If pets had their way, they’d raid the bags containing their kibble and help themselves to an all-day feast, every day. This is hardly a desirable scenario, as it leads to obesity and digestive upset, so take care to store food where pets can’t get at it while you’re not looking.

Dogs, by the way, are not the only ones guilty of raiding bags of kibble; hungry cats have also been known to apply their claws and teeth to almost-full bags – even those heavy-duty foil models! – and help themselves to heaps of between-meal snacks.

Dog owners often leave their pets alone at home for several hours during the day while they go off to work. In some instances, a dog owner could be called out of town unexpectedly and not have someone available to check on their beloved pet. One way to make sure a pet is well fed during the day is to use a dog food feeder. The automatic dog feeders are available in several different styles and can hold enough food for several feedings. The programmable feeder allows pet owners to select the amount of food to be dispersed for a feeding as well as the scheduled time or times for the feeding.

The large capacity pet feeders can hold up to 45 cups of dry dog food to feed a dog for as long as 99 days. The number of days the feeder can provide food will depend on how often the food is dispensed. The high tech design of the automatic feeders for dogs includes built-in sensors to detect when the feeding dish is full so the system will not release more food than what it is programmed to disperse. Some of the advanced models also come with recording devices so owners can record short messages to their pets to comfort them while they are away.