This is an article all about Kong Food Time Release by Colin Tennant MA for the Canine and Feline Behaviour Association. Click here to go to the online version at the CFBACreating win win situations.
Top dog behaviourist Colin Tennant explains how combining a clever feeding system with commonsense training equals speedy, no-stress solutions to problem behaviours.
Dogs have been man’s companions and allies for hundreds of years, but we don’t always understand their natural dog behaviours. We often forget that they are still wild animals at heart and that although domestication moderates wild instinct, it doesn’t completely extinguish it.
No dog is evolutionally and instinctively designed for living with humans in their complex environment, so when they do many problems can and do occur. My life’s work is dedicated to discovering ways to solve common dog problems with our best friends.
Imbalanced Relationships.
Being pack animals, dogs and people enjoy each others’ company, but dogs sometimes become more inextricably linked into our lives than we may realise, leading to over dependency on us.
Based on years of experience, it’s my opinion that some dogs (and also certain breeds) are predisposed to becoming over-reliant on human company, and this intensity often causes serious behaviour issues that begin to ruin the bond we have formed in the first place.
Conversely, some human characters are also predisposed to forming the same overly close relationships with dogs. Such a relationship imbalance unwittingly causes a common problem such as separation anxiety (SA). This is when a dog becomes severely anxious when left alone.
I have never encountered SA problems, however, in dogs that have been taught to accept time alone as puppies as a normal part of the daily routine.
Secret Weapons
Back in the 1980s, I was already successfully using wet food in behaviour solution techniques, as I’d found that nearly all the dogs that were indifferent to dry food during training were highly motivated by it. Then I hit on the idea of feeding a home-made mixture of chicken and sticky, cooked rice stuffed into a Dental Kong, and discovered that this combination had extremely good results. When natural Naturediet food was introduced in 1997, for convenience I started using this in the Kongs instead of my home-made version.
To overcome separation anxiety, and many other behavioural problems, I use my (Dental) Kong Food Time Release (KFTR) retraining programme combined with natural food. This, implemented with an appropriate human-dog relationship and common sense training, has helped thousands of dog owners solve their dogs’ behaviour problems.
My dog behaviour centre developed the first KFTR psychological food/behaviour reform systems for our clients’ dogs over25 years ago, eventually extending them into other behaviours such as aggression o people, uncontrollable exuberance when guests arrive, hyperactivity and a lack of response to commands.
My fellow practitioners and I went on to develop the indoor restriction programme: instead of removing dogs from rooms – or being placed in pens –when being a severe nuisance, these difficult-to-manage dogs could stay in situ with people.
We got rid of the pen and provided restriction without bars within the home by using a powerful reward and new conditioning to train dogs to stay, contentedly, in one spot. This simple, but effective, system resulted in calm owners and dogs, with harmony and peace replacing conflict, chaos and stress in the home.
In addition to SA, we have used the KFTR to overcome car travel aversion, nuisance barking and to successfully introduce new babies into a household, among many other issues.
Multi-Use Programme.
So what is the psychology and training behind this KFTR method, and why has it been so successful worldwide? First we have to examine the cause and effect of dog behaviour problems, and I will use SA as an example. The issue is in the name, in that the dog does not like being separated from his owner or being home alone for a reasonable period of time. However, I once had a client with a dog that was left in a car for 10 minutes while the owner, a mere 50 yards away, was chatting to me and other trainers. When the owner returned to the vehicle, his German Shepherd Dog had destroyed its interior due to frustration and anxiety at being parted from his master. This highlights that SA and stress can be exhibited in different places and not just the home.
How KFTR Works.
The KFTR food incentive works on a time-release system by offering a highly prized rewarding alternative to undesirable behaviours, even in your absence – which is particularly helpful in cases of separation anxiety.
What we discovered is that by changing the dogs’ commercial food to a ‘real’ food like Naturediet, or a home-made version of chicken and cooked rice that binds together in a lump, which could be fed in a ‘time-release’ way, it made the crucial difference between success and failure in retraining behaviours.
I am not describing an entire psychological programme here, but one part of the SA retraining programme is keeping the dog’s appetite keen and providing him with two or three Dental Kongs packed tightly with his daily ration of Naturediet or equivalent.
The dog is only fed when he is left alone for very short periods, even when we are still in the house, so that he focuses on the powerful food reward and not the isolation. All of the dog’s food is fed in this way, for as long as it takes to cure his SA.
The first three weeks are critical and time left alone can be increased from just a few minutes to longer periods. Of course a dog, except on rare occasions, should not be left alone for more than four hours a day as a guide.
