Your pet dog will eat big if you eat big portions yourself. Research published in the journal ‘Animal Cognition’ shows that an owner’s food preferences and portion sizes can influence the food choices that their dog makes. In one study, a group of 50 dogs was tested for food quantity and showed a significant preference for larger quantities of food. However, when the owner of the dog showed a preference for a smaller quantity of food before allowing the dog to choose, dogs began to choose a smaller quantity of food more frequently. In addition, when the dogs were presented with two bowls containing identical quantities of food, and the owner showed an interest in one of the bowls, their dogs chose the preferred bowl 82% of the time.
