Inhaling food at warp speed...

[bluskygirl]

OK, so I know that Bella has only been away from her sisters for a week, and so it still seems logical to her to hurry and eat before someone else gets it, but does anyone have any good ways to teach a puppy to slow down?!?  I mean, it's absolutely incredible the speed at which that food disappears! Once I've let her go to her dish, I can't even see the food anymore! It's just her face buried in the bowl and lots of sound effects.    I've heard of putting a very large (not swallowable) rock in the dish that they have to move around to get to their food, but I thought I would see if anyone had some other ideas. Bloat is dangerous enough, and eating too fast is said to be one of many instigators.

And on the feeding note; I can't seem to find any information about increasing food amounts with weight. I am constantly worried that she's not eating enough, or that maybe she's eating too much. (OK, so yeah, I have the over-protective new Mom syndrome, I know). 

[Thelma]

Our saint pup did the exact same thing..you would no longer set the bowl down and it was empty. not sure what company it is but they make a bowl for this. maybe do a search. Any way, our saint is now 4 months and has slowed down alot...sometim es even eats some... takes a break then comes back and finishes up.

[Winslow 151]

Hi,

Winslow was the same. We added a lacrosse ball (hard rubber he couldnn't swallow and a rubber greenie (looks like a larger version of the) greenie, he had to eat around those things so it slowed him down and you can run both through the diswasher with no problem.

You could also try using muffin tins, small portions in each cup of the tin so Bella has to go tin to tin to get the whole meal, or even a cookie sheet if you feed kibble, spread it out so Bella has to chase the food around the cookie sheet.

Rich

[GR8DAME]

When we first got Raven she was half starved, and would use her lower jaw as a shovel to scoop up food and literally swallow it whole. She could go thru an entire meal in four seconds flat.
Dale spent several weeks of mealtimes sitting on the floor only giving her a handful of food at a time. Since she was absolutely terrified of men because of previous abuse it had the added benifit of increasing her trust in him as well. Once she figured out that the food was coming on a regular basis she slowed down and actually chews now, but she is still the first one done in the house.
Stella

 

[brandon]

I like the muffin pan idea.

I've heard of adding a ball, or a piece of heavy chain, or feeding them on a baking pan to slow them down.

[Luvmydanes]

Here's the bowl people recommend for this.� 
http://www.brake-fast.net/

That bowl looks like a great idea!

[bluskygirl]

Thanks for the ideas! The muffin tin is a good idea, and I'm going to look into that bowl.  I have at least got her to the point where she knows she has to settle down and sit with me until I tell her it's ok to eat, but she's got "the dance" right before and then the warp speed thing during. I love the little dance... at the moment it's just too cute for me to want to do anything about!  THanks again,

[Lucah's Folks]

We started out putting a big Kong in Lucah's bowl at first, bug he seemed to adjust to that.

The thing that really worked was a shallow baking pan.  It keeps the food from piling up and they can't chomp as much with each gulp.  It has done wonders for him.

I guess the idea is to keep the food all on one level and not allow it to pile on top of itself.