puppy inhales food

[jerseyjef]

my puppy is 9 months old and ever since weve had him he inhales his food at feeding time in record time. he currenty gets 1 1/2-1 3/4 cup of food 3 times daily. once in the morning, once around 2 and again around 7. he sits politely, salivating all over the floor awaiting for the "come" command to eat and then finishes the entire bowl of food in under 45 seconds. i dont even think he chews the food as it came back up one time (and one time only) in the same solid form as it went down. its as if he has never eaten before. there are no other pets challenging him for the food so i dont understand what the rush is. sometimes after he inhales his food he will walk around with a disgusting belching sound for 5 minutes as if he is going to throw it up at any given second. is this healthy? is this normal?

 

[gmacleod]

It doesn't sound as though it's agreeing with him (eating so fast), and in any case, is a factor that increases the risk of bloat (which can be fatal).

A couple of things you could try for slowing him down would be putting a couple of large rocks in his food bowl that he would have to eat around (they need to be too large and too heavy for him just to throw out). Or alternatively, ditch the food bowel altogether and try feeding him is kibble spread out on a large towel. He'll still vacuum it up, of course, but that speed of vacuuming is likely to be reduced if he's got to pick his food up bit by bit.

 

[jerseyjef]

the bloat is my main concern. i will try the rock method. i also see that there are some bowls designed with an obstacle in the middle for the dog to eat around. appreciate the help.

 

[tianthai]

I had this problem before and consulted this site and got answer also from gmacleod (Thanks Gmacleod!). First I used the stones and my dog picked the stone out. So I tried the towel and put his kibbles, that worked very well. There is a design called Brake-fast bowl (http://www.brake-fast.net/). And also there is something called Buster Cube but more for treats.
Now I supplement him with shredded carrot on top of his kibbles, he slows down much more. It takes him more time to eat long shredded carrot.
Good luck!

 

[TossBranAbi]

Brady inhales his food too, I tried the rock method and it didn't slow him down enough. I kind of found out by accident that he does better eating off the floor. I simply put his kibble on the kitchen floor, by the time he is done sucking it up, is spread everywhere but he gets it all. I used to think it was rude of me to make him eat off the floor that we walk on but it is wiped up everytime he is done eating and about a million other times a day wiping muddy paw prints up. I also thought about how he goes outside and eats dirt and licks his bum, eats nasty buried bones, etc.
I would rather have him eat off the floor than to get bloat.