How do you make dry dog food more interesting

[Patchyman1]

So our dog has dry dog food 3 times a day. How can I make it more interesting for him. If I add veg he picks it out! Can I add gravy? Did this once and he loved it but not sure if gravy is good for them.

Add something smelly but not calorie dense, dried spears crushed up and sprinkled on top or a bit of salmon oil

Mine has a bit of chopped up ham, beef, chicken or lamb mince on her kibble. We reduce the amount of kibble (she's 25kg and kibble allowance is 230g a day so she gets 75 plus topping morning and night)

She might not NEED toppings but she loves it and why not? Kibble may be 'nutritionally complete' but it's boring!

They do not need a variety of food like us to feel fulfilled.

They may not need it, but they enjoy it and as long as you're not pouring double cream on their food, it's fine. We don't need a lot of the food we eat either.

You will do way more harm to the dog adding extra calories and ingredients to a complete dog food.Kibble is a complete dog food.

Nonsense. Kibble might be a complete food but it's hardly a natural diet for a dog - it's just convenient and clean for humans.

You'll only do harm to your dog if you don't watch the ingredients and calories in the toppers you give. Every single dog I know gets human food on a daily basis - from toast crusts to fish, to roast chicken and rice - they're all thriving.

My dog didn't love the kibble, she'd eventually eat it. I now give her a mix of wet and dry and she really enjoys it.
Sometimes a topping, cheese, tuna, apple, carrots.

She loves it.

I have a fussy pooch.

We tried kibble with all these:
warm water
Teaspoon greek yogurt
Carrot peels/peas or some veg
Egg
Chicken or beef
Fish

She invariably may or may not have eaten.

So now it's wet and dry dog food. She pretty much eats it all now.

Recently rescued boy gets colitis if he eats anything except salmon and potato dry food. He still needs to gain a bit of muscle though he has gained some since we've had him. He was underfed and underexercised his whole short life before we had him. He eats a lot more if we soak the dry food in warm water and mash it up. Sometimes it's a texture thing.

Add a pouch of wet food once a day? But don't overthink it, dogs really don't think the same way as us!

But my dog is free fed as he doesn't overeat anyway, not food oriented

Mental enrichment
Fun
Confidence building (my pup is fine with noises as she snuffles her way through a box of paper for tiny treats)
Helps calm them
Helps tire them out
It helps their confidence to say 'yes - I can do this'

Why wouldn't you?

Sadly kibble isn't high value enough for my pup to use for these kind of games but dogs generally get more value from 'finding' food rather than a bowl as they are scavengers.

I've been trying to get mine to do tricks with his. It's not going well, my son laughs at me because we've been going in and out of my legs. But I'm 5 foot and a bit and have got a tall lanky dog who keeps crashing into my legs. I'm sure he thinks it's funny too, and does it on purpose as he rolls onto his back with his tongue hanging out like a melon and expects belly rubs 🙈

Why on earth would you bother doing this?

@Tirednest it's actually incredibly beneficial to feed your dog in this way. Making them work for their meals instead of just getting it dished up in a bowl is a great way to provide mental stimulation and enrichment.

What an absolute palaver. My dogs get a normal bowl of dry food with some leftovers, once a day, after a good hour outside running about. They don't need mental stimulation where food is concerned. It actually sounds a bit cruel to hide their food.

@Tirednest - seriously? Why would you bother enriching your dog's life? Dogs need mental as well as physical stimulation.

Yes - they get that from walks and being outside- they are outside off lead exploring stuff for a good part of the day. They are happy, healthy dogs. Hiding food is unnecessary for them.

Our dogs (Labradors) used to eat cow pats, horse poo and sheep poo on their walks - I soon realised they have no taste buds and could happily eat the same meals day in day out!

Ours absolutely loves his kibble soaked in water, then mashed up and frozen in a slow feeder. We add a bit of salmon oil and it keeps him busy for ages, tail wagging away. The mental stimulation is great for them and he's so chilled afterwards.

Also really recommend scattering kibble in a snuffle mat or in a Wobbly Kong, scatter on the lawn, a puzzle feeder and hiding kibble in the dog toy basket! Ours never eats in the same way and I'm sure the enrichment helps him feel more relaxed at home.

Quite!

I know support dogs are sent the food to eat which is the same every day . And they are the most researched and well looked after in the country .So they must be fine with it !

You’ve obviously never seen the joy and enthusiasm of a dog finding food or other high value items.

Anyone who takes the time to enrich their dogs life would also be making sure their dogs were also adequately and appropriately exercised.

How patronising and ridiculous. I've had happy healthy dogs for 40 years and never felt the need to hide food or puree kibble and spread it on mats. It's a complete affectation.

Mine come to work with me and are never bored. I expect if you leave them alone for a large part of the day you'd be more inclined to buy all manner of toys and boredom busters.

My Labrador must have taste buds or at least finds something about certain foods more appetising. If I throw her a piece of chicken she'll eat it, follow it up with say a blueberry or a strawberry and she'll catch it but then spit it out.

My grand plan of using kibble for enrichment had to be ditched about a week into ownership.

On the plus side, she never picks up any discarded food on a walk ever, last week we walked past a mini bakewell tart, half a sandwich and a slice of pizza with barely a glance at them. She doesn't eat poo either but is partial to a roll in 🦊 💩

It doesnt really need to be more interesting. Dogs will literally eat shit, so i wouldnt worry about kibble being boring as such. It is good to add veg though, but one of my dogs will only eat cooked veg. The other will eat raw too.
Half a tin of sardines in water or oil once or twice a week is good for them too.

currantbee OMG the fox/badger/goose poo stinky rides back home if we went out in the car 🤢 at least if we walked from home, there was a (very small) chance the smell would have died down a little before getting home to be washed. I ended up using Pantene on mine as it seemed to be the only thing that would get rid of the smell but there was always a tiny bit on the collar that I missed . My labs just ate anything - except tablets - they were both savvy enough to lick off the liver paste and spit the tablet out!

Mine comes to work with me too and is almost never left, but I still give him mental enrichment and scatter his meals or use kongs 🤷🏻‍♀️

It makes things more interesting, takes him longer to eat and adds variety to his day. It also tires him out and relaxes him.