Doodle eats way too fast?!

[LucyWhitePaw]

Lucy is doing wonderful at 11 weeks old (she even stays and won't eat her food until I say she can), BUT her eating habits are awful! She literally takes seconds to eat her entire bowl of food (then of course, she seems starving afterwards ~ looking for more!) and it makes me nervous. Don't poodles have issues with bloat? Can't eating too quickly cause this? Is there anything I could/should do to help this food eating frenzy?

[Remy]

I have to say that I never had this problem with Remy but I have heard that if you give them a kibble with slightly larger pieces it can help slow them down as they have to chew them rather than just inhale!!!

[KingstonTodd]

Poodles do have issues with bloat. It is is rare, but when it shows up in a breeders line they usually spay the dogs since there is a genetic aspect to it. Fast eating is also thought to play a role, as does vigorous exercise after eating/drinking a lot. I have a fast eater, and I just dump his food in the bottom of his crate and spread it our for him to eat. It slows him down to pick it up piece by piece. Really helped reduce his gas

[LucyWhitePaw]

Originally Posted by KingstonTodd

Poodles do have issues with bloat. It is is rare, but when it shows up in a breeders line they usually spay the dogs since there is a genetic aspect to it. Fast eating is also thought to play a role, as does vigorous exercise after eating/drinking a lot. I have a fast eater, and I just dump his food in the bottom of his crate and spread it our for him to eat. It slows him down to pick it up piece by piece. Really helped reduce his gas

That is a great idea Todd! Lucy eats so fast, that she usually burps afterwards. I have never heard a dog burp before, so it is the strangest thing to me. It must be from inhaling her food. Did you ever hear about those bowls they make to help them eat slower? My dh was telling me about them, but I haven't looked into them yet.

[Snelj23]

I feed my dog with this:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=3641000

Can't get much slower than 1-2 pieces of kibble at a time!

[lindamarie]

Great advice, Todd!
Bogart eats slowly. In fact, he's the only dog I ever had that does......
But........on occasions, if I mix something in his food like Chicken........he gobbles and and then barfs!

[deepnite10]

i ve never had that problem with Toby..if anything, its totally the
opposite..

[AJWhiting]

Hey!

My Oliver eats like a mad man too. One thing that I do is put a couple of Kings in his food bowl. He has never figured out that he can just pull them out and inhale his food, so he noses around them to get at the meal. It slows him down a bunch!

Adam

[CindynEarl]

what are kings?

[AJWhiting]

Kongs.......


sorry......

[LucyWhitePaw]

Originally Posted by AJWhiting

Kongs.......

KIng Kongs! Great idea!

[CharlieBear's Mom]

What a great idea to spread the dog food out to slow them down. Charlie inhales his food and then burps every morning....he can also be quite gassy at times I am definitely going to try this out to see if it helps!

[utchuckd]

I spread McGee's food out too. Sometimes I use a couple of Kongs too. I have a regular red one and also one that's kind of octagonal, I think it's called the stuff it ball. These two together hold almost a cup and a half of food, and with the rest of it spread out, he has to work for most of it and eats it all slower. I've seen a drastic drop in his gas, basically eliminating it.