How to Keep a Dog From Eating Too Fast

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By Janet Ford
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Keep a Dog From Eating Too Fast

When a dog eats too fast, it can be a serious problem. Your dog can choke, swallow so much air that they vomit or even develop bloat, which can be life threatening. Preventing your dog from eating too fast is an important part of properly caring for your pet yet can seem challenging, I know. But there are things that you can do to prevent your dog from eating too fast.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Large Rock
Water
Saucer Dish

Step 1

If your dog eats too fast, but seems manageable; you could opt to feed your dog by hand, literally. Place a few kibble in your hand at a time and allow the dog to eat from your hand.
Step 2

One very easy way to prevent your dog from eating too quickly is to place a large rock (be CERTAIN it is too large for the dog to eat) in the center of their food dish. I know some people who use 2-3 large rocks if your dish is large enough. This will cause the dog to have to work around the rock to get the food.
Step 3

Another method would be to put a small amount of water into the dry kibble. Again, they will need to work at it a bit more but it also has the added benefit of releasing the gases formed when producing most kibble (compacting it). Extruded kibble is the exception to this and it's hard to find. By releasing these gases, you also decrease the chance of bloat (gastric torsion).
Step 4

Some owners find that free feeding kibble to a fast eater will take away the misperceived need of "I gotta hurry before it isn't there anymore". But please monitor this, especially in the beginning.

Comments

pushkina said

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on 10/2/2009 unless the dog in question LIKES to eat rocks...as does our Malti-Poo! (or Moodle as they are called here in Australia) Junior LOVES rocks; the idea is a good one but i'm afraid if I put one in his dish, he'd really think it was part of his main course!

ceniamari said

on 7/21/2009 Yes bloat is serious and there really aren't known causes, only considerations on what might cause it. One thing to avoid is to give your dog water after eating. Feeding wet food such as making a gravy is ok but giving water freely right after eating should be avoided.