not chewing when eating??

[mama fletch]

so... Truman is 11 weeks old. I have started putting his food out on a towel (something I read somewhere on here ) because he INHALES it. There have been times he has coughed, and up came a piece of kibble! We have some 'samples' of different kinds of food from the pet food store, and have been using this as treats for training. He does the same thing! I will click and give him a piece of kibble and it is GONE. No chewing at all. Is this ok? What in the world could I do to slow him down??

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

You don't want him inhaling his food, but not chewing is pretty common. Even my guys that eat slow do not chew their food (I have 3 and none of them do).

On slowing him down you can do what you're doing putting it on a towel, you could stuff a Kong with his food, you could put a LARGE rock in the middle of his bowl so that he has to work around it to get the food out. As long as he isn't inhaling it I wouldn't stress over not chewing it.

 

[sriley]

I have the same issue with one of my pups. From day one, he's been a food inhaler. He's now 9 months. I put a tablespoon of plain, fat-free yogurt in with his kibble (just enough to lightly coat the food) and that slows him down. The yogurt makes the kibble stick to the bottom and sides of the bowl so he has to work a little harder at getting the food out of the bowl and into his vacuum cleaner of a mouth

I should note that he doesn't chew his food, either. Before I began adding yogurt to his meals, he'd eat so fast that the food would come back up within five minutes of him eating and it would look exactly like it did in the bowl (only wet). Not a single morsel had been chewed. From a health perspective, I don't think inhaling food is something to be too concerned about (they're still getting the nutritional benefits of the food), but it may cause problems down the road in terms of dental health since chewing helps remove plaque and tartar from the teeth. I brush my guys' teeth and provide them with plenty of bones to chew on which, in Sarge's case (he's my food inhaler), is really important since he does have a tendency to inhale.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your pup

 

[Althea]

I don't think it's unusual. None of my guys chew their food. I also use yogurt to help slow Suki down until she's a little older. Then I am getting her a bloat bowl.

The problem with gulping and inhaling food is that they can also suck in air, which heightens the risk of bloat. I just lost my girl Cairo to bloat in February -- I cannot tell you how awful it was. The worst way I could imagine her to go, barring severe injury. It was heart-breaking -- I'm tearing up even typing this. I highly recommend slowing them down as much as you can. Bloat bowls are either sectioned or have raised sections that force your pooch to eat around them, which effectively slows them down. Putting kibble on a towel is a great idea, and I often feed Suki with a huge kong. We stuff it with food and cranberries, a little peanut butter, and she can eat while we eat, without driving us crazy. I fill it twice to equal her food amount.

 

[kathysboxer]

Here is a type of bowl you can buy to slow them down:

Contech EatBetter Plastic Food Bowl in Blue at PETCO

You can also put a ball in the bowl which will slow them down.
I have been lucky that my 2 will eat fast, but at least no that fast!!