--- title: "How To Encourage Healthy Feeding Habits in Your Pup" id: "199755" type: "post" slug: "how-to-encourage-healthy-feeding-habits-in-your-pup" published_at: "2021-10-07T14:00:00+00:00" modified_at: "2026-02-27T19:07:15+00:00" url: "https://www.petlanddayton.com/how-to-encourage-healthy-feeding-habits-in-your-pup/" markdown_url: "https://www.petlanddayton.com/how-to-encourage-healthy-feeding-habits-in-your-pup.md" excerpt: "Feeding your pet with a healthy diet has many benefits in the short run as well as the distant future. A great diet keeps your pet in top shape and protects them from a range of chronic ailments. Your pet’s..." taxonomy_category: - "Tips & Tricks" --- [Home](https://www.petlanddayton.com/) / [Blog](https://www.petlanddayton.com/blog/) / [Tips & Tricks](https://www.petlanddayton.com/category/blog/) / **How To Encourage Healthy Feeding Habits in Your Pup** [Tips & Tricks](https://www.petlanddayton.com/category/blog/) # How To Encourage Healthy Feeding Habits in Your Pup October 7, 2021 · 3 min read · [COSMICK MEDIA](https://www.petlanddayton.com/author/cosmick-media/) [Stay connected via Google News Follow us for the latest pet updates and guides.](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=petlanddayton.com) Feeding your pet with a healthy diet has many benefits in the short run as well as the distant future. A great diet keeps your pet in top shape and protects them from a range of chronic ailments. Your pet’s diet extends beyond what you give them at mealtimes. It is a sum total of all the treats, table scraps, random food tosses, and of course, the main meals too. Proper feeding is essential to ensuring that your pet lives a long, healthy life. This is why encouraging healthy feeding habits is essential. And here are 4 tips to do just this: 1. **Establish a Routine** Pups love routine, it gives them something to look forward to. Creating a routine for their meals especially gives them the pleasure of anticipating something that they love. It also helps you accurately anticipate bowel movements. On average, dogs do best with two meals daily: one in the morning and the other in the evening. Maintaining a routine could also help you detect if your pet falls ill, such as when they skip a meal. Enjoying this read? You'll love our puppies. Adorable, vet-checked pups looking for their forever homes — available now. [Meet our puppies](https://www.petlanddayton.com/puppies-for-sale/) Similarly, snacks in between meals aren’t the best idea, this might encourage obesity. 1. **Measure Out Food** Since you see your pet every single day, it’s easy to not observe that they are gaining excess weight. Typically, your pup’s feed would come with recommendations from the maker. Since you’re feeding twice a day, divide up the daily recommended amount into two and use a measuring cup to confirm accuracy. Ideally, you should be feeding your pooch roughly the same amount of food both times during the day. Measuring out food helps control the calories that they consume as well. If your pup is very active, you can increase calorie intake based on your vet’s guidance, same goes for if you have a laid-back pup. 1. **Avoid Table Feeding** Sometimes it is hard to resist those big brown eyes looking up at you while you eat. You might be tempted to give them a piece of your food or feed your pup scraps from the table. However, this doesn’t do your pup any good. Rather, it encourages overeating, and shortly after, your pup might begin to add weight excessively. If you absolutely cannot fight the temptation to feed table scraps, ensure that you’re feeding them healthy foods. Rice cakes or raw carrots are ideal. Still reading? Our puppies are waiting. Healthy, happy pups ready to meet their families — see who's available today. [Meet our puppies](https://www.petlanddayton.com/puppies-for-sale/) Another practical tip is to feed your pup before eating your food so that he is content and less tempted to beg. 1. **Slow Down Eating by Making Mealtimes Interactive** Some pups practically wolf down their meals. This act in itself might not seem all that much of a terrible act, but it might negatively impact your pup’s health in the long run. Fast eating implies less chewing and swallowing lots of air. This would lead to a regularly bloated belly and over time, the stomach walls would start to thin out and could even tear. Some mechanisms that may help reduce speed rating include: - Using a slow feeder bowl — just ensure that your pup can reach the food easily. - Snuffle mats — this also boosts mental stimulation and helps them tap into their natural foraging instinct since they have to search for their kibble. - Reducing meal size and increasing frequency. You can use an auto feeder for this. Encouraging healthy eating habits should begin as early as possible. [Stay connected via Google News Follow us for the latest pet updates and guides.](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=petlanddayton.com) Available Now## If you loved this, you'll *love our puppies* Meet the happy, healthy pups ready to join your family today — browse the whole litter below. 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Petland threw in a free ferret kit if we got the third one. I liked their financing plans they had as well it’s an easy way to bump my credit. So far Matcha, Mocha, and Lottie are loving their home. They love playing with the dogs and I love their silly personalities. I only wish they came potty trained, they didn’t have a specific area for them to pee or poop In so potty training has been a little difficult for the two older girls, only reason why I’m doing 4 stars instead of 5. But we are very happy with our girls and the free ferret kit ended up helping us a lot more than we expected 🫶🏻 thank you to whoever said it was okay to throw it in. It’s also a very specious pet land compared to the one next to my job, we will probably be back. Posted on Google Daniel a Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. I got some tiger barbs from there, and they looked great. Good color, good shape. Morgan helped me out with them and she was fantastic! Excellent customer service. I'll be back! Posted on Google Kim P Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Very nice and helpful Posted on Google Mike z Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. They have the dog food we use. We moved from another state and had to find a store that had our dog food we've been using. Posted on Google ONE C Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Nice layout very cute puppies customer service is spectacular they go above and beyond Posted on Google Edward L Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Place was kept very clean but the person who took care of me didn't have knowledge of the Birds that I bought Posted on Google Margaret B Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. I loved spending time with the puppies, and the staff was extremely friendly and helpful. ```