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Organized Dog Cabinet

Yes, our dog, Jack, has a cabinet in our kitchen dedicated to all of his things. We’re lucky to have enough storage space in our kitchen for a doggy cabinet. Or maybe Jack is the lucky one.

We use the cabinet under our coffee station and next to the cabinets under the kitchen sink. We selected this spot because it’s convenient when it comes to feeding Jack. You see, he has never chewed his food. Never. He inhales it. So we keep a measuring up on the lip of the kitchen sink. When it’s time to feed Jack, we use the measuring cup to scoop his kibble out of the food container in the cabinet, put some water in the cup, let it set for a minute, and then put the moisturized food in Jack’s bowl with his food portion pacer. Does wetting his food make a difference in his inhalation eating technique? I don’t know. It’s just what we’ve always done.

However, I am tempted to try this product in hopes of slowing Jack’s eating speed down. Has anyone tried it or anything like it?

dog cabinet

I purchased the white shelf at Walmart to increase the storage space in the cabinet.

His travel bag (the bag we take when we go on overnight trips with Jack in tow, like to our parents’ homes) and treats are on the top shelf.

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Here’s what the bag looks like up close. It’s a reusable Tesco (any Irish readers?) bag I used to carry my groceries home from the store when I lived in Ireland.

What do we keep in Jack’s travel bag? A container with food, his doggy seatbelt harness (safety first), instructions on how to care for Jack, Benadryl (allergies), and Pepcid (when he throws up).

dog cabinet 4

Under the shelf, I use some IKEA Skubb organizers to corral his random stuff. His favorite balls are in one organizer, and his waste bags, FURminator, and a bone are in the other.

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We also keep all of his pet medicine in the cabinet.

NOTE: Now that Owen is mobile, we moved the medicine to a higher cabinet.

dog cabinet 6

A Command Brand hook is used to hang his dog leash on the inside of the door.

dog leash organization

The container we use for Jack’s food has been with me for over 10 years. It’s a container my ‘mom’ in my sorority painted and gifted to me when I was initiated. When she gave it to me, it was filled with fun sorority type stuff. When we adopted Jack, we needed to put his food in something so I grabbed this container. I figured why waste $10 on a container when I already had one. And this one has meaning. So there’s the story behind the food container.

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I was informed that this post needs a photo of Jack. He was napping when I took photos of the cabinet so here he is on his 7th birthday last month.

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Does your dog have a cabinet dedicated to all of his/her things?

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42 Comments

  1. Mary Kerstein says:

    We use this bowl for our English Bulldog, Hank. http://www.amazon.com/Skid-Stop-Slow-Feed-Bowl/dp/B00251EPL2/ref=pd_sim_petsupplies_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=12XNVPXREST72GK0S9GG
    It works great! He now doesn’t inhale his food, which often times made him sick. We did switch to the bowl when he was still a puppy still so I don’t know if that would matter or not. Another plus is that he doesn’t eat as much food. We used to feed him 2 cups each in the morning and the evening (so 4 cups a day) and he would enhale it each time. Now we leave his bowl out and he is more of a roamer when eating. He probably eats a total of 3 cups a day now. I think it is because he has more time to realize when he is full. Let me know if you have any questions about it. Love your blog!

    1. Thanks so much, Mary! I’ll have to look into that one! Honestly, I can’t imagine Jack as a grazer– he’ll eat anything and everything. Hah! And Hank is the perfect name for an English Bulldog. 🙂

  2. It’s nice to know we aren’t the only ones with dedicated cabinet/shelf space for our pets 🙂 Our guy inhales food as well as we use a slow feeder bowl place up on a stool so its at his level which seems to help some. When we first got him we put tennis balls in his dish to slow him down, but now that has turned into him just putting all his tennis balls in his food dish 🙂

    1. Hmmm, I may have to try that. That’s hilarious about him putting tennis balls in his food dish. Sometimes when people come over they think his food pacer ball is a play ball and they try to take it out and throw it. Hah! I have to inform them that it stays in his bowl.

