Managing your guide dog’s diet and weight
Whether you’re an experienced guide dog owner or waiting to be partnered with your first guide dog, it’s always important to learn about the best practices for managing your guide dog’s nutrition and weight.
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What’s a healthy diet for a guide dog?
Every guide dog is different, and the right amount of food for one dog might be too much or too little for another. This can be down to several factors, such how much exercise they do or how often they work, or how much they enjoy playing at home.
When you’re partnered with your new guide dog, they’ll already be on a diet that’s right for them and their age. Usually, the food we recommend for your guide dog is from Royal Canin – they offer ‘complete’ diets which means their food includes all the nutrients your dog needs.
Regular feeding and food rewards
Your dog should be eating throughout the day, but how often and how much will depend on their age and their breed.
Advice for everyday feeding
Our experts will advise you on how much to feed your guide dog. You should weigh out your dog’s food allowance for the day and divide this into their meals, leaving some aside to be used as food rewards. For example, if they have two meals a day, you could divide their daily food allowance into three – leaving one portion for positive reinforcement or training rewards. This way, you’ll know that you’re not overfeeding or underfeeding them.
We recommend our guide dog owners use a set of talking scales to help weigh out your dog’s daily food allowance. The scales will announce the weight on them and the unit of measurement.