Feeding food to your doggy can provide optimal nutrition for healthy growth. On the contrary, misfeeding both (food content and size) also can cause serious harm to it. But there are so many dog foods, especially kibble, that come in large sizes. So you need to break them into small pieces before offering your pup.
How to break dog food into smaller pieces?
Yes, there are a lot of magical solutions to breaking dog food into smaller pieces. Using a hammer, pill cutter, food processor, rolling pin, knife, meat grinder, hand-cranked food machine, or muffin maker are some of the most popular tools among the dog owners. You can use anyone from them that you find easier.
This article will discuss 8 simple methods to break dog foods. So that you can easily follow the instructions and make your dog food smaller.
Why Should You Break Dog Food Into Smaller Pieces?
There are many reasons why you should be careful about your dog’s food size. Here we just uplift the top reasons that aren’t ignorable.
The pup, less than 3 weeks old, won’t have teeth. So if you offer large-size food, it can’t chew and swallow the food. Even its stomach isn’t ready to digest the large sized food.
The small-size dog food is comfortable to chew for small breeds like Yorkshire terrier, Maltese, Shih Tzu, (Here you can make an internal link on best detangler for shih tzu) and dachshund.
You can make your dog’s meal time enjoyable with the right size food that is convenient for its mouth.
If the little dog somehow eats large sized food, it can suffer from various food poisoning diseases. Here diarrhea is most common.
How To Break Dog Food Into Smaller Pieces
The larger the food size, the more time and energy you spend to break it. Considering all the food types and sizes, let’s look at the 8 great methods of making your dog food smaller.
Method 1: Using a kitchen knife
You can use your kitchen knife to break dog food smaller. It’s effective for chunk-size dog foods instead of kibble. However, you must be careful not to cut your finger when using the knife.
- Wear your kitchen hand gloves for safety purposes.
- Take your chopping board and hold one piece of dog food on it with your left hand.
- Cut the food chunk to your desired size with the knife and keep them aside in a bowl.
- Repeat the process to make more dog food smaller
Method 2: Using a hammer
A hammer is a shortcut technique to break the dog food into smaller pieces. But, following this method, you won’t get equal pieces of dog food.
- Put the dog food into a ziplock bag and lock its zip.
- Place it on the ground, and slowly hit the bag with the hammer to break the food.
- Now, open the bag and bring out the small pieces of food. If there are any more food chunks, repeat the process.
Method 3: Using a rolling pin
You use a rolling pin to flatten the dough to make different types of food. They are also a simple but great way to break the large-size kibble.
- After putting the kibble into the ziplock bag, place it on the roll board.
- Press the pin from its center and move it back and forth on the kibble-filled ziplock bag for 3-4 times.
- Now, open the bag and check whether the kibbles are smaller in sizes or not.
- If yes, bring them out. If not, again press the pin on the bag from its middle.
Method 4: Using a pill cutter
Yes, you can use a pill how to give a dog a pill after dental surgery cutter to serve this purpose. You can get the exact half size of the kibble with this little tool. But it’s a little bit tedious as you can break one kibble at one attempt. So it’s not appropriate for breaking large-scale dog food.
- Open the pill cutter and place one kibble exactly in the right space.
- Push the pill cutter; its sharp blade will cut the kibble in half size.
- Now, bring two smaller pieces of kibble. Again place another kibble and break it.
- Repeat the process many times until you get a good amount of smaller dog food.
Method 5: Using a hand-cranked food machine
The hand-cranked food machine is a good tool to make large-size foods smaller. You can use it to break your dog food into smaller pieces without reducing its flavor and nutrition.
- Set up your food machine and pour some dog food chunks into it.
- Rotate the machine handle with your hand until the food chunks break into half in size.
- Scoop up the food that gets smaller.
- Repeat the process if you want more dog food to break in.
Method 6: Using a food processor
If you have a food processor, that will be the fastest way to break your dog food into smaller pieces.
- Get your food processor ready to work.
- Add your dog food to the processor jug, and switch it on.
- You’ll get small pieces of dog food within a few seconds.
Method 7: Using a meat grinder
Meat is one of the dog’s favorite foods. It’s best to use a meat grinder to smaller the large pieces of meat to reward your pup.
- Set up your meat grinder with its blade based on how thick you want your meat pieces to be.
- Place the meat on the grinder hopper plate and switch on the machine.
- Push the meat into the hopper, and you’ll get your desired consistent beef.
Method 8: Using a muffin maker
Do you want to prepare home-cooked dog food for your pup with pumpkin, carrot, cabbage, peanut, and many other things? In that case, you can use the muffin maker to get small pieces of food.
- Prepare the batter with your desired vegetables.
- Preheat the maker, and fill up the muffin cake bowl with the batter.
- Bake the batter for a few minutes to cook the food.
- After cooking the food, cut them into smaller pieces with a knife and offer your dog.
What Size Of Dog Food Is Appropriate For Dogs?
You have to break dog food to feed your dog doesn’t mean you can break them any size. The best size of your dog food depends on many variables. The most common variables are your dog’s breed, age, health condition, activity level, and food habits. Let’s see some examples
- The small breeds of dogs require smaller size food than large breed dogs.
- A healthy and highly active dog requires larger size food than a weak and lethargic dog.
- The less chewer dog needs smaller food than a more chewer dog.
So you should talk to your pet vet to know the right size of food for your dog.
Some Useful Tips
- Follow the food label instructions for commercial dog food to break them so that the food’s nutritional value will be the same.
- You can break a large quantity of dog food into smaller pieces on the weekend. It’ll help you avoid your workday hassle.
- Don’t waste food when breaking them into small pieces, because waste of food means waste of money.
- Don’t offer too much food in front of your pup at a time, as it increases the chances of food waste. Instead, frequently offer the pup a small portion of food.
FAQs
What is the difference between small and medium dog food?
The first and foremost difference between small and medium dog food is its size. The small dog foods are sized considering small breed puppies. Their mouth and jaw are smaller, their chewing ability is lower, and their gastrointestinal digestive system is more sensitive than medium dogs. Contradictorily, medium and large dogs can handle larger food size than small dog food.
Is it OK for small dogs to eat large-breed food?
No, it’s not OK for small dogs to eat large-breed food. Because the dog food is made by keeping in mind the dog breed, their jaws, and digestion system. Feeding large breed food may cause poor dental health and gastrointestinal upsets for your small dogs. So it’s wise to provide your small dog with the right size food to maintain proper health.
Can a medium-sized dog eat small-breed food?
Yes, a medium size dog can eat small breed food, as they are smaller in size and a good fit to its jaw. But, if you want to provide proper nutrition and develop your dog as an active adult, it’s good to feed specific sizes of food that it requires.
Conclusion
That’s an overall discussion on how to break dog food into smaller pieces. There are no fixed sizes of dog food and hard and fast rules to make them smaller. You should follow any method based on your food types and what takes less time and energy.
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