Dog meals - meal time

Home baked goodies are the current ‘thing’ with dog owners. Look at any dog magazine and you will read an article about the merits of making your own dog food and baking your own biscuits. And while this is one way to spoil your dog, there are numerous others that are meal time related.

Fine China

“Fine food daintily served,” is one of my mother’s favorite expressions when serving a mishmash of leftovers on her attractive dinner plates. If we can have indistinguishable food made better by a good-looking plate, why can’t our dogs? Finding good china that suitable for being pushed around the floor when your dog attempts to get that last piece of kibble can be a challenge. Perusing the pet store can prove disappointing when you see how much those cute food bowls with the little bones on them cost. So where do you go? Try a thrift shop, a church bazaar or a garage sale. You’ll be pleasantly surprised with the variety of nice tableware that can be found at such venues. And talk about reasonable! Most people will sell their old china off for next to nothing, justifying your purchase of several bowls for different occasions.

Tables

Now that you have the fine china, are you really going to let your pooch eat directly off the floor? I’m not suggesting that you set a place for the dog at the dinner table. Make your dog his or her own dinner table instead. Sound crazy? It’s not really. This concept has already been introduced to the market in the form of raised bowls on metal stands. In fact, vets recommend that larger dogs and/or older dogs should be fed from an elevated position as it minimizes strain on their necks and backs. So why not go out and buy a set of raised bowls, you may ask. First off, your attractive thrift store dinner bowls will not fit. Secondly, you want to spoil your pet, remember? Well, it’s time to go back out to the yard sales or fruit market in pursuit of a table for your best friend. Foot stools that stand about eight to twelve inches off the ground work best. If you can’t find a stool that is the right shape or size, go to the fruit or liquor store and ask if they have any wooden grape crates or old wine crates. Either of these works well and, as a bonus, is terribly chic.

“Table Linens”

Whether you decided to get a table for your friend or if you are a traditionalist and want to keep the bowls on terra firma, there is no reason why the dog’s eating space shouldn’t be visually appealing. If you went the way of the table, drape a “table cloth” over the top. A cloth napkin will probably be just the right size to sufficiently cover the table top. If you’re a believer in “everything has its place”, which in this case is the floor, lay a vinyl or plastic placemat under the dog bowls. This not only makes the doggie dining room more attractive but it also minimizes the amount of food bits that land on the bare floor.