How to Get a Dog to Slow Down Eating

If you have more than one dog—chances are—one or more of them eat too fast. If you have only one dog—that dog may eat too fast. In other words, it’s a common problem among our canine friends. The bad news is—fast eating can cause digestive disorders including serious conditions such as bloat. The good news is—there are a few different ways to make that ravenous pooch slow down!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Use a muffin tin (a friend of mine came up with this ingenious idea, although there may be other geniuses out there that thought of the same thing). Divide the amount of food that normally goes into your dog’s bowl into six individual portions and have your dog eat out of the muffin tin. If you can't fit it all at once, just refill. This will slow down eating, plus, the divided dish might be fun for your dog; he'll feel like he's at a cafeteria.

2. Divide up the food. Feed half of the allotted amount, then pick up the bowl and feed the other half. You can also divide it into 3’s if you prefer. Dividing up the portions will help slow the eating down a bit. If you like, you can also wait a few minutes in between servings.

3. Purchase Kaycee’s LifeBowl, a food dish that is designed to make your dog eat more slowly. It has a stem coming out of the middle of the dish that your dog has to eat around, which in turn discourages gulping (see Resources below).

Tips & Warnings

• If your schedule allows, you might prefer to feed smaller portions two or three times a day.
• Refer to my eHow article on how to prevent bloat (see Resources below).
• Do not let your dog exercise after eating and do not allow excessive water intake one hour before or after eating.

Resources

• Kaycee’s LifeBowl
• How to Prevent Dog Bloat

[jaxicat]

on 11/14/2009 Good Idea! My boxer eats too fast. I'm going to look for one of those special bowls for her! Thank you very much! 5* and rec. :)

[3bigdogs]

on 11/2/2009 I Love the muffin tin idea!!! 5*

[jaicard]

on 10/15/2009 Wow. Great tips. The muffin pan idea is such a creative solution. I must try this with my pooch!

[look4writing]

on 10/11/2009 What a great idea, it will take my dog a few weeks to catch on to this. it weill be fun to mess with him. 5s
look4writing

[seagems]

on 10/2/2009 Terrific Idea. I have a 5 lb yorkie who eats way too fast and then does this slide across the floor after she eats. I will try this great muffin tin tip.