Establish A Good Mealtime Routine

Mealtimes are an important part of the day for your dog. Since you feed your dog at a certain time each day, your dog knows exactly when he is supposed to get his food, and if you are late, he can become anxious and upset.

Dogs really like routine in their lives. It gives them a sense of order and security and they generally thrive on a regular routine. If possible, you should try to establish a good mealtime routine for your dog.

Establishing a mealtime routine

You can establish a good routine easily by feeding your dog once or twice per day. Most dogs do well on one meal a day, but some dogs do better if they are fed twice a day. Small breeds seem to do better when fed 2 or 3 times a day. Large or giant breeds that can be prone to bloat including breeds like the German Shepherd, Great Dane, or Labrador, should probably be fed twice a day as this is thought to help prevent bloating.

It is best to pick a time for feeding that you are able to do each day. This is can be once in the morning and then again in the late afternoon. Don't feed too late in the day because then your dog may need to go outside to relieve himself during the night. Remember to feed at the same time each day. Dogs have a very good sense of time and your dog will learn to expect his food at the same time each day.

You should never free feed your dog. Free feeding is where you put down a supply of food so your dog can eat whenever he wants. There can be many disadvantages to free feeding. Quite dogs that are free fed become fat. If you have more than one dog, you don't know if each dog is getting a fair amount.

Training at mealtime

You can use mealtime as a way to do some training and establish your position as the dog's leader as well as work on some good manners. A lot of dogs have horrible manners at feeding time. They jump, demanding their food, barking, and they may even knock the food out of their owner's hand. Use this time to train your dog to have good manners at mealtime.

Require your dog to do a sit before you place it's food on the floor. You will be amazed how quickly it will learn this easy exercise. You can praise him as you give him the bowl. Your dog will learn respect for you the master becomes the food comes from you.

Your dog will learn the routine and will be sitting nicely waiting for his meal. Try it and see for yourself.

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