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Rapid eating

3K views 18 replies 12 participants last post by  kassabella 
#1 ·
After reading the post on bloat I thought I'd try one more time to get a tip that works - Our 1 year old femal eats at a ridiculous pace. She does not chew her food but swallows it whole I'm sure. She eats separately from our older dog an always has...no threat there. I have purchased the slow eat bowl with ridges to slow her down, tried spreading it over a large cookie sheet and tried using a cupcake tin to make it a bit harder. Nothing works...she is small boned but I bet not getting the weight she needs as she never chews anything - she Weighs 52 lbs and is healthy in everyway but this nuertic way of gobbling her kibble . I am begging for some advice as I never want to get to an issue with bloat or at the very least get her to eat normally. Help!!!! :Cry:
 
#2 ·
I have this issue with Kate, our youngest. She is 18 months old & still inhales her food. We tried the slow down bowl..only worked a little, did the cookie sheet thing, still didn't slow her much. My breeder gave me a large shallow stainless steel bowl & she does a little better. I am still waiting for something that works, Because our oldest lab has "empty stomach syndrome" we have always divided their meals into three, so Molly could have a meal later in the evening to help her stomach. Good luck. I will check back to see if anyone has new ideas. Good luck with your girl.
 
#3 ·
Have you tried one of those treat dispensing toys, like a Buster Cube? I've noticed that it takes Caleb longer to eat the few times I mixed some canned food to his meal. I don't add much- maybe two tablespoons to a cup of dry food. Maybe that would work for you.
 
#10 ·
she is small boned but I bet not getting the weight she needs as she never chews anything
I don't think chewing makes a dog gain more. If it is getting digested (when it comes out the back end it looks different than when it went in the front end) she is getting food value.

If you think she needs to eat slower - just give her the food in smaller doses - instead of putting it all in the bowl at once, split it up into 4-5 separate meals within the meal. Heck- add it to her bowl a tablespoon at a time if that will slow her down.

I don't understand how she can eat food spread out over a cookie sheet quickly - she has to pick up one kibble at a time.
 
#11 ·
My lab hunter eats the same way. He has now started eating faster since we switched his food to a better quality dog food. We used a slow down bowl for a long while but it was irritating his chin fur. I feed both my labs in separate rooms, I sit with Hunter while he eats. I put my hand in his bowl blocking some of the food to make him eat slower. If he starts rapid eating I call him on it and he sits and waits. We also separate our dogs meals into atleast 2 portions. I am thinking of getting a slow down ball for his food, large stainless steel ball blocking some of his food, forcing him to eat slower. We even tried out for Cesar Milan's live show to fix the issues, but his case wasn't severe enough apparently.
 
#12 ·
I just got back a dog in my rescue that came with a "break fast" bowl because she inhales. She inhaled because she was underweight and hungry. I've done two things that have slowed her down. At first, I upped her food (and changed to a better quality kibble) and covered it in room temp tap water. It slowed her down. Now that she's gained nearly 6 lbs in two weeks, I'm backing off the amount and adding pumpkin and yogurt. Again, this has slowed her down. And she's steadily gaining weight.
 
#14 ·
Exactly we just spent $190 at the vet on Dolly as she got a reaction to the plastic from the slow feed bowl (At least that is what the vet said) Shame on me.... I should have remembered that as whe we got her from the breeder and took her in for her first appt she has a tiny little bump on her chin and he said put neosporin on it as it looked like it was a reaction form a plastic bowl and not to use them...Duh. She gets 2 cups in the a.m. and I do split them up.... she sits there franticly for the second half :) What a whack job but we love her.
 
#15 ·
Lovinggracie: Sounds like your problem with Dolly was the same as mine with Hunter. He kept getting this rash on his chin but it would come and go so weren't overly worried. Then i discovered it was the bowl as well as an intolerant to wheat. I should have known better too since the breeder told us to use stainless steel bowls.
 
#18 ·
Yeah, that's why I only tried that trick once. The amount of air he had to have ingested couldn't be good...and seemed counterproductive.

I switched to the elevated bowls, and although it didn't slow him down, over time he slowed down enough as he grew out of the puppy phase that I stopped worrying about it. Now, he gets canned food mixed in, and that has really slowed him down.
 
#17 ·
Hershey Kisses at 4 years and Newman until the day he passed on at almost 10 ate their meals like a Hoover vacuum. I don't think it harms them.

Our daughters two dogs, on the other hand are so **** slow. A couple peices of kibble at a time, and them off to investigate other things. I ahve to sit on the floor next t the bowl and hand feed them. If I leave a bowl out for them, HK wil will finish it if I am not in the room. If I am in the room, she understands, Leave it. But when I leave, the command leaves with me.<g>
 
#19 ·
Kassa would be finished before I turned around. My vet said he had never seen a dog eat like that..even a lab and said he would worry about bloat. He suggested soaking her food which I did. If I forgot I gave her smaller amounts, then waited a few moments, then some more. I tried the cookie sheet and rock and didn't help much.
The dispensers are great, but I used one for training so didn't want to mix them up.
 
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