what is on offer and you will have a dog that looks at you for
direction rather than ignores you because you have no purpose in their day.
Paw point of the week:
It is important to follow the guidelines printed on the packaging of quality brands like Eukanuba because these are
researched to meet daily age and weight requirements.
Contact me for the chance to have your question selected for publication at nadines@dogguru.co.nz and for further information, visit www.dogguru.co.nz