WHY?
• It slows down feeding for dogs that guzzle their meals.
• As a low arousal activity it can calm highly strung or stressed dogs.
• It engages your dog’s brain and helps teach them to focus for longer periods of time.
• It engages their sense of smell. They will have to rely on their nose to sniff out a piece of kibble in the lawn.
• It is relaxing for dogs. Sniffing actually lowers the heart rate.
• Scatter feeding engages the brain and provides mental stimulation.
• Scatter feeding is a great garden activity to give your dog while you are cooking, and should keep them from following you around the kitchen!
• Scatter feed during family mealtimes to stop your dog learning to sit by chairs and begging for scraps.
• While on a walk! If play becomes too boisterous, you have a ball obsessed dog (please don’t throw or fling a ball for a dog – I have a leaflet about that if you need a copy) or you just want to reduce the energy levels a little- scatter a few small pieces of something tasty into long grass and watch your dog’s attention divert quickly away from the activity you don’t want and into sniffing.
Puzzle Toys that allow a dog to work at getting their kibble is also good for all of the above reasons.