Pet parents think of many creative ways to help their furry ones eat their meals slowly. If your furry one eats his or her meal quickly and if you want to help them slow down then a pet food puzzle is the best way to do that.
Canines eating their food fast might lead to them getting choked, vomiting, indigestion and many more effects such as these. Apart from helping your pooch slow down his or her eating process, a food puzzle will also help in providing exercise to your canine’s mind and body.
Instead of finding perfect food puzzles in the market you can take up this DIY project and make a perfect food puzzle for your pooch. Here are some simple things that most of us use in our daily lives that can be turned into amazing food puzzles:
Plastic pipes-
This food puzzle is perfect for extra active canines. To make this puzzle, you need to take a plastic pipe which is around 12 inches and drill few holes into it. Ensure that the holes are large enough for the dry dog food to easily come out. Close both the ends and your puzzle is ready to be used. Your pooch has to nose around to get the food that is put inside the pipe.
Old Tennis Ball-
You can turn those old tennis balls into a great food puzzle for your furry one. You need to take the ball and cut an “X” onto the ball. You can also cut along the seam to create a flap. Now, add some dry dog food into the ball and let your canine try getting the food. However, you must ensure that the size of the ball is big enough so that he or she won’t swallow it.
Towels and Blankets-
This is the simplest form of a food puzzle. All you have to do is spread some dry dog food on the floor and place a towel or a blanket above it. Your canine has to sniff and find all the pieces kept under the towel or a blanket.
Boxes-
There are some canines who love shredding cardboard boxes. You can take a cardboard box and add some dry dog food into it and let your canine shred the cardboard box to reach the food kept inside it. To make the task more difficult, you can put the food box into another box and place those two boxes into another box. However, you must ensure that the boxes used are toxic-free and do not have any toxic paints on them.
It is advisable to take up this puzzle only if you’re sure about your canine not consuming pieces of cardboard. You must also ensure to supervise your dog while he or she takes up such food puzzle activity.