Hi,

I was reading an article in regards to "Errorless Chewtoy Training", where it states that when starting out a puppy should be fed primarily through chewtoys or at the very least from the owners hands. It says not to fed the puppy from a bowl due to the puppy would faces a mental void for the rest of his day. By feeding it primarily through chewtoys in the beginning, it will develop a habit and a love for chewing only on chewtoy and not really anything else. Has anyone done actually done this? If so for how long? I was hoping I could get some thoughts/comments on this. I'm unsure of the rules of the forum, but if allowed I can post a link to this article. Thanks@

Hmmm...I haven't heard anything about that. I would be interested in seeing the article. You can definitely post a link to the article!

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--Briana--

I'm not sure about chew toys but Molly definitely enjoys eating out of her Kong Wobbler. Every morning after she is done with breakfast she gets all tail waggy and goes through my legs like she always does when she's excited/happy. Twice last week I fed her using her bowl because the Wobbler needed to be washed and she did not do her happy dance after breakfast.


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I attached the pdf, but it mentions this starting on pg 72. This pdf was obtained from dogstardaily.com and they also mention this on their website. The reasoning behind this makes sense to me, but being a first time dog owner and not seeing this mentioned anywhere else, I was a little bit skeptical.

I'm sorry the pdf was too big. Here's a link that discuss this:

Errorless Chewtoy-Training | Dog Star Daily

Any thoughts on this????

A lot of people recommend feeding out of a toy in order to make the dog work for his food and give him some mental stimulation. Dogs in the wild would have to hunt or scavage for their food, this would be the domestic version of that.

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Jodie

AJ's Maiden By the Sea CDX RE (Annabel - retired)
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I sometimes feed my girl out of Kong Wobbler or a doggy puzzle. We had problems with her becoming tense and growly with her food and our trainer suggested using toys to try and make it more relaxed and fun. We have found that it has worked and she is more relaxed when eating from them. She also gulped her food down very quickly, this slows her down. I think it is good because it challenges them mentally and physically to 'work' for their food. I don't always use the toys to feed her, but sometimes do just to slow her down or let her work a bit I think every dog is different but it definately wouldn't hurt to let your pup try using them...there are tons of fun different toys/puzzles for feeding purposes on the market to choose from. We tried feeding her from one of those bowls with dividers before we switched to the toys and found it made her worse with the trying to gobble her food and being growly if anyone got near her when eating...I think it really aggitated her and stressed her out. When eating from the toys her tail is wagging. Good luck

Same as above, it's the idea of "have to work for what you want", somwhat along the same lines of NILIF training. I know I supplement normal meals with treat balls/toys, but only occasionally.

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“Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, it's at the end of your arm. As you get older, remember you have another hand: The first is to help yourself, the second is to help others.” (Audrey Hepburn)

Thank you everyone for you input on this!