Dog eats REALLY fast - any idea?

[Vickie]

Hi there,

I have a 6 month old Black Lab and he eats like a maniac. I thought maybe he'd out grow this but now I'm not so sure. Ate so fast he always threw up after eating. Now, I have him sit or lay down, then I only give him about a quarter cup at a time and kind of spread it around on the floor so he had to hunt around for it. Then he lays down again, and we do this over again until his food is gone. He looks like a vaccuum cleaner! He hasn't thrown up doing it this way - but what a pain. I feed him at 6am, and 6pm. I've tried to give him about 1/ 3 cup of food around 3pm when I get home from work , thinking it would slow down the eating but still the same.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks, Vickie

[LABS4ME]

Put some tennis balls in with his dry kibble... Put enough in so as to cover up the food and he has to nuzzle them with his muzzle to get down to his food. That will usually slow him down.

I have a 13 year old lab that has done this her whole life and even passed the trait down to several of her offspring... generally it does no damage... other than watching them do it. She doesn't get it down to her gut but rather it gets stuck in her throat as a big mucousy wad... funny thing is she eats it slower and chews it the second time around.

I also make her drink before she eats. It seems to relax her esophogus and helps the food slide down a little better. Latley I've even been putting a cup of water in with her food... doesn't slow her down per se, but she gets a little liquid to help it move along...

Good Luck!

Ken

[Powerstroke]

We had to spread it out on the floor in about a 5'x3' area. This slows him down a lot. Another idea told to me by the vet is to pour the food into a blanket and fold it over a bunch. This makes them seekl out each piece as long as they don't destroy the blanket.

[ricbak]

A few years back I had a young britt and I fed her as you have said, once in the AM and then in the PM. She did the same thing by wolfing down her food and then would upchuck shortly afterwords. I was telling this to a buddy who has had dogs for more years than me and here was his suggestion, give her more food when you put her out in the AM and also at night. This way the dog will not leave the dish still hungry, I know everyone has different opinion's about feeding there dogs but remember dogs can't reason and after all we eat 3-squares a day and maybe more than we should. His theory was that the dog was coming to the dish pretty hungry and wanted to get it to fast causing an upset tummy. Remember young pups had to compete for an open nipple or one that had some food. Good luck

[vetobe]

I find that the tennis ball trick works with some dogs but with others, they pick up the tennis balls, move them and then gobble the food. The other way is to go buy a big brick (something that they cannot move) and pour the kibbles around it. I have found that this will slow them down.

[Vickie]

Thanks - I'll try some of these.

Vickie

[Tripleplay]

My young lab also had the habit of just wolfing her food down. She actually would knock the food bowl out of your hand pretty often. We got that fixed with some behavior modification and making her sit and wait before she was free to eat. (you may have to tolerate a bit of foaming at the mouth on this as she salivated like crazy while waiting)

The vet recommended that we spread her food out in a metal muffin tin and then she had to eat out of each hole so it slowed her down. I've quit using it now as she has outgrown or learned to slow down but the muffin tin worked very well for us.

[irvingdog]

Clean river rocks, roughly the size of walnuts, will work perfectly.

[Vickie]

Thanks!

Vickie

[Redlantern]

My dogs are outside all the timne so I guess I don't really mind if they toss up their food a bit but what I've done to keep them from making the choking sound is add water to their food like Labs mentioned. Another option to the brick or tennis ball is to put a short piece of chain in their dish so they have to nose around it, slowing their eating down.

[cw642]

The PDJ just had an review of a dish designed for this problem. It is called the Brake-fast food bowl. They have a demo video on their web site. It cost 15 bucks so it might be worth a try. Google Brake-fast and you will find it.

CW

[Wormdrowner]

Our lab is 6 months also, sounds like they might be related. We've tried all the suggestions mentioned, what we've done is give her smaller feedings. Have been giving her 1 cup, four times daily. For some feedings we have put her food in a hard plastic bottle with a small hole cut in it, she has a good time rolling it around trying to get her food out.