tricks to slow eating

[Dal & Mad's Mom]

Cooper and Sam have always lived together and frequently still try to share the same bowl. Cooper inhales his food to the point that he coughs. What can we do to slow him down?

[Lindzey]

Since my dogs tend to eat at the same time (as well as with cats, chickens, etc.) we've had the same problem.

 

My trick was to feed the dogs seperatly. Cooper feels he has to eat faster to get more food, as well as just getting what he wants.

 

I suggest feeding in seperate areas (if you feed in the kitchen, feed at opposite ends) and stand in between the two so neither can get to the others' food. If that doesn't work, put Cooper in 'down' and have him watch Sam eat his food. Then put Sam in 'down' and have him watch Cooper eat.

 

If this still doesn't work, and Cooper is still inhaling his food insanely fast, do the above step, but this time, put the dog *not* eating in a different room where he cannot get to the food (and out of sight of the other). Sit/stand near the dog eating the food, and every two or three bites, take the bowl from the dog. Hold it or put it on the counter. Let the dog breath for a second, then place the food back down. Do this continually until he learns to eat slower... This step is the one I least recommend.

 

Good luck with Coop and Sam!

[Hector]

If a dog is hungry and thinks it must compete with another dog for food, then that alone will promote very fast eating. If you can isolate Cooper and feed him when no other dogs are around, that MAY help.

 

One technique, if you have a big open floor space (kitchen or recreation room) is to take the food in a bowl and then by hand sprinkle a small portion on the floor. If you kind of gently toss it so the food is scattered, then the dog must move to each piece of kibble to eat it.

 

That moving around slows the speed at which the dog can eat. Plus if you are only giving out a small handful at a time, he can't keep eating it all so fast that he chokes on it.

[Guest amylobdell24]

They make these great treat balls with small holes that they have to roll around to get the food out - and only a few kibbles come out at a time. Once my dog figured out how to make it work, I started hiding it around the house for her meals I've also heard of putting a large heavy object in the bowl - like a paperweight or something too big for them to accidentally swallow - so they have to move it around to get kibble. It keeps them from being able to get those huge mouthfuls and choking on them. I got my treat balls from Petsmart.

[2 Devils]

There are a couple things you can do to slow a dogs eating...

 

1. Try a much bigger bowl because the food won't be "stacked" close together and is a little harder to eat

2. You can try adding a big rock (clean) or something else in the middle of the bowl and force the dog to eat around it

3. If you have a crate you can just throw the food on the floor of the crate instead of in a bowl

4. If you can feed Sam in a different room and just throw Cooper's food on the kitchen floor

5. You can try the suggestions others posted

 

Yes I had a dog that inhaled her food.

[Beth G]

I would try and give them separate bowls(even if you have to separate them at mealtime to get them to eat separtely),

and then use a bunch of small dumbbell weights in the bowl, so that they have to eat around them. This will slow them down.

[smileyzookie]

I had an issue with Riven eating too fast when we got her. I ended up putting a small bowl in the middle of the dish (or rock or whatever) and eventually took that away and added water to make it sorta mushy. That is for kibble, so if you feed raw that probably wont help lol

[borderlicious]

I personally just take the fast eaters outside and scatter their kibble on the ground. They like to forage for it, and it really slows them down. My puppy would inhale every kibble meal if I didn't do that.

[WyoBC]

My Black Jack doesn't eat that fast, but I pet him every three bites or so to make him look up and take a breath. I would try the rock trick, I have a friend that did that and it worked really well.

[Catu]

Like the rock trick, I've used with great results a piece of heavy chain. If long and heavy enough, can be fun too, as the dog could spend hours trying to reach the kibble between the links with the tongue. (Fun for us, I guess )

[SincereArtisan]

I agree with the rock trick...a bigger bowl with a ball or a kong works just as well.

 

Although, some dogs really do like to forage. To get Ido to eat at work I scatter it across the floor (we're in a separate room) and 'threaten' to give the food away to the dogs on the other side of the door...LoL, thats gets her chowing down every time!