# Gulping food



## newmom41 (Feb 1, 2009)

My 3 month old puppy gulps her food down in less than a minute! Is that normal?
I don't think she even chews it (dry dog food). I feed her twice a day, and each time she eats like she's starving! She is a shih-tzu/dashund mix.


----------



## BoxMeIn21 (Apr 10, 2007)

Most dogs _don't_ chew their kibble. Here are a few suggestions...You could try spreading her kibble out on a towel; you could try hand feeding little bits at a time; or you could try putting some large rocks in her bowl so she has to slow down and work to get the food out.


----------



## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

Unlike humans, dogs do not need to chew their food to begin digestion via mixing with saliva. Besides the suggestions above there are bowls called "brake stop" (?) and I've seen them at pet stores as well as in most of the popular online stores. They have large pegs that the dog has to negotiate around to get to the food.


----------



## StellaLucyDesi (Jun 19, 2008)

Briteday is right...my favorite of the bowls is one called the "slowdown" bowl by Durpet. I like it because it is made out of stainless steel, not plastic like most of the others I have seen. I ordered mine from Petfood Direct. It comes in 3 sizes (s,m,l). I ordered the small. It's for my Shih-poo, who gobbles his food. He gets 3/4 c. of food a day, split into 2 meals. Previously, he was finishing his meals waaaay before the other 2 dogs. Now he finishes at the same time or sometimes after LOL! I'm not saying that he chews his food any better, but it certainly has slowed down his eating. The small size bowl cost 11.99 plus tax/shipping, but it was well worth the cost!!


----------



## jnite (Jan 18, 2009)

My dachsie gulps all the time. Usually I'll just spread her food on the floor so she has to move to get it all.


----------



## DogsforMe (Mar 11, 2007)

It's perfectly normal. Tilba will polish off her meals in less than a minute & even quicker if she thinks Sooty or the cat will get it. If you have a back yard you could also try scattering the food around the lawn. Or try putting it in an empty soft drink bottle after taking off the plastic ring.


----------



## newmom41 (Feb 1, 2009)

Thanks guys, I feel better now!


----------



## KBLover (Sep 9, 2008)

Wow...Wally chews his kibble

Well, more like a crunch or two and then he's ready for the next mouthful. 

Guess that's where the expression "wolfing down your food" comes from~


----------



## Meghan&Pedro (Nov 6, 2006)

The good news is the psychologically a dog is SUPPOSED to eat everything in front of them. (picky eating dogs are mentally unbalanced)

BUT from a health stand point you certainly don't want a dog to eat so much, or so quickly that they regurgitate. 

If you are experiencing regurgitation then you can always feed them in an angel food cake pan, and if that works for you they do actually make a 'slow down' style pet food dish wish an uneven base to slow down eating.

As long as what's going in is staying in, and he's happy and healthy I wouldn't be concerned! All of my dogs eat in about 30 seconds.

Meghan


----------



## MrsJohnnyG (Jan 31, 2009)

I saw those slowdown bowls and decided to put small Kongs standing in the middle of the bowl (with part of their kibble in them) and it seems to be working... my puppies eat around the Kongs, then pull them out to get the kibble out of them as well.

I've been watching to see how quickly my pups wolf down their food because poodles are especially susceptible to bloat, but they're doing fine so far with a few Kongs to slow them down!


----------

