Are Puzzle Feeders Unhealthy or Cruel to Give to Dogs?

Puzzle feeders are widely recommended as both a toy and treat combination, and a way to help certain dogs that like to eat too fast. By forcing your dog to solve a puzzle, even a simple one, before eating, it helps engage their brain and slow down their eating.

But are they truly all good? I heard a story from a customer recently that made me question that assumption.

That customer was telling me about their experience with a puzzle feeder. They had a dog that ate very, very quickly. We've all been there, right? These little furry vacuum cleaners suck up the food with barely a chance to swallow, let alone chew. Since eating too fast can cause everything from minor tummy issues up to the potentially deadly bloat, it's something they wanted to address.

So, they got a puzzle feeder! It worked… for a while.

Over time, though, they noticed that their pup was starting to avoid the feeder. At first, she was just hesitant to eat, but over time, she avoided it entirely and was starting to just not eat.

So, they switched back from the puzzle feeder to a normal food bowl, and their pup started eating normally. That's a good thing, because it means all of those nasty illnesses that come with lack of appetite weren't relevant.

Their conclusion is something I've been thinking about a lot. Maybe the puzzle feeder served as a kind of training, to slow their dog down and learn to eat at a more normal pace.

But if a dog is avoiding the puzzle feeder, it definitely seems like it would be unhealthy or even cruel to keep using it!

Is this really the case, or was this particular customer's dog a special one? I haven't been able to find a lot of actual veterinary studies on this issue, but given that a lot of vets recommend switching to a puzzle feeder, it can't be very widespread.

So, I wanted to dig deep into the pros and cons of puzzle feeders, and give my recommendations for what you should do in various situations. Come along with me on this journey, and let's learn about puzzle feeders together.

The Marketed and Real Benefits of Puzzle Feeders

First, it's pretty important to recognize that there are a handful of real benefits to puzzle feeders, but there are also a lot of benefits that the companies selling puzzle feeders tell you about that aren't really… well, real.

For one thing, studies have shown that dogs have more engagement, focus, and positive emotions when they have to solve a challenge for food, rather than just having it handed to them. It makes mealtimes feel like the result of a successful hunt, rather than being part of the pack that is being cared for. Vets actually call this contrafreeloading, which means the opposite of freeloading.

The thing is, those studies might be wrong. Or, rather, not entirely wrong, but limited. A more recent study into contrafreeloading found that dogs are willing to participate in contrafreeloading feeding (that is, things like puzzle feeders), but they don't necessarily prefer it.

It turns out this is actually pretty complex. Dogs that have had inconsistent lives before now might prefer contrafreeloading, because it allows them to gather information about the food and spend time that helps them determine whether or not it's safe to eat. Dogs that haven't faced food insecurity or safety concerns in the past don't particularly feel that need.

This is the kind of fascinating behavioral information you learn when you really study dogs, rather than just make assumptions based on a limited number of dogs or even non-dog behavior.

Overall, puzzle feeders have three main benefits for most dogs.

• They slow down eating, which helps reduce the chances of vomiting or having an upset stomach, as well as lowering the risk of bloat, choking, and other problems. It's a safety issue for dogs that eat too fast.

• They add some mental stimulation to mealtimes. It's more engaging to have to think about how to access food, even if it's as simple as finding the right angle to lick or the right boxes to overturn to find food. This burns energy and can calm an overactive dog.

• They can help with weight management. Dogs that eat too fast don't give their bodies time to generate satiety signals, while dogs that eat slower can eat a more moderated amount. They also burn calories while solving the puzzles (cognition is expensive!), so they can stay slightly more fit.

That is, basically, it.

On the other hand, I've seen a bunch of other "benefits" that don't really play out.

For example, one puzzle feeder company says that using a puzzle feeder "reduces destructive behaviors" because they posit that destructive behaviors come from boredom, and a puzzle feeder solves boredom.

At the same time, I've known several dogs that choose to "solve" a puzzle feeder by picking it up and dropping it repeatedly, or shaking it, or banging it against a table leg or wall. They use destruction as a solution, so the puzzle feeder encourages that behavior by rewarding them for it.

All of this is why you need to be skeptical about marketing, you know?

Some of this also comes down to breed characteristics. Some dogs hunt truffles, while others hide from the wind. Some are very active and attentive, and way too clever for their own good. Others would lose a battle of wits to a doorknob.

When Puzzle Feeders Are Bad for Your Dog

Puzzle feeders can be a great option for some dogs, but they aren't ideal for every dog. In fact, if you've tried them before, you might have experienced this firsthand!

Some dogs get frustrated or give up easily. I've known a few dogs in my time that seem to give up at the slightest inconvenience. A friend of mine has a Samoyed, and that pup got out and got herself lost one day. They found her a few hours later "trapped" in a bush, because one single branch had caught in her fur and she had just laid down and given up. Zero problem solving, zero effort, zero resistance. A dog with this kind of personality is going to be faced with a puzzle feeder and decide they just don't get food now.

