Question by Baxter’s Dad: Baxter is a swallower. He scarfs down his dog food- FAST. Will bigger kibbles make his stop to chew?
He chews his dentley treats, and will chew a larger chunk of chicken or watermelon so I know he CAN chew, its just a matter of how bad is it that he doesn’t chew his food. He is regular and I am not worried about his digestion.
Best answer:
Answer by Pussycat
maybe he needs to eat more often, seems like he was really hungry
What do you think? Answer below!
Dogs don’t chew their food. Don’t worry about it.
I had a cat who had this problem. I was told to put a rubber ball (one that isn’t small enough for them to swallow) in the food. This way they have to move the ball around in order to eat the food. That way – they have to take their time and wont overeat and get sick.
dogs are like most men. they gulp.
I think most dogs eat that way. It’s just their nature. I’m sure it’s fine.
Don’t mess with Baxter. Bigger is just likely to choke him. Bolting is his style and he won’t quit.
Well, I know my dog eats faster when someone is by her. She eats faster because she thinks you are trying to steal it from her. So she wants to scarf it down before you take it away.
Well, if he doesn’t realize the kibbles are larger, he may choke. Don’t worry about it if he is healthy and passing stools normally.
Some dogs, especially the larger breeds, do tend to scarf it down.
He is a dog – maybe a lab or a retreiver or pointer type. They just inhale it and that is that. People need to chew food – don’t try to project this kind of stuff on your dog.
take and put some large objects in his bowl that he has to work around to get to his food, but make sure that he can’t swallow them. he could get choked if he don’t slow down and chew.
Get him some doggie Porn
No. He’ll just scarf down bigger chunks of food. I had a dog that did the same thing. That’s just the way he eats.
i had the same problem and my dog almost choked
so dont immeditly switch to big ones just every time you get more dog food get him just a little bit bigger every time.
He is fine .. just showing off his doggieness. Remember … he evolved from wild pack animals .. when they took down prey it was every man (or dog) for himself. The faster you could stuff things down your throat the better off you were. What you see as a possible problem is actually a tribute to the strong linage of your dog.
you could switch his food, but that could cause his digestive system to react, which, if it isn’t necessary i wouldn’t do.
i would just give him bits of food at a time. for instance, if you are cooking dinner and it’s time to feed baxter, then just give him 1/2 cup, then when he’s done give him another, etc….
you’re right there, so it’s not ahuge inconvenience to do this.
there is also a “wait” command that can help, but it will take some time and he should be familiar with some other commands first. check out some dog training books…they may be able to help with the wait command.
take care and good luck!
Some dogs just gulp their food and no, bigger kibbles will not cause him to chew up his food. You might try to place a smooth LARGE rock in the middle of his dog bowl and surround it with his dry kibbles. This will make him have to eat slower in order to avoid the rock. Now…I am talking about a rock too big to fit into his mouth. That is the only thing that has worked for my my gulping clients.
how big is this dog?? how much are you feeding him?? Bigger chunks could make him choke!!! Be careful
our lab scarfs food too…we feed him 2 times a day…instead of all at once!
All dogs “Chomp and swallow” one guy on animal planet dipped a long shoe lace is meat juice and gave it to his dog. He held the other end. after a few seconds the dog had downed the whole thing. The man then pulled the lace out, and there was not one bite mark on it. The best thing to do is make sure that if you give him “People food” that it be smaller bites. If the food is rubbery and they just swallow it, you don’t want the dog to choke. Regular dog food is fine for your dog. He will learn that no-one is trying to take his food away, and he will slow down. If there “were” or “are” other pets around, this may cause the dog to think his food will be taken, or he will starve and not get enough. Good luck : )
My Lab does this also especially if another of the pets are around. He threw up the other day and the whole thing came up whole and unchewed! I fed him out of my hand and he chewed them but I don’t want to always do that–go figure–anyway, throwing them all over the floor made him slow down but I don’t always want a dirty floor, so yes bigger kibbles do help but I can’t find weight control ones so I just have gone back to feeding him a little at a time.
Either place a large rock on top of his food so he has to slow down while eating, or get a treat ball and feed him is meals out of that. He will have to work at it and it will slow him down. Good mental exercise for them also!!!!
Christy gave a very good suggestion. Placing a large rubber ball in his food dish makes it harder for him to inhale his food. Most dogs dont have a problem doing this with their food and often outgrow it but if he is larger breed dog that is deep chested, he can be prone to develop bloat…gastrodilitation volvulus and it is a potentially fatal condition in which the animal sucks down so much air that the stomach flips, causing shock. Many larger breeds are susceptible to this. Withholding water at the same time as feeding can help reduce this from happening. Give water about an hour or so after his eating to help reduce the risk of bloat.
bigger kibbles might actually be worse for him…he could choke. My boxer does the same thing, and she absolutely refuses to chew her food (though she chews treats, bones, etc). I switched to a smaller kibble food, and she seems to have an easier time getting it down.
It can be a problem that he eats to fast. There is some thought that it increases their chance of getting “bloat” which is VERY bad!!
Bigger kibble pieces might make him slow down some. If he is your only dog you can try some of the toys that you put the treats inside and they roll them with their nose to make the treats fall out. In this case you would put his food inside and then he would have to slow down some. What I have done with mine since I have more then one dog is, to hold their bowl and MAKE them eat slower. You let them have a bite then they have to wait a few seconds, then another and so on and so forth. Takes some time but they can learn to change their eating habits. Another trick is to put a large rock (make sure it’s to big to swallow) in their bowl to where they have to pick around the rock to get the food.
I free feed at my house and have never had a dog wolf its food. Dogs act like that because they are afraid that they food will get taken away if they do not eat it right away, either by another animal or the bowl being picked up. My dog (and every dog before this one) picks and nibbles, and only eats when she is hungry. Your dog is either not getting enough food to eat or fears losing it if he does not eat it right NOW.
Interesting to hear how many vets are once again treating a symptom, but not the problem.
NO dog “chews” food!!!
If you use a larger chunk,you’ll risk CHOKING!!!
Leave him alone,he’s FINE!!!
Well, if the whole “this is a behavioral problem” thing is true, no one has clued my dogs in. I have one dog who is somewhat food aggressive and nervous about somoene taking his food: he nibbles. My other dog is completely unconcerned about anyone taking his food and is not in any way food aggressive and he bolts. He just LOVES food. More than anything on the planet!
I feed my dogs their food frozen into Kongs. That way they have to both work to get it out and the one who is a bolter is prevented from doing so.
The only real problem with bolting is the risk of bloat or torsion, which is more common in large breed dogs, but can happen to any dog. Learn the signs of bloat (look it up on this here InterWebz) and remember that if a dog begins to show signs of bloat, they have 20 minutes to make it to an emergency clinic and get treatment. That’s a VERY short window. Bloat can also be somewhat controlled for if you limit your dog’s activity right after they eat. If you’ve got a bolter, just make sure that they stay inside the house and calm after they eat.
my dog also doesn’t chew her food, and she doesn’t really have digestion problems. unfortunatly, she forgets that she ate and eats her poop
i wouldn’t really worry about it, unless he starts getting sick, or won’t eat anymore. you could take him to the vet just for a checkup, to make sure. good luck!
leave his food out most of the day and keep the bowl full .Hes trying to eat to fast
You need to watch that Baxter does not get bloat. It can be deadly. It comes from gulping down food and or water too fast-causing air to get into the stomach and causing the stomach to twist, cutting off the blood supply. He needs to be fed less amounts, several times a day-Make him take it in slowly, and do not do too much exercise before or after eating for at least 1 hour.