How to slow down a dog who eats too fast?

[Gene&Janet]

One of the issues we have noticed with our smallest dog, Marty, is the way he gulps his food down in under a minute, even though it’s in a slow-feeder bowl. We’ve had him since he was about 8 weeks old and he hasn’t had to defend his food from our other dogs in our care. We aren’t under feeding him, and actually have to be careful not to over feed him. He loves to eat. (He weighs about 9 lbs.) We’ve tried one of the licking mats as well, but that only slightly slows him down. When Marty finishes eating we have to keep him from pushing our bigger dog away from his food. We are currently working with Dr. Jeff on Marty’s elevated liver enzymes and past diagnoses of pancreatitis. It doesn’t seem like it can be healthy for him to eat this fast. I wonder too if it has something to do with his liver or digestion or if we need to try different bowl to slow him down.

 

[novasimpson]

Hi! I am sure Dr Jeff has mentioned this to you but how about a snuffle mat? Not sure what kind of food you are offering (probably only works for kibble or dry food) but even after meal if give some ground up freeze dried meat/organs.? Keeps Tater Tot (~11 lb shih tzu) busy for 20+ minutes!!

 

[Dr. Sara]

Try feeding in a puzzle toy, like two nesting Toppl Zogoflexes. The dog has to take these apart to get all the food.

Toppl® Treat Toy | Dog Toy Treat Dispenser | West Paw Toppl

Toppl is a treat-keeping, mentally-stimulating, puzzle dog toy that offers infinite options to mix up treats and meals. Made in the USA from durable Zogoflex material.

www.westpaw.com

Another option for wet food is spreading it on a thin layer on a large cookie sheet, or smearing it in the bottom of multiple muffin tins.
Dogs were meant to work for their food, and then tear up a carcass, so a little effort is good for them!
Stay well,
Sara

 

[Gene&Janet]

Hi! I am sure Dr Jeff has mentioned this to you but how about a snuffle mat? Not sure what kind of food you are offering (probably only works for kibble or dry food) but even after meal if give some ground up freeze dried meat/organs.? Keeps Tater Tot (~11 lb shih tzu) busy for 20+ minutes!!

Hi, We have just started using the mat with a tiny bit of freeze dried heart. He does love it too, but is still on a pretty restricted diet. He Would love to eat kibble and anything crunchy, but is just eating limited fresh food now. Maybe he needs to use the mat more though. Thank you ?

 

[Gene&Janet]

Try feeding in a puzzle toy, like two nesting Toppl Zogoflexes. The dog has to take these apart to get all the food.

Toppl® Treat Toy | Dog Toy Treat Dispenser | West Paw Toppl

Toppl is a treat-keeping, mentally-stimulating, puzzle dog toy that offers infinite options to mix up treats and meals. Made in the USA from durable Zogoflex material.

www.westpaw.com

Another option for wet food is spreading it on a thin layer on a large cookie sheet, or smearing it in the bottom of multiple muffin tins.
Dogs were meant to work for their food, and then tear up a carcass, so a little effort is good for them!
Stay well,
Sara

Hello, I will dig a muffin tin out of the cupboard and try it in the morning! I will also look into the Zogoflexes. When we fed Marty kibble in the past he did enjoy digging it out of some of our dog toys or searching for it when we hid it. He still enjoys ripping up dog toys. Thank you Dr. Sara.

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Thanks for your question Gene and Janet and for the replies Dr. Nova and Sara.

I think it's an awe-some gift to have a dog who "wolfs down" his food. Loving food is much healthier, IMHO, than any animal who won't eat and is disconnected from food.

Has he always eaten so quickly? Does he satiate after a meal?

Any change can be a clue of an internal energetic imbalance. If that is the case, then you may want to start tracking the symptom and how it changes after the homeopathic medicines you use.

Also, is there any food he doesn't particularly like. Archie also inhales his food but eats slower if we mix in pieces of celery.

 

[Gene&Janet]

Hello Dr Jeff, Marty does seem to love food and I can’t think of anything in particular that he didn’t like or wouldn’t eat. It doesn’t seem like he has always eaten this fast, fast but not this frantically maybe. He doesn’t seem to be full afterward. Right now we are just using the pulsatilla every other night a few hours after his evening meal. I will look more closely at each of these and the connections. Thank you

 

[Dr. Jeff]

You're welcome.

I also found that the juice from a pack of sauerkraut slows Archie down. But that may be from the concentrated sauerkraut flavor.

Mushing down the food around the slow feeder may also help you: