Gun Dog Forum

I am having issues with my dog eating too fast. He's almost 10 months old. I have already tried two different bowls designed to slow him down eating, they don't work. Feeding him 4 smaller meals over the day is not feasible because I work. I tried the tennis ball in the bowl and did not work. He's eating so fast he's literally sputtering and gagging every other meal, and this is with the "special" bowls. He leaves for hunting training for 2 months in just a couple of weeks and I am really worried with that activity he's going to get bloat. How can I fix this?

Not sure how a dog could eat too fast with something like this:


http://www.chewy.com/dog/outward-hound- ... aQodG7cDNQ

Why would he be more likely to get bloat, compared to a dog that eats his meal in 10 minutes rather than one? Any good trainer knows to feed the dogs after training so they have time to do some digesting. I add water to all my dogs main meals to the level of the food. I've got a female (pointer) that is a hog (which I like) and is done in 2-3 minutes. I've never worried about her getting bloat. She's been with a couple different trainers and is in ND at a pros summer camp being worked every day!

Steve

There is much we do not know about bloat. Some is genetic; large, barrel chested dogs are more often effected, and when gulping their food they swallow more air which surely contributes. Making the sporting breeds, pointers and setters are the least prone, while Labs and Chessies the most.

It is a serious issue, needing prompt, expensive surgery or death follows in many cases.

Have you tried feeding him on a cookie sheet with the food spread out? A friend of mine has a short hair that has to eat this way or he does the same thing. Might be worth a shot.

http://www.amazon.com/KONG-Wobbler-Trea ... B003ALMW0M

I use the kong wobbler. It's great, what once took less than a minute now takes 20 or more. Feeding now requires some mental focus (on the dog's part), which I am sure doesn't hurt either. I made the hole a little smaller using duct tape on the inside.

Gertie wrote:Have you tried feeding him on a cookie sheet with the food spread out? A friend of mine has a short hair that has to eat this way or he does the same thing. Might be worth a shot.

this is the solution use a cookie sheet large enough that the kibble is only one layer that will prevent him from bolting down his food

I have two GSPs that take about 30 seconds to gulp down a bowl of feed. I have never really worried about it.

Charlie

Thanks for the responses. After reading the linked article (thank to Neil) and a couple others it's looking like eating too fast isn't as much of a factor as I was lead to believe initially. I reached out to my breeder and trainer and he said spreading it out flat works well, and he likes to put it in the yard to make them sniff for it a bit when get gets one that is overly fast eating. Thanks for the advice.

Ditto on the large cookie sheet with an edge so you can also add water

Another thing you can try... toss his food on the ground by the handful, make him look for it and find it kibble by kibble. I had to do that with one of my guys. Not only does it force them to eat slower, but it gives them something to do as well.

Another option is to use muffin tins... a little in each hole....

fuzznut wrote:Another thing you can try... toss his food on the ground by the handful, make him look for it and find it kibble by kibble. I had to do that with one of my guys. Not only does it force them to eat slower, but it gives them something to do as well.

Another option is to use muffin tins... a little in each hole....

I had heard of using a cookie sheet, but not muffin tins...brilliant!

Our newest female is a real 'grub hound'....miss piggy reincarnated! We finally found that putting a lot of water in with her food slows her down and prevents her choking and coughing while gulping things down. She used to have to sit and gag for a while her throat cleared. No more, the water helps her get is all down.

Good Luck

Thanks for all the responses. The trainer he's going to suggested tossing some out in the grass for him so I tried that and let him sniff it out and eat. When it's rainy I've used the cookie sheet, slows him down quite a bit and the added benefit of waking up the household by crashing around the kitchen chasing a cookie sheet!

Thanks for the tips on this

[quote="fuzznut"]Another thing you can try... toss his food on the ground by the handful, make him look for it and find it kibble by kibble. I had to do that with one of my guys. Not only does it force them to eat slower, but it gives them something to do as well.

The trainer he'll be going to suggested this as well so started doing it. He looked at me like I was nuts at first, then went and found his dinner.