An investigation which reviewed published and internal information on the psychology of companion-animal feeding and the owner-pet interaction in relation to pet obesity found that:
•    Owners of obese dogs are likely to over-humanise their animals
•    Begging behaviour in dogs is frequently re-enforced by the owner
•    39% of respondents said that they feed their dogs table scraps/leftovers or human food daily
•    70% of owners feed their dog two meals per day, 24% one meal and 1% three meals per day
•    5% of owners feed their dogs while watching TV; 20% of owners watching more than 2 hours TV per day use treats to stop bad behaviour compared to only 2.4% of owners who watch less than 2 hours per day.

Diverse factors can contribute to over-feeding: these include an owner’s lack of knowledge about nutritional requirements – especially when feeding raw or home-prepared food and not considering food given outside the main meals (such as treats) as part of the dog’s daily food intake. It is important to understand that if you are feeding your dog (or indeed cat) treats, you need to reduce the amount of food you feed at regular mealtimes accordingly.


To learn more about taking care of your dog, click here.

Provided by: