The Challenge Feed
For dinner tonight we had our first "challenge feed".Mom found this article on the internet about "Challenge Feeding Your Dog".
"For many dogs feeding times are the highlight of the day, but 30 seconds later the bowl is empty and he is left with nothing to look forward to. This is obviously a very unnatural situation. Wild dogs and wolves spend a large portion of time and effort acquiring food. No one is suggesting that you stop feeding your dog and send him out to find his own dinner, but you can make getting food slightly more challenging.
"The first step is to do away with the food bowl. Eating a pile of food is never going to be a challenge. Instead, try scattering dry food around the garden. Not only does this encourage your dog to use his nose, which is mentally tiring, but you will be amazed at how much energy he will expend criss-crossing the garden to ensure that he has found every last crumb."
So part of our dinner, some of the dried food, was thrown out into the garden and we had to find it with our noses! It was really fun. All four of us were out there exercising our noses and our minds. I did pretty good, maybe the best, because I have by far the biggest nose.
Here's some photos of the garden a few years ago.
And here's the ceanothus in bloom last year.
posted by Sam the black GSD @ 5:46 PM
4 Comments:
Hmmmm challenge feed. That gives me an idea. Next dinnertime I'll jump up on the human's table and take their food and hide it all around the house. (I'll try not to eat it, I promise)
That way they can get the hint that I want a challenge dinner too!
Or maybe it would be easier on all of us if I just showed them your post.
Cal
I don't know...this sounds like too much work to me. I'm sure it's good for me, but who likes things that are good for me? Hee!
Besides, if my Mom and Dad did this, that hissy kitty might get to it first. She's such a pain!
-Woof! (China)
Oh Hide and Seek vit da food! I like dat game. Didn't know it was called Challenge Food??? COOL!
I love da garden pictures. My Marie loves to garden. She spent time in Japan touring da gardens dere vhen she won dis educational exchange sponsored by Toyota. Now ve have several cool moss gardens and ponds.......but our turtles ran away. Das vhat Marie saids but I tink da Racoons paid a visit to our pond.
Chow Heidi
Hi Sam,
My first time here. A nice blog. 'The Challenge Feed' would be rather challenging for us, at least during the rainy season. I hope I can talk my humans into trying this neat idea after the rains stop. Hope the jackrabbits, skunks, opossums and raccoons don't like my food. There are a lot those varmints around here.
I have feeding frenzies when either my humans start the shower or open or close the garage door. Displaced behavior syndrome, I guess. I get really wound up when the garage door goes up or down. Last year, right after we moved into our new home, I noticed a mouse hanging on the side of the garage door as it was going up. So now I expect to see that mouse whenever the door moves.
To keep me from chowing down, drinking a lot of water and then soon afterwards 'chundering' (Aussie for upchucking) my male human feeds me three times a day and listens to the amount of water I drink. If he doesn't stop me in time and I drink too much I am sent to the garage to do my 'thing'. I think I just want to go out and check on that mouse.
Please keep us posted on your progress.
Freda
P.S. Happy Big Red Heart Day. Or as my male human calls it, Even MORE Chocolate Day.
Post a Comment
<< Home