Dog eats so fast, she will choke and vomit!! Best way to resolve??

[DebinCA]

(Not sure if this should be under health or behavior.)

I adopted/rescued an older lab female a year and a half ago. She is a GREAT dog, very sweet, mostly obeys commands. But she is a lab, and as such, she is VERY food motivated. When she eats, I've gotten her into the habbit of sitting some what calmly, before I'll put her meal down. Almost all of the time, she preemptively SITS for me, while I'm getting her food ready. (She really is a good girl!!) But she eats so FAST, she chokes on her food and I end up feeding her small scoops forcing her to eat a little slower.

Any one else have this issue? Any helpful hints other than just what I'm doing? She is also a SNAPPER when I feed her treats. That may have to be another thread!!

[rainbow]

LOL....I have one of those food motivated labs too. I put a Kong in his bowl so he has to eat around it which slows him down.

I have no idea why he doesn't take the Kong out of the bowl first but he doesn't .....guess he is in too much of a hurry to get at his food.

If you don't have a Kong you could use tennis ball, etc. or put a small bowl upside down in her feeding dish. Another option would be to spread out her food in a large baking pan.

Good luck.

[hazelrunpack]

Another trick to try--we noticed recently when we started adding yogurt and pumpkin to kibble, it made the kibble really sticky. Slowed them all down during meal times. Don't know if it would work with a labby, though--they do seem to be rather exuberrant at mealtimes! But it might be worth a shot. We used about 2 Tbsp of yogurt (a natural probiotic) and a tsp of pumpkin (a natural source of fiber)...the biggest of our dogs is about 60 pounds.

[edwpang]

For Butter, I uses a ceramic mug to get food from the food container, and make him eat directly from it. With normal food bowl, he can finish within a minute, but eating directly from the mug, it takes several minutes for him to finish the same amount of food.

[mollywog]

those are all really good ideas. I will have to try the Kong idea with Molly tonight! It could also stem from your rescue's past, maybe she grew up having to hoover up her food before other dogs could get to it!?
It must be the lab in Molly that makes her CRAZY about food too. She sometimes gets greedy/ overexcited about treats and snaps too, so I try to hold the treat in a closed fist so that she can't just snap it out of my hand. Once she CAREFULLY licks or nudges my hand, I then reward her with the treat.

[kimnmark]

Originally Posted by hazelrunpack

Another trick to try--we noticed recently when we started adding yogurt and pumpkin to kibble, it made the kibble really sticky.

I'm going to try that. My lab inhales 1 cup of dry kibble in 9 seconds. No crunching, no choking, no vomiting. We put a Kong in her dish & it slows her down to 21 seconds .

Then she sits down & watches the other dogs eat their food, and I swear they linger over their meals just to torment her

[mollywog]

tried the Kong trick. It works!!!

[hazelrunpack]

Originally Posted by kimnmark

Then she sits down & watches the other dogs eat their food, and I swear they linger over their meals just to torment her

Seems that way sometimes, doesn't it!?

I think that mug idea is ingenious, edwpang! But the sound of teeth hitting the mug would give me the willies! (I have a dentist appt on Monday... ...so I'm a little sensitive about teeth right now! )

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by rainbow

I have no idea why he doesn't take the Kong out of the bowl first but he doesn't ....

I always wondered the same with Nelly if she does , it's only when her bowl is empty of food.

[edwpang]

Originally Posted by hazelrunpack

Seems that way sometimes, doesn't it!?

I think that mug idea is ingenious, edwpang! But the sound of teeth hitting the mug would give me the willies! (I have a dentist appt on Monday... ...so I'm a little sensitive about teeth right now! )

I know what you mean. BTW, I have to say it's better to use a stainless steel mug, otherwise the pup may break the mug...

[Sabine]

Another possibility: Let her "earn" all her food and make her work for it. Great for training a dog. On a dry day you can also spread the food all over the ground in your yard and she'll be busy for a while hunting it down.

[Purpledomino]

There are several different bowls designed for the greedy eater if you want to check them out. They may have them at your petstore as well, I'm not sure if they are only available online or not. A large smooth stone (too big to swallow!) would do the trick too.

http://www.dapperpetstore.com/dogbow...FR8ViQodu3ZKWA

http://www.gizmag.com/go/5717/

[DebinCA]

Thanks for all of the great ideas!! I've tried putting a tennis ball in her bowl, that does help slow her down quite well. I'm still giving her scoop of food in little bits, around the tennis ball. I do have her SIT for her food, which she does quite fast.

I'll have to either FIND our KONG, or go get a new one. I know I used to have a couple. I used to give my boy, when he was a "chew on everything" puppy, the KONG with peanut butter in it. That was a great trick. Who knew the KONG was such a multi-purpose toy.

[rainbow]

Originally Posted by Frenchy

I always wondered the same with Nelly if she does , it's only when her bowl is empty of food.

LOL....same with Chase. He takes the Kong out of his dish after he's finished eating and checks it out to see if mom stuffed anything else in there for him.

[rainbow]

DebinCA, glad to hear that the tennis ball in the dish is helping. It doesn't "have" to be a Kong......anything that is too large to swallow can be used.

[Etown_Chick]

A friend of mine with that problem used to feed the dog outside. She'd toss his kibble all over the ground. He had to run and around and pick up each individual piece. Worked well.