FAST FOOD - 5 Ways to stop your dog from gobbling their food

My sister Dixie holds the world record for fast eating.  She has to eat in her crate cuz she finishes so fast then tries to eat my food too.  I used to eat very slowly.  Sometimes I would take a piece of kibble into the next room, eat it, and then come back for more.  Not anymore!  I have to eat everything sort of quickly or Dixie will steal it.

I can understand when she first came to live with us that she thought she might not get enough food.  She was a stray so sometimes she didn’t get enough to eat.  I tell her that we always have lots of food.  I even show her where we keep the HUGE bag of food in the cabinet.  I tell her it is all for us and it never gets empty! But, she still gulps down her food.

I’m part Lab and Labs are always hungry.  We get lots of very nutritious food which is  divided so we get fed three times every day.  And, we get cookies and carrots for snacks.  I may be starving at dinner time but I still have manners when I eat.

Gobbling food is not only undoggy like, it can cause bloat.  When a dog gulps food, air gets in the tummy which is a bad thing and can make a dog very sick or even died.  So getting a dog to eat nice is very important.

Mom decided Dixie is not going to stop fast eating all on her own so we are trying some tricks.  First Mom tried to hand feed her.  Poor Dixie, she would gobble what little Mom had in her hand then sit and wait for the next handful.  Only, she looks so pathetic while she is waiting, Mom couldn’t keep feeding her that way.  Besides, Mom’s hand got all sticky and yucky from Dixie slobber.

Hand feeding is one trick.  Here are a few others that might work if you or someone you know gobbles their food.

1.      You can buy a special feeding dish called a Break Fast Bowl.  It has big posts in the bowl so the dog has to eat around them.  It also slides a little so the dog has to chase the food.

2.     You can make a regular feeding dish into something like a Break Fast Bowl by simply turning it upside down.  The food goes in the groove around the big bump in the middle so the dog has to work harder to get at the food, slowing down the eating.   A regular feeding dish is much less expensive too.

3.     Instead of using a bowl, try a muffin tin.  Put a little of the food into each of the little compartments.  The dog has to stop a bit when going from one compartment to the next.

4.     Another thing you can buy is a feeding cube or ball.    The food goes into the cube or ball and you have to play with the cube or ball until all the food falls out.  I would like this one.  Sometimes Mom puts some Kibble (or peanut butter) in the big Kong and I have to play to get it out.  It’s lots of fun.

5.     There is another kind of gadget you can buy that goes in the feeding dish.  It’s a round ball made out of ceramic or some kind of shiny metal.  Some people put a big rock in the dish (it has to be big cuz we dogs do tend to eat little rocks), but they say you can’t wash a rock so they invented these other balls.

Mom is trying the “rock” method now only she is using the big Kong.  She puts the food in the dish then puts the Kong on top of the food.  Dixie is eating a little slower cuz she has to stop and move the Kong around to get to the food.  Mom likes the Kong cuz, first all we already have it, and unlike a big rock, she can wash it.

We’ve only been trying it a couple of days, but it seems to be working.

If you or anyone you know is a food gobbler, please let me know what you did to help get better eating manners.

Thanks

Your friend,

Zeva

P.S.  Blatant self-promotion.  Dixie and I are very spoiled… so I created a gift basket especially for Spoiled Rotten Dogs. Can you guess what I call it?