Eating too quickly can cause all sorts of health problems. How can you slow down a greedy dog so that it eats at a normal pace?
Many dogs tend to devour the contents of their bowl too quickly.
Eating all the food in a few seconds can end up in serious health problems for your pet. The most dangerous of these are choking and gastric torsion.
The reason for this behaviour is often complex, which means that it is not always possible to stop a dog from eating rapidly.
Fortunately, there are several ways to slow down a greedy dog and prevent digestive problems. Giving him food in an olfactory mat, a bowl that slows eating or a food ball will prevent him from swallowing more food at once. It’s also a good idea to give a fast-eating dog 3-4 meals a day instead of just one and change the feeding place.
There are many reasons why some dogs may tend to eat greedily. Rapid swallowing of food is typical, among other things, for pets which were fed from a common bowl with other puppies in a kennel. This is because they learned from an early age that only eating quickly will allow them to outstrip the competition and get enough to eat. Pets that have been starved by their owner in the past, or that have been homeless and starving, may also be prone to this behaviour. Another reason why a dog eats too fast may be that it has a problem defending its resources against another pet or its handler. In many cases, it is not possible to identify the cause of the greedy eating. This makes it difficult to choose the right behavioural approach to nip the problem in the bud. Unfortunately, ignoring this behaviour in your dog can have many negative health consequences.
Why should you be careful when your dog eats too fast?
Eating too quickly can cause a variety of potentially fatal problems. In particular, a dog that eats too quickly is at risk of choking. Fragments of food that end up in the trachea instead of the oesophagus may not only cause unpleasant coughing, but also irritate the dog’s airways, or even block them completely and cause suffocation. Swallowing too big pieces of food is also a common cause of vomiting right after a meal. However, undoubtedly the greatest danger resulting from greedy eating is gastric torsion, which often leads to the death of the pet. Large, deep-chested dogs, in particular, are prone to this problem, although it can affect almost any pet. For this reason, every carer of a greedy dog should make every effort to slow down eating as much as possible and prolong meal times. But how to do this?
How do you slow down a pawing dog?
Unfortunately, we are not able to explain to your pet that eating too quickly will be harmful to him. Even pets whose greed often ends in vomiting do not give up eating greedily. The role of the caregiver, therefore, is to serve food to the dog in such a form and manner that he does not have the need or opportunity to swallow large amounts of food at once. Here are some ideas to help you slow down a greedy dog:
- Splitting the daily portion of food into several meals.
- Feeding your dog 3-4 meals will prevent him from over-stuffing his stomach with food and will reduce the risk of gastric torsion. Feeding your dog more frequently will also reduce the hunger your pet experiences between meals. This may prevent your dog from biting into its food so greedily.
- Feeding in a secluded area. Giving your pet meals in a separate area, bypassing your dog’s eating area or locking him in a cage with his food can make him feel more secure and prevent him from feeling the need to swallow his food.
- Bowls that slow food down. These types of bowls are usually irregularly shaped and have various nooks and crannies. They distribute the food in such a way that the pet cannot take too much food in its mouth at once. You can easily give your dog both dry and wet food in the food bowl. It is also suitable for pets who are fed a home diet of finer pieces.
- Upside-down bowl. Typical upside-down dog bowls are shaped to allow food to be placed in the cavity around the bottom. We can place any type of dog food in there.
- Scent mat. Hiding food in the thick fringes of the olfactory mat will not only prevent your dog from eating greedily but will also force him to sniff and make a mental effort. Unfortunately, we can only give your dog dry food in this way.
