# How to get puppy to stop inhaling food and chew it instead



## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

I dare say most dogs don't _chew_ their food in the way that humans do...they rip/tear, gulp and swallow. It would not serve them well, if they were competing with others for food, to stop and chew each mouthful...
Looking at their teeth, most are pointed for ripping and tearing.,..very few have any flat surface to speak of. Even those back molars have a raised edge for grinding bones/tendons..
You can slow a dog down...by scattering food on a cookie sheet..using food puzzles putting a large rock in their dish or using a muffin tin...


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## dexter0125 (Mar 20, 2011)

They have things a places like Petsmart/petco (maybe places like Wal mart and Target, no sure on that though..) that you can put in their bowl, it's almost like a ball, and it rolls around as they eat only letting them get a certain amount of food at a time. OR you could get the Kong toy that dispenses food. They roll it around and food falls out as they play.

Sorry for any typos...using my phone.


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## iansgran (May 29, 2010)

you can get the special bowl with a bump in the middle, or you can feed from cupcake pans or a bundt pan.


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## WendyS (Apr 6, 2011)

You can try getting the kong wobbler. Put the food in there and it dispenses a little at a time. Keeps them mentally stimulated from playing and fed at the same time. Some people on here say their dog plays with the wobbler for 30-45 minutes!


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## wmag (Mar 17, 2011)

My Kasey used to eat all her food in a minute. Now I put it in the kong and it takes her at least 5 minutes. Not sure if she chews but it has at least slowed her down and she is not gagging or burping anymore. When she is done she takes another 10 minutes playing with the kong to make sure she has everything out of it!


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## oakleysmommy (Feb 20, 2011)

i used to use a small plastic dish inside Oakleys bowl it slowed him alittle. Now at 6 months i dont use the small dish but he still doesnt "chew" his food he just inhales it just slower!! Now my lab on the other hand has always "chewed" her food and has always been a slow eater, kind of odd for a Lab!!


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## DreamingGold (Mar 16, 2011)

My pup does the same thing, so much that I posted an almost identical thread about a month ago! Lol, the responses were similar- so here is what we do each day:

Breakfast: Out of the Kong Wobbler

Lunch: Depending on time, either Kong or hand fed- and we use hand feeding as a training opportunity. A few pieces of kibble for each command. I will also frequently use my daughters as another socialization opportunity for him. They sit in two chairs about 6 ft. apart and take turns calling him, making him sit and potentially another command before a small handful of kibble. 

Dinner: Hand fed- Hubby does this and right now we are using it to teach him fetch. Not crazy backyard catch, just yet. It's just in the kitchen, so he'll throw a ball or disc 4-5 feet away. The pup only gets a handful of kibble after he fetches, returns, drops and sits. Our pup is extremely food motivated, so it's been working fantastic! 

Anyway, it has made feeding a fun time for us and it slows our pup's eating way down. HTH!


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

We have the same problem with MacKenzie, so we bought one of those bowls that have three bumps in the middle. Slowed her down a whole lot. 

When she was a puppy, we also went to a puppy food that had more protein to fill her up too, because she always seemed like she was starving too.


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## DaisyGolden (Jan 4, 2008)

My Sailor eats just like that and the cupcake/muffin pan works really well for her.


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## dexter0125 (Mar 20, 2011)

Hand feeding is good for trust building too. I hand fed mine for at least a month or so. now, if I need to take his food bowl or something from him for whatever reason its not an issue. it may not be only bc of the hand feeding but I think it probably helped. 

I don't have an issue with fast eating. thankfully. I thought I did when he was a little younger so I hand fed...but I want the Kong wobbler just so he'll have a super fun new toy. Hehe.


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

My 6 year old Brooks still eats every meal as if he hasn't been fed in weeks.
I suppose the good thing is, I don't have to worry about him being a picky eater


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## mfreib1 (Apr 8, 2011)

I would say hand feeding or a food dispensing toy such as the Kong Wobble is your best bet. We do the mini muffin pan thing a lot too but she still inhales the food with the muffin pan :doh:


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## puppydogs (Dec 6, 2010)

Wow it's been a year already since I posted this! Thinking of switching to another food such as Acana, the kibble size is bigger than Fromms. 

Curious if there are any new solutions to the dog inhaling food problem? Even if I hand feed or put something in the bowl to slow it down, she doesn't chew!


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## xoerika620xo (May 25, 2012)

puppydogs said:


> Wow it's been a year already since I posted this! Thinking of switching to another food such as Acana, the kibble size is bigger than Fromms.
> 
> Curious if there are any new solutions to the dog inhaling food problem? Even if I hand feed or put something in the bowl to slow it down, she doesn't chew!


what i do is spread it all over the floor. it looks like a big mess but at-least he's taking a while for it to go down into his stomach. my pup has a sensitive stomach so when he would eat really fast he always throws up. In my car we have wipes and bags because he'll throw up his food if he just ate so we try not to feed him right before going into the car


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## IrishTiger (Nov 23, 2012)

I'm also concerned about Max. It takes him less than a minute to eat a cup and a half of his EVO Red meat. He burps a lot, and tonight for the first time it seemed as if he had hiccups.

I'm terrified of bloat. Absolutely terrified.


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## Joeysmom (Nov 30, 2012)

My puppy does the same thing! He eats Acana and does not chew. Gone in less the 30 seconds. We have tried the divided dish and it helps slow him down but does not help with the chewing. Joey is now almost 4 months old and this has been a concern for us. We feed him away from our Lab ( Joey can out eat him).
We have just started trying 3 dishes.....the first one has hardly anything in it. When he is calm and relaxed I hand feed the second dish. Again after he is calm he then gets the third (he can see them on the counter) the third has most of the food in it. I keep saying " calm" when he's eating if he's not I take it away. We just started this so still in the testing stages, I do however think that he is chewing most of his food. Oh yes, the third bowl is the divided one.




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## bljohnson4 (Jul 7, 2012)

Cooper doesn't eat too fast but putting his food in a Kong does slow him down a lot. Have you tried that? If you wet the food down a little while before you feed it, then it gets sticky and harder to get out. We will do this if we want to keep him busy for a while....but only about 1/2-1/3 of his food fits in at a time.


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