Some dogs get very defensive over their food. With a normal food bowl, they'll guard it and eat quickly. With a puzzle feeder, they'll guard it aggressively, but since it takes a long time to eat, it becomes a lot more of a problem.

Some dogs are already very stressed. Having anxiety or a lot of fear, and adding the stress of having to work for food, can just be an even more stressful experience for a dog. It can be unhealthy in that sense.

Some dogs have injuries or mobility issues. A dog recovering from a surgery, a dog with joint pain, an elderly dog with mobility problems; these are all cases where a puzzle feeder can be more than just an obstruction. If it becomes a real barrier to eating and causes pain to use, it's definitely some flavor of inhumane, right?

Some dogs chew apart everything. A puzzle feeder just incentivizes destruction by rewarding them when they chew it apart. Some puzzle feeders, like those real hard rubber licking toys, can be a good choice, but most are made of flimsy plastic or even cardboard, and that is no barrier at all.

If you have a dog that fits into one or more of these categories, it's probably a good idea to avoid puzzle feeders and work on another way to handle whatever meal-based problems you're encountering.

Should Puzzle Feeders be a Sometimes Tool?

A "sometimes tool" is a tool you don't use all the time, but use some of the time. Maybe you pull out the puzzle feeder for one meal a day, or maybe you pull it out for higher-value foods that you know your dog would absolutely scarf up.

I've seen a lot of people, vets included, recommend using puzzle feeders full-time. And for some dogs, that's fine!

But if you're like the customer in the intro, it's clearly not beneficial. You don't want to stress out or starve your pup just because a vet recommended a puzzle feeder.

Fortunately, I bet that if you go back to that vet and say "hey, I switched a puzzle feeder and my dog stopped eating", you'd get a bit of backpedaling.

Why do some dogs stop using a puzzle feeder?

What might cause a dog to stop eating out of a puzzle feeder? I've found a handful of possibilities.

The feeder is too easy or too hard. If the feeder is too easy, it doesn't pose a challenge, so it's really nothing more than an obstacle. If it's too hard, many dogs will eventually give up, though some will stop earlier than others.

They get bored of the same old feeder. Part of why a puzzle feeder is attractive is that it's new and interesting. Once your dog gets used to it, they'll get bored of it, and it won't be compelling to use. This is especially true of mental challenges that, once solved, are easy to repeat. Once your dog knows the pattern, it's no longer interesting.

There's something up with the feeder. This one isn't talked about as much, but I've run into it personally a couple of times. If you don't clean your feeder, it can start to smell funky. This is doubly true if a bit of food gets stuck and rots. Always make sure to clean the feeder properly!

Re-Engage or Replace: What to Do with an Abandoned Puzzle Feeder

If your dog has started to avoid a puzzle feeder, you have to decide what you want to do about it. Basically, there are two options.

The first is to re-engage. Sometimes, this means changing up the configuration of the puzzle feeder if the feeder you got is modular and capable of being rearranged. A lot aren't; things like licking mats and snuffle mats are one-type tools, for example.

If you can't change the configuration of the puzzle feeder, you can replace it. Get a different kind of puzzle feeder and see if the change helps.

Important: if you get a new, different kind of puzzle feeder and your dog still doesn't engage with it, there might be something else going on. Lack of appetite is frequently a sign of illness and stress, so it might warrant a call to your vet.

The second option is to just stop using the puzzle feeder.

As the story from my customer in the opening indicates, sometimes the puzzle feeder serves as training. The dog learns that they don't have to eat so quickly, and when you remove the puzzle feeder, they retain that lesson and eat at a more reasonable pace.

What if your dog goes back to eating too fast? Then you have to explore another solution. There are slow feeder bowls that put obstacles in the way of taking big bites, but don't require full-on puzzle solving, which can be a good choice. You can use a larger cookie sheet instead of a dog food bowl so the food is spread out and harder to eat all at once. You can even switch to multiple small snacks in a day rather than a few larger meals.

And, obviously, if your dog has any symptoms of illness, talk to your vet right away. Sometimes shying away from meals isn't related to the feeder at all!

Are Puzzle Feeders Unhealthy or Cruel?

To tie things back to the beginning, let's revisit the original question: are puzzle feeders cruel or unhealthy for a dog?

99% of the time, no. They're just fine.

What's unhealthy or cruel is forcing a dog to use a puzzle feeder when they clearly don't like it or refuse to engage in it. If "using a puzzle feeder" amounts to "starving your dog," then yes, it's cruel… but that's more your choice than the feeder itself. There's nothing inherently cruel or inhumane about using a puzzle feeder for a dog that engages with it.

Do you have any questions? Feel free to ask in the comments, or tell me your stories of how your dogs love (or hate) puzzle feeders. I'd love to hear them!