How to Slow Down Your Dog’s Eating

We all know our dog’s rush of excitement when the food bowl is about to be placed down. The eager look, sitting obediently and with furious energy, only to wolf down the wet food faster than one can take a breath. And some don’t even wait for it to touch the floor. They’re keen eaters.

Cute as it is, it can be bad for your dog’s health. In the short term, choking, vomiting, and bloating may happen. In the long, life-threatening conditions such as gastric dilution.

The solution is to watch how our dogs eat and then find ways to slow them down. Read on, and we’ll discuss the risks and how to implement habits that encourage your four-legged friend to eat slower.

Why Slow Down Your Dog’s Eating?

When dogs eat, a point doesn’t come when they’ve had enough. They’ll keep going until the food is gone and then look at you with those eyes to get more. This instinct can lead to problems such as bloat, vomiting, nutritional deficiencies, and even diarrhea. Over time, this eating habit can lead to long-term health issues that require veterinary medicine.

Slow Eating Strategies for Your Dog

Use Slow Feeder Bowls

Many slow-feeder bowls are available to prolong your dog’s meal time. Some are designed with textures, so your dog has to forage to get the food. This is rewarding to them and slows down the process. You can also feed your dog with snuffle mats, which are heavily textured to slow eating down.

Puzzle Feeders & Interactive Toys

You can also purchase food puzzles, which give your dog the mental stimulation for enrichment and ration meal time. There are other interactive toys, too; some act as a food dish to stop your dog from eating too fast (and add a game to boot!), while others act as scent games.

Homemade Slow Feeders

Dogs love food, so why not make a DIY hobby out of it? If you’re so inclined, you can build your own slow feeder and fill it with kibble, wet food, or other food dogs eat.

Feeding Techniques & Practices

Divide Meals into Portions

As dog owners, it’s within our power to ration our dog’s food to encourage the slow feeder lifestyle. To that end, you can divide meals into portions. You can make your dog work for each portion if you like. Dogs’ reward systems are triggered with this form of training.

Hand Feeding

You can also measure smaller portions into your hand and hand feed them. This is a guaranteed way for a pet parent to avoid furious speed eating, as it puts the power into your hand. Literally.

Training and Behavioral Approaches

Obedience Training

It might be worth crossing the feeding schedule with some obedience training. This will train your dog in some good dinner-time manners and create a structure, routine, and rewards system around your dog’s eating.

This is particularly effective for a pet owner with multiple dogs, as they are harder to control when competing for food. Try making your dog sit, fetch, or do some other action in return for food.

Encouraging Slower Eating Habits

Like with numerous other forms of dog training, slower eating habits should be rewarded and positively reinforced. You can do this in many ways, from praise and strokes to further treats. As long as the action is reinforced immediately (it’s no good doing it later; our dogs won’t understand it that way).

Mentoring & Supervision

To slow down your dog’s habits and maintain their tendency to eat slower, you should monitor your dog as you implement these strategies and adjust as required. If your dog’s eating fast again or starting to, then this is cause to start again and change how your puppy eats.

If your dog exhibits symptoms of food bloat or other illnesses, take your pup to a veterinarian immediately. While we can impart general advice from a well-informed perspective, we don’t know your dog personally and can’t vouch for them.

Dinner Time!

Classic dog training is the best way to implement good eating habits. It might be challenging to do this when you are out of the house or simply leaving your dog to their own devices.

That’s where the toys such as the puzzle feeder, snuffle mat, and interactive dispensers come into play. But impart the proper practices, and you will have a graceful, well-behaved pooch on your hands. You may even be able to take your dog to restaurants. The sky’s the limit.

Check out our related posts on all topics related to your dog’s health. The more you know, the better equipped you’ll be to handle doggy issues and well-being!

Frequently Asked Questions

Is fast eating a common issue in dogs?

Yes, it’s highly common in dogs. The result is that your dog doesn’t chew the food properly and takes in a lot of air, leading to unpleasant symptoms for your pooch, which you want to avoid.

Can fast eating lead to health problems?

It can cause gagging, choking, and vomiting in the short term. But in the long term, it can lead to more severe conditions such as gastric dilation, which can be life-threatening, especially in deep-chested dogs. So, if your pooch is of this ilk, regulating their eating speed is even more critical.

When should I seek professional help?

If your dog is exhibiting any severe symptoms, seek a veterinarian immediately. It’s best to be able to identify the symptoms. For gastric dilation, your dog will be less likely to engage in normal activities.

They may lose their appetite or even develop a bloated abdomen. This last one isn’t so easy to see. A thorough examination of your dog’s physiology is the way forward. A generally caring parental hand is required.