Welcome to our “Detraining Your Pet” series, where we help you “detrain” your pet from those naughty or boring bad habits and get them back to being the best boys and girls.
Do you feed your dog and moments later his bowl is empty? Looks like you’re living with a gobbler. Some dogs practically inhale their food, and while they may think this is an efficient way to eat their food, eating quickly can cause them health problems.
Here are some tips to stop it when your dog eats too fast. We also explain why it is important to train them to break their habit of gobbling food.
What falls can rise again
Sometimes when a dog eats too fast or swallows water too fast, his body says “uh-uh” and the food or water comes straight back. This is called regurgitation, and it’s different from vomiting in many ways. Regurgitation is the passive emptying of food or water from the esophagus (the muscular tube connecting the mouth and stomach) with little or no warning. Unlike vomiting, there is no nausea or abdominal movement, and it is usually undigested food with slimy mucus coming out. Regurgitation also usually occurs shortly after eating or drinking.
If your dog regurgitates occasionally, there’s probably nothing to worry about. But if they regurgitate frequently, it could cause aspiration pneumonia, which is when regurgitated liquid and food are inhaled into their lungs. There are also medical causes of regurgitation, so talk to your veterinarian if your dog regurgitates frequently.
Swallowed air is potentially fatal
When dogs swallow their food or water, they are likely to swallow a lot of air with it. Most air comes out in burps, but air trapped in the stomach can cause bloating, especially in deep-chested dogs (breeds like Great Dane, Weimaraner, St. Bernard). Bloat is the common name given to two stomach disorders in dogs: gastric dilatation and gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV). Gastric dilation occurs when the stomach fills with gas and expands, and GDV occurs when the stomach fills with gas, distends, and twists on itself, resulting in an obstruction.
Gastric dilation and GDV are medical emergencies and life-threatening. You can read more about the symptoms in our Bloat versus GDV article, but if your dog is pacing, restless, has a hard or swollen abdomen, has dry retches, drools excessively, and has rapid breathing or difficult, consult a veterinarian immediately.
Think twice before filling that bowl
If your dog empties his bowl right away, you may think he’s still hungry and needs more food. But if you’re feeding the amount recommended by the dog food manufacturer or your veterinarian, that’s probably not the case. Giving your dog more food puts him at risk of becoming obese because he consumes more food (calories) than he should.
Some dogs (talking to you, Labrador Retrievers) will consume anything you put in front of them, hungry or not. If you stick to your dog’s recommended daily amount of food, he’s getting the calories and nutrients he needs to stay healthy and probably doesn’t need a supplement, no matter how much he can give you. ask for more.
Change your eating routine
Sometimes the reason dogs hoard their food is because they’re afraid someone else will eat it. If you have several dogs in your household, is there a dog that likes to finish other people’s food before the others have finished? Or do the dogs race each other to make sure they don’t miss anything? If your dog is a single dog and this is a rescue, it may be an inherited habit from his previous life.
You can help reduce this urgency to eat by feeding everyone in separate rooms. Make sure you don’t let them mix again until everyone is done eating. It may take them a while to realize that they don’t have to worry about their food disappearing, but it can eventually help slow down food consumption.
Another dietary routine change that can help is giving your dog smaller meal portions throughout the day. This way they can only eat a small amount at a time. Keep in mind that the feeding guidelines on all commercially manufactured pet foods relate to the total amount of food to be fed throughout the day. So be sure to divide this amount by the number of meals you feed per day. It’s also important to be consistent and try to feed the same amount of the same food at the same time each day to keep your dog’s digestive system regular.
Make them work for their food
Products like food puzzles, slow feeders, and snuff mats are great ways to slow down your dog’s eating habits and have the added benefit of mental stimulation. Food puzzles mean your dog has to work for their food. Some food puzzles are balls that your dog has to roll to get the food out; others are a little more complex and require your dog to pull levers, move something, or perform two tasks to find the food.
Snuff feeding mats are usually made from rubber mats with strips of fabric sticking out of them. When kibble is strewn across the mat, your dog has to search for food to find individual kibble. You can even get advanced sniff mats that also feature puzzles.
Slow feeders are less fussy, but they prevent your dog from chowing down on his food in one sip. One advantage of slow feeders is that you can use them for both dry and wet feeds. You can also make your own slow feeder using muffin tins or just spread their food on a cookie sheet.
Some dogs may never be completely inexperienced in teasing their food. But there are tricks you can use to slow down their gobbling and keep them healthy too!
RELATED: Detraining Your Pet: Stopping Your Dog From Begging
