How To Feed Your Dog When You Are Not Home
To feed your dog when you are not home you either need to get another person to come to your house to do it or use a device like an automatic dog feeder. Ideally you want to use a person, either a neighbour, a good friend or some form of a dog care service as you can ensure that your dog is always getting feed the right amount. Also with a person feeding your dog, you can stay away from home for a longer period of time than if you used an automatic dog feeder.
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1. Ask Your Neighbour Or A Good Friend To Feed Your Dog
The cheapest and safest option for feeding your dog when you are not home is to ask a neighbour or a good friend to do it for you. In this way you know your dog is getting top treatment and is also eating roughly the right amount of food each day. He/she will also get human contact which is vital for the wellbeing of a dog.
If you ask someone else to come to your house to feed your dog, make sure you do introduce your dog to this person before they start dog sitting. This will make sure that your dog is comfortable with the person and won’t think it is a burglar when they turn up at your house. I’d also advise to leave out a piece of paper with the exact instructions of what and when you feed your dog to this person to ensure the best care.
As for payment, it is up to you. Your friend/neighbour might do the dog feeding job for free however it is best practice to give them something as a thanks. Lots of people like to hire neighbour kids so they can earn a little bit of pocket money while doing the job. Otherwise you could treat your friend to dinner or gift them some wine or something else along those lines. It does ultimately come down to how long your dog will need to feeding service for and who is doing it.
2. Use An Automatic Dog Feeder
Alternatively, you can use an auto dog feeder to feed your dog when you are not home however this significantly limits the amount of time you can stay away from your dog.
While an automatic pet feeder does have the capacity to feed your dog for many days on end and many meals a day, you really shouldn’t be leaving your dog all alone for more than one whole day (and that is a stretch).
Being alone all day is stressful for many dogs and can cause separation anxiety. There are also other issues such as your dog’s basic needs such as going to to toilet. While an adult dog can hold it’s bladder for over six hours on average, they really shouldn’t. So if you were to leave your dog alone for one full day, you would have to leave him/her outside or have a doggy door flap. Besides this, dogs are social animals and need the opportunity to interact with people a few times a day and also with other dogs if possible.
Therefore, an auto dog feeder is only really a good solution when you are going away for day trips and nothing longer.
If You Decide To Get An Automatic Pet Feeder These Are Some Good Options…
1. WOPET Automatic Pet Feeder Food Dispenser for Cats and Dogs–Features: Distribution Alarms, Portion Control, Voice Recorder, Programmable Timer for up to 4 Meals per Day
Find Out The Current Price On Amazon Here
2. PetSafe 5 Meal Automatic Pet Feeder, DogDry Food Dispenser, with Digital Clock and Portion Control
Find Out The Current Price On Amazon Here
3. HICTOP Automatic Pet Feeder | Timed Programmable Food Dispenser Feeder for Medium Small Pet Puppy Kitten – Portion Control Up to 4 Meals/Day
Find Out The Current Price On Amazon Here
If you use an automatic dog feeder, don’t forget to also leave out plenty of water for your dog as well. The water version of an automatic dog feeder is a dog water fountain.
Also for these products you need to train your dog to use them before going away. Otherwise a foreign machine might seem scary and stop your dog from eating and drinking.
3. Send Your Dog To A Kennel
If you are going to be away for longer than a day and you can’t find anyone to look after your dog, I suggest that you drop your dog off to a kennel for a few days. While this is not the ideal situation for everyone – they can be quite pricey – you will have the assurance that your dog will be cared for well. It is their job after all to spend their days caring for dogs!
4. Hire A Dog-Walking Service
There has been a surge in the numbers of dog walkers in recent years due to the recognition of the importance of addressing a dog’s needs. These services can be the bare minimum of a pick up and drop of dog walking service but can also have additional services such as feeding or even training dogs.
If you are going to be away for a few days and you can’t find anyone at all to look after your dog and feed him/her, I suggest that you hire a dog walking service. Not only will your dog be fed but he/she will also get the necessary social interaction daily. Just make sure that they are okay with feeding your dog after dropping him/her back home. They also might charge you a little bit more for this service than the average dog walk.
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