July 07, 2023

How to you manage the quantity of food rewards for a growing puppy?

Full Question:
Hi Cindy, I'm a veterinary technician and have a solid foundation of canine behavior but I happen to be out of town right now and have a puppy coming in ~3 weeks. I would consider myself skilled in Fear Free and balanced approaches to training...but my question is regarding the quantity of food rewards for a puppy. The back of my brain says their metabolism is so high at that age that you can use treats without discretion (for the most part) and it is only when they reach adulthood that you may have to moderate the quantity of treats vs exercise.....true?
Cindy
Cindy Cindy's Answer:
I tend to use my puppy's daily rations as rewards for training so that I make myself more valuable to the pup and I am not giving "treats" that may or may not upset my pup's GI function.

I've raised all my personal pups for the last 15+ years using their daily food ration in short, frequent little sessions. I am also a raw feeder so I use a freeze dried form of the food I feed so I am controlling the quality of nutrition and getting them their daily calories in a way that is teaching them skills I will need for later training.

"treats" are really anything the dog likes and since I tend to choose dogs that have a strong work ethic and food drive, using their daily food is what works for me. For some dogs, you may need to go to cheese, chicken, etc... but I really try to not do that with little puppies if I can help it since they are growing so quickly. I want their calories to come from balanced, high quality food as much as possible.
User Response:
That is also what I intend to do for the most part...but I still want to establish good manners when it comes to eating (eg resource guarding, etc) to will still have a regular feeding schedule with some amount of food going in a bowl.

I guess I was inquiring more about calorie count than anything else. If I have a set amount of food (regular diet) that I use throughout the day, and require MORE than that in the form of (healthy) treats appropriate for training because we are active that day, when do I cross the line on weight gain / rate of growth. I also know I can use other forms of reward and can consult my DVM when I get back to work. I'm on a temporary leave of absence right now.
Cindy
Cindy Cindy's Answer:
The great thing about dogs and dog training is that you can really do whatever works best for you and your puppy. I was a vet tech years ago, have bred lots of litters, and trained countless dogs but I admit I kind of wing it most days when it comes to feeding amounts. I look at my dogs each day and maybe grab an extra handful of meat or a mackerel or a duck neck if they look ribby. If they look chunky I just feed them a bit less. I don't eat the same amount of food each day so I take the same approach with my dogs. Puppies also go thru numerous growth periods where they need more calories to maintain weight, I think being a good observer and putting your hands on the puppy daily will give you the guidelines you need.

As for manners around feeding, I build a relationship through training and fair rules, I don't ever work on preventing resource guarding as an exercise with puppies because in some cases you may actually create mistrust accidentally. I manage my puppy, teach them how to engage and play with me and set them up for success. Later I'll have an obedience relationship and language that we both understand and that means I likely won't have resource guarding issues because we have mutual trust and good communication.

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Expert Dog Trainer Cindy Rhodes
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