  3. Michelle Stewart says:

    This looks quite similar to my “cat” cabinet. I have a wire shelf that takes up about 30% of one side with canned cat food on the bottom and treats/meds on the top. Her plates and hard food container are on the left side. It’s great to have it all in one dedicated cabinet.

  4. We have two pit bulls and we feed them separately not because they are food aggressive but because Candy would eat hers quickly and then eat Nina’s. Nina is a lady and eats slowly, Candy is a pig and gulps her down. She was very sick when we got her and had 9 inches of her intestine removed because she ate a doll’s head and it didn’t pass, we almost lost her. She can’t eat dry because of an infection she picked up from treats made in China. I won’t even go into the cat’s menu. I loved Tesco’s and spent a lot of time there when I was visiting relatives in Sligo. I will have to look into this ball.

    1. Hah! “Nina is a lady” and “Candy is a pig”. Crack me up. That’s crazy about the doll head! Thank goodness she recovered from the operation. Thankfully Jack has been on the same kibble since we adopted him. And how fun to have relatives in Ireland!

  5. Put a ball in Jacks food dish, this makes him dig around the ball to eat which makes him eat much slower!

  6. We have a large airedale terrirer who would make himself sick from eating too quickly. We bought the northmate interactive slow feeder (Amazon) about a year ago and have not had a problem since! He went from finishing a cup of food in less than a minute to taking at least 15! !

    1. I saw that feeder on the Today Show the other day, and wondered how well it worked. Honestly, I can’t imagine it taking Jack 15 minutes to eat his food. Hah!

      1. I didn’t think it would work either! ! I was completely prepared to return it after it not working… But it did!

  7. This post is missing something……A picture of Jack!!!!!!

    1. Haha! He was sleeping when I was taking photos of the cabinet, and I didn’t want to disturb him. So I just added a photo of him on his 7th birthday last month. 🙂

      1. He’s such a handsome guy! Happy belated birthday, Jack!!

  8. This is such a great idea! We use everything in the house. Bath items in a basket underneath the sick in the bathroom, food and snack in the laundry room, toys in a basket near the door along with her leash. Your way seems much easier but this seems to work for us. And you know, we have the occasional toy mixed in with the kids’ toy basket in the living room. My kids seem to think Peanut’s toys are their toys as well, I think it’s gross and used to mind a lot when we had our first born. When the second boy was born, i realized babies survive and don’t get so anal about finding a dog toy with their toys. I still it’s gross but ill survive.

  9. Our sweet Izzy has a closet too and a basket and another basket and his own dog couch too. Giggle. Yes we spoil our baby. I keep a jar of dog treats on the kitchen counter, on my desk and in my art room. He has a basket in the living room where he keeps his toys and one in the den too.His leash and to go bag are kept in a nice basket in the dining area. He can grab his leash when it’s time to go. I love this post and I invite you to share at my Thursday hop ( you can link up today through Sat midnight) xo

  10. Great ideas, but please, please plan to relocate Jack’s medications. Once Owen is mobile, this will be a hazard. What a cute family you four are!

    1. Thanks, Stacy! Yeah, we’ll most likely move them to a basket on top of the fridge once Owen is mobile. We’ll probably also put a lock on that cabinet so he can’t get into Jack’s food. Hah!

  11. We have a cabinet for our dog, Lucy, too! We also keep extra tennis balls and treats, and meds, like you do. In addition, we keep her jar of peanut butter (for her Kong when we go to work), and her toothbrush and paste. Another thing we keep around just in case is hydrogen peroxide. If a dog eats something that is poisonous, our emergency vet suggested giving her a spoonful to induce vomiting. You can google or check with your vet the correct amount for your dog’s weight, and then I wrote it in sharpie on the cap. I’ve only had to do it once, but it beat a trip to the E-vet, which is quite a drive for us! I agree- having all of the dog stuff in one spot makes life easier!

  12. I have an elder dachshund who scarfs his food. I took a can of fruit cocktail, wrapped it in foil and put it in the middle of his food bowl. After looking at me like I had lost my mind he started eating. He eats much slower now.

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