Gulping his food down

[CymruAmByth]

I've had Harvey for a month (former RSPCA rescue dog) and it's all been great but I've noticed he gulps his food down really quickly. It's not really a massive worry but I was wondering if this is normal. He has no health issues (he was checked over by their vet before I had him) and I feed him 2 tins of Pedigree Chum per day which he loves. He gets fed around 7am and 5pm but he seems to do it regardless of the time and it doesn't matter whether it's before or after a walk or excercise/playtime.

 

He was fed individually at the RSPCA so I don't think it's that - he was only there for about 3 weeks - and at his original home he was the only dog in the house.

 

He's happy and healthy enough so as I said it's not a huge concern but I was wondering if Collies are usually like that? If I ate my food as quickly as him I'd get indigestion...

[waffles]

Lots of dogs eat fast. Has nothing to do with breed and probably little to do with his past feeding by others. Some dogs just like to eat fast! It sounds like you feed wet/canned food, one thing you could do is stuff his food into a large Kong and freeze it. That way it will take him a while to get it all out. I know a dog that eats kibble so fast in a bowl he throws it right back up and eats it again. His owners just just spread the kibble on the floor and it takes him a minute or two to slurp all the pieces up.

[GentleLake]

There are bowls designed to slow dogs down when eating. They have raised nubs s that they have to eat around them;

 

http://www.amazon.com/Dogit-Slow-Anti-Gulping-Bowl-Medium/dp/B0038HLHJU

 

http://www.petsmart.com/dog/food-water-bowls/kong-slow-feed-dog-bowl-zid36-6346/cat-36-catid-100067

 

Both pages show more than one brand. There are others if you care to do a search.

[Cody & Duchess]

One of our dogs is a fast eater,our solution....her food bowl is a muffin tin. Takes her longer to eat twelve small bowls. When I say muffin tin I mean the thing you bake cupcakes in.

[Blamoms]

I put a tennis ball in the bowl so he has to push it around. It slows him down.

[urge to herd]

I use an ice cube tray or an old muffin tin to feed Gibbs. Slows him down, makes him work a little harder for his food.

 

Ruth and Agent Gibbs

[geonni banner]

If my dog didn't wolf her food I'd assume there was something wrong with her. Isn't it natural for a dog that is not overfed to wolf their food? Sugarfoot is fed twice a day and cleans up her bowl in 15 to 20 seconds. Sugar's not overweight - see pics.

 

 

I was always taught that if a dog didn't clean its bowl pretty quickly you should pick up the food and not put it down again until the next mealtime. It's never been an issue for me. Except once when I had a Siberian Husky. She would only eat every other day. And her health was excellent.

 

[urge to herd]

Geonni, I'm always looking for ways to make Gibbs work a little more. Scattering his food in the yard or putting it in the muffin tins are easy ways to do that. He gets half of his meals in a frozen kong, which I hide for him to find. If I just hand him the Kong, he looks very disappointed.

 

A couple of my dogs would inhale their meal, take a few steps, (onto the carpet of course) and throw up. I get tired of cleaning up the stains, so started to use ways to make eat more slowly. Gibbs seems to like it, or at least doesn't object. :-)

 

Ruth and agent Gibbs

[gcv-border]

In my limited experience, some dogs do not have any problem (indigestion or throwing up) with gulping their food down. Personally, I prefer they eat rapidly, but not gulp it down in less than 30 seconds - but that is just me. For my last foster dog, I bought a Kyjen bowl from Chewy.com. They were on sale for ~ 1/2 off, but not sure if they are still on sale. I call it the "slow-food" bowl.

 

But you can also put one or 2 tennis ball-sized rocks in the bowl too (i.e. a rock that is too big for them to swallow). I know my dog would flip a regular tennis ball out of the bowl.

[GentleLake]

I know my dog would flip a regular tennis ball out of the bowl.

 

 

It would also be might messy when feeding canned food, as the OP does. Just sayin' . . .

[geonni banner]

I have no problem with people slowing down their dog's food consumption rate. I just wonder if it's necessary. Certainly if the dog gets an upset tummy and/or barfs up their food, it makes sense. But I wonder if there are not dogs that simply eat fast, and dogs who don't. Perhaps two meals a day instead of one is why my "bolter" doesn't get tummy-ache.

 

I know that people put large stones in a grain bucket to keep horses from gobbling pellets or grain - they can colic. But horses evolved to eat slowly, off and on all day, and certainly not to eat concentrated rations. And it's complicated by the fact that they can't throw up.

 

But dogs are opportunistic feeders and generally better at the whole "gorge and fast" thing. Except for especially deep-chested dog breeds that are prone to bloat and torsion, I think dogs are mostly OK with bolting food. (I sometimes wonder if they even have taste receptors.)

[Maralynn]

My dogs seem to eat pretty quick but it still takes them a couple minutes to down their meals. They do chew a little as they eat.

[GentleLake]

(I sometimes wonder if they even have taste receptors.)

 

I read somewhere that humans have almost twice the number of taste buds that dogs do.

 

Now if you take into account that smell has a lot to do with what we perceive as taste, if that's also true for dogs they'd still be way ahead of the game.

[Camden's Mom]

My dogs seem to eat pretty quick but it still takes them a couple minutes to down their meals.

 

Minutes... minutes!?!?

 

I'd be inclined to rush Camden to the vet for an emergency visit if he took more then 20 seconds to wolf down his food.

[CymruAmByth]

Thanks everyone.

 

Seems like I might be thinking too hard about this then. It was never really a massive concern. it's just the dogs I've had in the past (2 Labs and a Springer Spaniel) always ate somewhat more leisurely. They'd always finish their meal but never with the sort of haste that Harvey seems to have. He's happy enough so I don't see any real need to slow him down though