Hi everyone, I am the proud new owner of a gorgeous 10 week old boy. He’s been doing really well, he eats well and has been picking up some basic training (helped by his love of food!). I read a lot about adjusting the puppies food ration to account for treats but how do you work out how much to adjust it by? He is not having the top amount of the range the breeder has recommended for his age so I haven’t worried too much about changing his food so far, however, I’d like to try him on stuffed kongs this week in the hope of being able to use those as entertainment if I have to leave him home alone. I already tried it with some of his food and he wasn’t into it so I want to try something more appealing to him until he gets the hang of it. But I’m thinking If I fill a kong with something like tuna and cheese then I really should reduce his meals. How do I judge how much to cut down? Thanks!
Hi there @Burgess Kongs are just brilliant. To get your dog used to them, poor in a few pieces of kibble, and a few tiny pieces of ham or cheese that he can get out easily. You can also smear some peanut butter or squeezy cheese around the rim of the king to get him used to licking food out. Then you can stuff them a bit more, I'd still use kibble as half of the filling, followed by tuna then a little cheese. When he gets used to this, you can start to freeze them which makes them last much longer, but only do this when he's really got the hang of getting unfrozen food out. To freeze a Kong, pop in some kibble, your filling of choice-mince, banana, cooked veg, tuna, etc, pop it in a plastic cup, pour in some water to make the kibble expand, then freeze. Here's a useful thread about filling kongs https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/stuffed-kongs.5133/ As for quantities, take the kibble out of his daily allowance, and just use common sense for the rest. If his poos go runny, he's probably eating a bit much at mealtimes Welcome to the forum, what's your boy's name?
