# HELP! english bulldog puppy eats to fast!



## mrskleinxoxo (Mar 2, 2011)

I have an 11 week old english bulldog puppy. She eats like she has never ate before every time I give her food or water. I know that there are definitely some risks to this, because I heard bloat can happen and I dont wish this to happen for my baby. I dont know what to do, or where to start. I started giving her portions of food when I feed her but she is so hyper about it, and still eats it terribly too fast. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated! I feed her once in the morning and once at night, and have been feeding her treats during the day with training. Should I be feeding her more? I just dont want her to gain a lot of weight since bulldogs are prone to do so. I just want her to be happy and healthy... I'm a worried puppy mom!


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## Deeken (Feb 14, 2011)

You can try soaking her food before feeding it or spreading it out on a cookie sheet to feed. I never feed out of dishes and generally use kibble for training and in work to eat toys but she's probably a bit young for a bunch of the work to eat toys right now. There are also slow feed dishes that you can buy or you can try sticking a ball in the middle of the dish to make her eat around it. Good luck. I'd love to see pics


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## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

There's a bowl on the market called the brake-fast bowl. It's got little prongs that stick up and the dog has to eat around them. I tried it, but my dog learned quickly how to eat around them, and it got to the point that the bowl wasn't slowing her down anymore.

There's also a lot of toys out there that are good for feeding meals out of. I like the Tricky Treats ball and the tug-a-jug. My dog hasn't eaten a meal out of a regular bowl in over a year.


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## Elana55 (Jan 7, 2008)

Get a large bowl. Put the food in the bowl. Put two or three LARGE smooth stones in the bowl (too large to be swallowed) on top of the food. The dog will have to move the stones to eat and this will slow her down. I did this with my GSD puppy. I don't need to now, but I did when she was younger. 

Puzzle food dispensing toys are good too (Buster Cube etc.).


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## LynnI (Mar 27, 2010)

At this age I would using her meals to hand feed and train using NILIF and It's Yer Choice ( both stickied in this training forum). The other suggestions would work for the times that you don't have the time to hand feed.


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## Carlito (Mar 1, 2011)

I would definitely consider feeding 3 times a day until she's about 6-8 months of age. Weight should always be controlled with exercise. I remember my parent's golden retriever was overweight even only feeding twice a day, but it was because they never took him out for exercise, not his diet. I live in a fairly condensed suburban neighborhood with at least 300 dogs within a square mile, but I only see about 10 dogs being regularly exercised by their owners.

I would also take a close look at what you're feeding your dog. If you're feeding a low quality, grain based food she's likely to not get much nutritional value from her meals. This can lead to being hungrier faster and cause famish if she's waiting a solid 10-12 hours between feedings. Some things to consider.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

mrskleinxoxo said:


> I have an 11 week old english bulldog puppy. She eats like she has never ate before every time I give her food *or water*. I know that there are definitely some risks to this, because I heard bloat can happen and I dont wish this to happen for my baby. I dont know what to do, or where to start. I started giving her portions of food when I feed her but she is so hyper about it, and still eats it terribly too fast. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated! I feed her once in the morning and once at night, and have been feeding her treats during the day with training. Should I be feeding her more? I just dont want her to gain a lot of weight since bulldogs are prone to do so. I just want her to be happy and healthy... I'm a worried puppy mom!


Dogs should ALWAYS have water available. I mean, you can take it up an hour before bedtime for puppies to help with potty training, but otherwise the water should be down at all times. Not sure if you meant that you were only giving water a couple times a day or not, just thought I'd throw that out there! 

As for the food, I think everyone else covered that nicely. There are a lot of options to slow down a too-fast eater.


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## mrskleinxoxo (Mar 2, 2011)

Ok. So I took a lot in consideration, and started trying different techniques. The best one I've seen is to scatter her food on the floor, it takes up more time for her to eat it. I also tried tonight using her food as a reward, and she alone has picked up the lie down position and rollover just from using her food as a treat substance instead of actual treats. Her water is always down, but whenever she drinks it, she always gulps it down really really fast and I can see her belly getting bigger and bigger by the second. I try to watch her drinking and stop her while she is drinking to make sure she takes a breath. So it's not just food, it's drinking water too. I feed her science diet, the healthy puppy development formula. My vet recommended to me so I have been keeping her on it. On the package says "daily amount feed 1 3/4 cups (for her weight)", at first I thought well is that all day? But it couldn't be so I've been feeding her that amount twice a day. I'm not sure if I should feed her more or feed her 3 times a day, but im not sure of the amount. The more and more I do research about the bloating and eating fast makes me so nervous, I hope eventually she'll grow out of it! Thanks to all who have commented, I love the ideas, and I really appreciate this forum website. Without it I dont know what i'd do! I have a vet appointment for her 12 weeks shots and vaccines, maybe I'll ask her for some tips etc then as well?.. Another thing with training, she is so aggressive about any treat that is in my hand its hard to get her to settle down. I take her on walks around my area every day sometimes 3 times a day, she loves to chew her bones, and loves to play ball. So exercise shouldn't be an issue either.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

If the package says 1 3/4 cups daily, that means per day, not per meal. Definitely ask your vet about that when you go in. It's especially important to keep English Bulldogs at a healthy weight.


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## debpass (Oct 13, 2009)

We had the same problem with our Rottie when he was young. We got a "slow feed bowl", and it really helped. We had the same fears about bloat-this really did the trick. They have to eat slower because of the construction of the bowl. He still uses it.


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