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Puzzle Feeders: Slowing Down a Fast Eater
A dog empties a bowl in about ninety seconds. The same food in a puzzle feeder occupies fifteen to twenty minutes and gives the animal something to do, which is the single cheapest piece of enrichment available in an ordinary household.
The catch is that puzzle feeders are frequently used wrongly, and the wrong use makes animals fat.
Use the meal, not extra treats
The mistake is loading a puzzle with high-value treats on top of the normal ration. Do that daily and you have added a meaningful number of calories to the diet.
Measure out the daily food as usual, then put a portion of it into the puzzle instead of the bowl. Nothing extra, nothing removed, and the dog gets a job.
For dry food, a puzzle designed for kibble works directly. For wet or raw, a stuffable rubber toy is the right format.
Start easier than you think
An animal that has never used a puzzle does not know food can be inside something. A difficult toy on day one teaches only that the object is irrelevant.
- Pack loosely, with food visible and easily reached.
- Show the animal food going in.
- Let it succeed quickly the first few times.
- Increase difficulty gradually: pack tighter, hide more, use smaller openings.
- Freeze once the animal is confident — this is the biggest single jump in difficulty.
If a puzzle sits untouched for two days, it is too hard. Go back a step.
Slowing a fast eater
Beyond enrichment, there is a physical benefit. Dogs that bolt food swallow a lot of air with it, which causes discomfort and, in deep-chested breeds, is a risk factor for bloat.
Slow feeders and puzzles both address this. For a dog that eats too fast, a slow-feed bowl at every meal plus a puzzle for one meal a day is a sensible combination.
Freezing
A stuffed rubber toy frozen overnight can take three or four times as long to empty. Useful before leaving the house, and for dogs that struggle to settle in the evening.
Mix the food with something that holds it together — a little wet food or plain yoghurt if it agrees with the dog — and freeze upright. Remember that whatever you add counts towards the daily ration.
Supervision
Watch the first few sessions. Some dogs work at a puzzle patiently; others try to destroy it, and a puzzle being chewed rather than solved is a different safety proposition.
Rigid plastic puzzles in particular are designed to be manipulated, not chewed. Those are supervised toys. Rubber stuffable toys are the ones that can generally be left with a dog, sized appropriately.
Chewer strength is listed on every toy in our dog toys range.
Hygiene
Food residue collects in crevices and goes rancid, which is unpleasant and puts animals off using the toy. Wash after every use for wet food, and every few uses for dry.
Rubber toys go in the dishwasher on a top rack or get a bottle brush and hot soapy water. Rigid plastic puzzles usually come apart; check before buying, because one that does not come apart cannot be cleaned properly.
Cats too
Cats take to puzzle feeders readily, and it suits them particularly well because they are natural multiple-small-meal eaters. A food-motivated cat will work a puzzle for far longer than it will chase a toy.
Start with a very easy design — a tray with shallow wells rather than an enclosed puzzle — and note that cats give up faster than dogs if the first attempt fails. Cat-suitable options sit alongside cat and catnip toys, and automated options under interactive and electronic toys.
Rotate these too
Even puzzles get habituated to. Two or three different designs rotated weekly hold interest far better than one used daily, because part of the value is working out a new problem rather than repeating a solved one.
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From our shelves
Products in this store that relate to what is covered above:
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Key points
- Use part of the normal meal rather than extra treats, or the puzzle becomes a weight problem.
- Start far easier than you think and build difficulty; an unsolved puzzle is an abandoned puzzle.
- Slowing a fast eater is the main benefit, and it matters most for deep-chested breeds.
- Freezing a stuffed toy extends the working time considerably — useful before you leave the house.
- Supervise the first few uses; some dogs try to break a puzzle rather than solve it.
- Wash puzzle toys regularly — food residue in crevices goes rancid quickly.
