feeding out of a food dispensing toy

[Lucy & Ellie]

Lucy is 12 weeks and really seems to prefer eating her food out of anything but a bowl!  Not that she won't eat from her bowl....

But she loves it when the food is on the floor, in our hands, in a Kong... etc.

She is not a big eater... the vet says she's a little skinny.  I wondered if there was a cool toy that I could fit a whole meal into for her that you'd recommend.  And does anyone else feed out of a toy?  Is that at all normal?

[Stephanie and Ragley]

chewy.com has a category for interactive toys that has a good variety to choose from! There are at least a few different options that are for meal time that I have seen on there!

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

We have the Kong wobbler dispensing toy. I think it can hold well over 1/2 cup, maybe a cup. We originally got it to slow his eating down.

[Oliver & Elizabeth]

Try the Planet Dog Snoop and Mazee. We have both and Oliver loves them. They're both made out of soft plastic so they don't make a lot of noise while they roll around on the floor (we have hardwood so it can get really annoying). We also like the Nina Ottosson Pyramid, it's large and lots of fun for Oliver, but it's made out of hard plastic so it makes a lot of noise when rolled.

Planet Dog Snoop

Planet Dog Mazee

Nina Ottosson Pyramid

[Gail and Bailey]

Our girl Bailey hates her kibble in a bowl.  We would have to hold the bowl for her to finish eating because if the bowl moved even just a bit, she would back up and bark at it and not eat.  So we just got a carpet sample and put her kibble on it and she eats off of that with no problem.  I vacuum it regularly and when one gets yucky I just toss it.  When we give her something special like yogurt or hard boiled egg yolk we just hold the bowl because it just takes a second for her to gobble that down. 

[Lynda Kamrath]

What kind of a bowl are you using?  My goldendoodle would not touch anything made from plastic.  Bowls, wrappers, toys, really anything.  A ceramic bowl was okay, but he really preferred stainless steel.  His food bowl and water bowl were made a stainless steel and I would just put them into the dishwasher every couple of days to keep them clean.  You might try a different type of bowl.

[Lucy & Ellie]

Thanks for the suggestions!

We use a stainless steel bowl.  She really will eat out of it, but clearly does not prefer it.  I'll get one or two dispensing toys :)

[Brittney & Cally]

I recently wrote a review on a interactive bowl that I found to slow my dog down when eating but your dog may like it since it is kind of a maze. Here is a link http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/do-you-...

[Kelly & Zoe]

We fed Zoe only out of toys until she was about 6 months old - mainly because she ate her food so fast that we wanted to slow her down.  We switched up the toys from kongs to puzzles and the like. I think feeding with toys is an excellent way to feed your dog - it engages their mind. If it's convenient for you, I'd say continue to do so and don't worry about the bowl.

In addition to kongs, we have:

This one holds an entire meal: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001JQLNB4/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_...

and

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ARUKTG/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_...