Stimulates Dogs and Keeps Them Busy
In his brand new book, Mon chien est heureux (my dog is happy), vet and canine behaviouralist Joel Dehasse explains that dogs are genetically programmed to have a specific job and inactivity leads to behavioural issues and psychosomatic disorders. Dogs need an average 6 hours of activity each day, but this may vary from 3 to 10 hours depending on the breed and the individual energy level within the breed. Dogs need different types of activities: feeding, hunting, social, vocal, locomotor, chewing, playing, intellectual, etc.
If the animal is not able to meet these different needs, he could develop one or several behavioural problems. It is important to give your animal the opportunity to perform various activities each day. If your pet spends an hour a day barking or gnawing on the table legs, he is probably lacking stimulation. If you provide a variety of structured activities, it is very likely that the undesirable behaviour will diminish. If your animal spends 30 minutes to an hour a day eating instead of wolfing his food down in 5 minutes, he will have met a large part of his daily activity needs and will be less likely to destroy the couch or dig holes in your backyard. Is your dog happy?
A System that Meets Your Pet's Needs
Making mealtime an intellectual activity is very positive and stimulating for your pet since he will need to use his senses to hunt for his meal and is rewarded when he succeeds.
Educational Games
The Aikiou bowl can also be used for educational and interactive games both pet and owner can enjoy. Simply hide food rewards in the compartments and encourage your pet to find them.