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Thinking Outside the Bowl: Games, Training & #TheArtofNutrition

12 February, 2015 by Jodi Chick 20 Comments

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This post is sponsored by Wild Calling!, and the BlogPaws Professional Pet Blogger Network. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about the Art of Nutrition, but Kol’s Notes only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Wild Calling! is not responsible for the content of this article.

Koly and Fe are both raw fed, in large part, due to Felix’s ridiculous allergies. While it works well for my dogs, it’s a lot of work and it can get pricey. It’s definitely not a choice that is for everyone. However, just because my dogs are raw fed doesn’t mean we’re anti-kibble. Quite the opposite, in fact. There’s a lot to be said for all natural, grain free dog food made with high quality proteins and a ton of ways to use it, even if you aren’t serving up a bowl of kibble at meal times.

Go wild and think outside the bowl with dog games and training.

Life is busy, the winter is long and it can be hard to keep dogs occupied, stimulated and happy. One way I enrich my dogs lives is by using high quality kibble, not as a meal, but as a reward for playing fun games and learning new tricks. #Sponsored by @Wild Calling & #TheArtofNutrition

Especially during the winter and our long (oh so very long) rainy season, I spend a lot of time working on enrichment activities, along with all sorts of inside dog games, to keep my dogs busy, happy and not totally bananas.

Here are just a few of our favourites:

The Shell Game – Grab 3 cups or bowls. Place your dog in a sit/stay, put a few treats under one cup and shuffle them around. Tell your dog to “find it”. If they choose the right cup, reward them with the treats.

Buried Treasure – This is one of the simplest games we play, but one of Kolchak’s favourites. Take a couple fleece blankets and layer them into a heap, randomly tossing treats in the nooks and folds. Let your dog root through the pile like a pig to find the snacks.

Kolchak, begging me to "refill" his blankies with kibbles and treats.

Kolchak, begging me to “refill” his blankies with kibbles and treats.

Treat Toys – There are a tons of great treat dispensing toys and puzzles on the market or you can make your own treat dispensing toys. We use these all the time – especially the muffin tin game. It’s a Felix favourite.

Treasure Hunt – Place your dog in a sit/stay in a spot they can’t see you (or in their kennel if their stay is unreliable). Create a trail throughout the house, dropping treats at regular intervals for them to follow. You want them to be close enough together that they stay interested, but far enough apart that they have to work a little to find them all. Bonus points if the trail leads to a food puzzle.

Koly is happy to pose for ridiculous blog photos, as long as I have a handful of kibble.

Koly is happy to pose for ridiculous blog photos, as long as I have a handful of kibble.

Training – Kolchak loves learning new tricks. He’s like a sponge, soaking up new behaviours. Whether were practicing old favourites with dog training games like “Can You Do It Now?” or learning new tricks, Kolchak loves working hard – and earning noms.

There was just one problem with the fun and games though: they all relied on treats.

Most nutritionists recommend that treats be no more than 10% of your dog’s daily calorie intake. Just 10%! That’s not very much and truth be told, most days my dogs got too much. That’s why a lot of the time when we work on training or when we’re playing games, I will use grain free, high quality kibble in place of treats. It’s nutritionally balanced, ensuring that even when they get a few too many treats, it doesn’t upset the balance in their diet.

Using high quality kibble as a treat can be really effective.

Even if your dog is already kibble fed, using a new flavour or a higher quality kibble as treats can entice many dogs. Koly will work awfully hard for just a few pieces. I am really fussy about the kibble I use though. I don’t want to sacrifice quality for convenience. My ideal “treat” kibble has to be grain free, all natural, made in the USA and made with good, high quality proteins.

Wild Calling! Pet FoodWe’ve been using Wild Calling! 96% meat, poultry or fish canned dog food for a long time. In fact, it’s the canned food we used to create many of our canned food dog treat recipes. (We’ve got a new one coming up for you soon.) I like the family run brand and their old fashioned ideals. They use high quality ingredients, like hormone and antibiotic free meat, poultry and fish. Like me, they believe in feeding grain free and in the value of real foods. Their foods are formulated to be used rotationally, changing flavours all the time. I’m a huge fan of rotational diets, as I have shared in the past.

They call their philosophy “the Art of Nutrition” which sounds very fancy, but is actually really simple: they make meat-rich dog food made from quality ingredients and zero grain all based on foods found naturally in the wild.

Since it’s a brand we know, trust and regularly use in our home, we were really interested to learn that Wild Calling! doesn’t just make quality canned dog food, they also make kibble – a pretty great kibble, from the looks of it. Unlike a lot of grain free kibble on the market, which uses white potato, Wild Calling! kibble is made with GlycoEdge, a specially designed mix of tapioca, sweet potatoes and lentils, to provide a low glycemic diet. (Why is this important? Kibble is traditionally a high carb, high glycemic food. When your dog eats it, their blood sugar spikes rapidly, signalling the pancreas to make insulin, which drops the blood sugar again. When your pet eats a low glycemic food, it creates a lower blood sugar increase, but that increase is sustained over more time, for more consistent energy and less strain on the pancreas. Fe’s pancreas needs all the help it can get, you guys. Insert the “the more you know” rainbow here.)

We haven’t tried the Wild Calling! kibble yet, but we’re excited to. If it’s half as good as their canned food, I know my dogs will love it. Do you want to try it too? Head over to the Wild Calling! store locator to find out where you’re closest store is.

Wild Calling! prides themselves on being a good neighbour and says they’re available to chat with pet owners “anytime, anywhere”. Get to know them on social media:

Facebook              Twitter                Pinterest

Let’s meet back here in a few weeks to chat about what I’ve learned about the Wild Calling! kibble and most importantly, what the dogs think of it.

Do you ever use kibble as a “treat”? What other ways can we “go wild” and think outside the bowl?

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Filed Under: DIY Dog Training, Other "Stuff", Tips From the Dog House

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Miley's Daily Scoop

    12 February, 2015 at 5:42 AM

    Mom gives us kibble as treats all the time! Great games, one of our favorites is buried treasure!

    Reply
    • Kolchak

      12 February, 2015 at 9:59 PM

      Your Mom sounds super smart ;0) Buried treasure is a lot of fun and it’s great for when I’m feeling super lazy. LOL

      Reply
  2. Lara Elizabeth

    12 February, 2015 at 7:53 AM

    Great angle with this! The Ginger Sisters love their kibble, and Ruby does trick training for her dinner most evenings while Boca works hers out of a Slo-Bowl and a puzzle toy.

    Reply
    • Lara Elizabeth

      12 February, 2015 at 7:54 AM

      (Wild Calling kibble, I meant, which we use as part of their regular rotation)

      Reply
      • Kolchak

        12 February, 2015 at 10:00 PM

        It’s so good to hear from someone who is actually using the Wild Calling! kibble. I’m definitely looking forward to trying it at our house.

        I’m not at all surprised to Ruby does training for her kibble. That girl is a firecracker 🙂

        Reply
  3. Emma

    12 February, 2015 at 10:16 AM

    As puppies Mom used half our daily food for rewards during training. Puppies don’t seem to understand treats and food are different, so it worked well.

    Reply
    • Kolchak

      12 February, 2015 at 10:01 PM

      They really don’t, LOL and neither does Kolchak! It’s definitely one of the benefits to having a real food hound!

      Reply
  4. Foley Monster, Pocket and River

    12 February, 2015 at 7:00 PM

    Sometimes Mommy puts kibble in a muffin tray and then she puts tennis balls over the kibble and we have to remove the balls to get the kibble. Sometimes we deflate the balls

    Reply
    • Kolchak

      12 February, 2015 at 10:02 PM

      That is so much fun! It’s one of Felix’s favourite games (which is funny because he has no use for balls outside of that game!) YOU CAN DEFLATE A TENNIS BALL. Whoa, you girls are hard core. 😉

      Reply
  5. M. K. Clinton

    12 February, 2015 at 10:27 PM

    I try to use kibble for treats, but Bentley just gets miffed! BOL!!

    Reply
  6. Cathy Armato

    13 February, 2015 at 7:47 AM

    We play the shell game too! High quality kibble is a good reward to use during training; it’s healthy and has fewer calories. Good post!

    Reply
  7. Kendall | Lucky Dog

    13 February, 2015 at 7:56 AM

    Good tips! I use the blanket one when I am away at work, I hide them throughout the house and in the folds of the blanket so he has a bit to do while I’m away.

    Also, I love that moustache!

    Reply
  8. Jen Gabbard

    13 February, 2015 at 8:29 AM

    I’ve been so impressed with my dog’s ability to play the shell game. After watching so many videos on it I finally decided to try it out a few months ago and I’m happy to say she loves it. Thinking outside the bowl is a great way to help us keep our dogs happy and entertained; walks are great but one walk a day isn’t always enough to keep our dogs really happy.

    Reply
  9. Jessica Shipman | Beagles and Bargains

    13 February, 2015 at 11:37 AM

    Luna is fed kibble for meals, but she eats so darn quick that I have to keep finding new ways to slow her down. We have a variety of puzzles and food dispensers which work well. We also play a bit of hide and seek.

    Reply
  10. Robin

    13 February, 2015 at 12:45 PM

    This sounds like a great food brand! Nutrition is so important. I love the games that you play with your dogs 🙂

    Reply
  11. Dogvills

    13 February, 2015 at 1:56 PM

    My dog loves treat toys. They work well with him

    Reply
  12. Fur Everywhere

    15 February, 2015 at 3:11 AM

    I think it’s a really great idea to use kibble instead of treats as rewards and as part of games!

    Reply
  13. Bethany

    17 February, 2015 at 10:29 PM

    My introduction to Wild Calling! was in using the kibble for training and game treats. I always use samples I collect for treats but I do keep close watch on what the dogs like that has ingredients I approve of since raw is just too much to deal with when traveling. I have not yet tried the Wild Calling! canned food and am excited to see what the dogs think of it (spoiler alert: the cat has tried Wild Calling! canned food and LOVES is.)

    Reply
  14. Carol Bryant

    20 February, 2015 at 3:11 PM

    Love this post and so creative, especially with the cold weather and being cooped up!

    Reply
  15. JeanneP of bichonpawz

    22 March, 2015 at 10:15 PM

    Awesome post! I love all of Koly’s facial expressions!! We use the Wild Calling kibble in the girls’ puzzles and in hide and week games! They just love it!!

    Reply

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Jodi Chick is a lifestyle blogger from Vancouver, BC (That’s in Canada, eh?) who believes anyone can have a pet-friendly home that doesn’t feel like it’s gone to the dogs. When she’s not arguing with her sassy puggle, she can be found in the kitchen, the craft room or on the couch, binging on Netflix and putting stickers in her many day planners.

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