Whether you own a cat or a dog, I’m sure you know that look of joy that immediately captures your furry friend’s eyes at meal times. For dog owners, that tail-wagging anticipation, the hopeful pre-meal glances, and the satisfied licks post-meal are heartwarming to watch. 

Although you may argue that good quality food is enough to satisfy your pet, what can you do to take this experience to the next level?

We’ve truly scratched our heads to come up with three original ways of improving your pet’s dinner time. We’ve skipped the traditional advice of improving the food or trying raw, etc. Instead, here are three more original ways to spoil your dog at meal times:

Introduce Gourmet Food Toppers:
Food toppers are a brilliant way to enhance the flavor, texture, and nutrition of your dog's meal. They come in various forms such as probiotic powders, protein packed toppers or shredded meats, fish or other freeze-dried fruit and vegetables. Think of food toppers as the equivalent to us humans adding flax seeds, berries, cinnamon etc. to our porridge or overnight oats. Their main role is to make the food more tasty. As a secondary role of course, they can also greatly enhance the nutritional content and be beneficial to our health.

These natural dog food toppers from Fetched for example come in different flavors and provide a range of benefits. From dog calming powders to probiotics and collagen, they provide supplements and superfoods that can be easily added to your dog’s food. 

Other established dog food companies such as Nestle also provide their own food toppings.

In addition, some of their formulations even combine powdered probiotics to the dry kibble you can buy off the shelves already. This means you don’t need to add any food toppers to it as the nutritional benefits are already enhanced. Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from adding more or even a different kind of food topper.

Powder supplements are in my opinion the best ones to go for. The premium quality ones won’t contain any bulking or filler agents that may be found in tablets, capsules or treats.

You are also less likely to forget your dog’s supplements if you give them at the same time as their meal.

Serve Meals in Interactive Toys:
Instead of the usual bowl, why not make meal times a fun and engaging activity? There are various interactive food toys available in the market designed to stimulate your dog's mind and prolong meal times. This not only keeps them entertained but can also be beneficial for fast eaters, helping to slow them down and improve digestion. 

Toys like the Kong Wobbler or puzzle feeders are great options to consider. Simply fill them up with Katherine Heigl's Superfood Complete (if that is what your dog consumes), and watch them have a ball trying to get their meal out!

This act of engaging your dog with a puzzle at meal times may also improve the cognition. It may even stave off the dreaded ‘dog dementia’, also known as cognitive dysfunction syndrome.

Rotate Flavors and Textures:
Just like humans, dogs can get bored with the same meals day in and day out. Spoil your dog at meal times by introducing them to a variety of flavors and textures. This could mean occasionally swapping out their regular chicken kibble for a salmon or beef variant, or introducing wet food once in a while to give them a change in texture. Maybe even combining the two!

Or…

Yes, you got it! We’re going back to our first suggestion, which was to add a food topper for a change of taste. But what flavors do dogs prefer the most?

The American Kennel Club found that dogs most prefer beef and pork over chicken or lamb. Of course, they still have personal preferences but overall that seems to kind of make sense.

Remember to always transition slowly when introducing new foods to avoid upsetting their stomachs. If you do decide to experiment with new foods, make sure they are safe for your dog to eat. Foods such as chocolate, raisins, onions, garlic and even avocados are a ‘no no’ for dogs. While you may think that you’re doing your dog a favour by giving them chocolate, this can actually cause them more harm.

In conclusion, while our dogs are bound to love us regardless of what we feed them, taking that extra step to spoil them at meal times can lead to happier, healthier, and more contented pups. By combining a sense of puzzle and adventure, they may even be more entertained and improve their cognition. After all, good food is one of life's simplest pleasures, and our furry friends deserve nothing but the best!