The dog’s mind is now reprogrammed to associate periods alone with tasty food that takes a long time to extricate from the inner hollow of the Dental Kong. This equals a reward over a long period of time. It has worked, in combination with the rest of the KFTR programme (as described in my book Breaking Bad Habits in Dogs), in 90 per cent of cases I have dealt with.
Hooked on Success.
In my Intelligent Leadership Programme (ILP) for all Breeds DVD I demonstrate how to retrain a dog that is disobedient when visitors come to the door. It shows just what to do when you find it difficult to control your dog as he barges about and leaps on visitors, or becomes tricky to manage in other similar situations, thereby creating acute stress levels in the family. Over 10,000 dogs have been retrained on this programme so the ideas are not theoretical but trusted practical methods that work.
The Dental Kong is, again, an integral part of this solution, whereby I implement the Hook Restriction Programme (HRP) by simply securing a hook into a skirting board with a lead permanently attached to it. Pre-stuffed Dental Kongs are to hand in the fridge.
When the doorbell rings– which triggers your dog’s effusive and often unwelcome wild behaviour – we re-educate him to behave calmly and obediently by giving him a Kong and attaching him to the lead on the hook before opening the door. The dog now has a long-release reward to keep him occupied while your guest enters unmolested. You can also use this ‘separation’ method when children who are wary of dogs visit.
HRP Results.
Some dogs bark initially when the HRP is used, but most quickly readjust and settle down to a long exploration feast of tasty real meat.
We have also discovered, from over 3,000 post consultation talks with clients, that upon hearing the doorbell ring over half the dogs run to the fridge, not the door, and then the hook area and do not have to be attached to the hook lead after a few months of training. The HRP doesn’t remove the need for regular training, but from a practical point of view it is quicker and shows results in days when you need to solve a troublesome situation fast.
Travel Trouble.
KFTR principles apply to teaching dogs of all ages to become less travel phobic, to prevent them from chewing car interiors, and to happily stay in one area of the car. Stuffed with food, the Dental Kong is placed in the car on every journey until the dog’s perception of the car changes from fear to enjoyment.
Stopping Aggression.
The HRP combined with the KFTR can also be successfully used with dogs that are aggressive to visitors, although it is vital that you also seek expert advice on dealing with aggression problems.
Whether the aggression is based on dominance, territory, fear or a particular trigger, with precision timing and the correct retraining method used, changes for the better rapidly take place in the dog’s behaviour. This is especially the case, for example, when a visitor to the house, immediately on arrival, hands or rolls a stuffed Kong towards the dog, who is attached to the hook by his lead.
New Baby Now How.
Introducing a new baby to the home can be a real source of worry to dog owners – and the number of frantic requests I get for help with introductions confirms this!
This is where the KFTR programme, plus food treats too, works really well. Primarily we want the dog to quickly realise that when the baby is about, he gets a Dental Kong containing part of his daily food allowance.
The food-filled Kong prevents the dog from getting over curious about the baby and ignites a reward association with the baby’s presence. It also stops nervous parents saying “NO!” all the time as the dog gets too excited, or is over boisterous near the precious family addition.
Primed for Success.
KFTR has proved to be an international success when combined with a behaviour programme, and has helped thousands of dogs retrain without conflict. In addition, it has prevented many dogs from being rehomed or destroyed and many more from suffering separation problems.
What the Kong Food Time Release programme is not is a tit-bit scheme in any form! The key successful components are the Dental Kong and Naturediet food (or equivalent) that is difficult, yet achievable with patience and perseverance, to extract from the Kong’s hollow cylinder.
By using this time-release reward system to engage the dog’s natural food-scavenging instinct, which becomes self rewarding, and simultaneously implementing correct training, you can redirect your dog’s mind to what you want him to do, thus creating a win-win situation!
The Hook Restriction Programme, importantly, prevents the dog being isolated in the garden or other room when people visit or he’s being otherwise disruptive.
Replacing your dog’s bowl with a Dental Kong in which to feed him his daily ration is a great way of using a time-release self-reward system to train desirable behaviours.
If you don’t like touching sticky dog food, wear plastic or latex gloves to stuff a Dental Kong with Naturediet or an equivalent.
Only the hollow Large (around £12) and Extra Large (around £15) sizes of Dental Kong are suitable for food time-release training.
Tethering your dog to a lead on a hook to restrain him from mobbing visitors, and distracting him with a stuffed Dental Kong, is a great way of retraining ‘meet and greet’ without stress.
It is crucial to use a Dental Kong rather than a conical shaped Kong to implement long time-release feeding. This is because it is robust enough to withstand chewing, and is designed so the dog can extract wet food from it.
Kong Food Time Release by Colin Tennant MA – Cwnsaethu Gundog Training
