How do I get my dog to stop scarfing down his food?

Question

He's so afraid someones gonna take his food, he eats it so fast he doesn't even chew. We thought maybe he'd out grow it, but he's a little over a yr now & he's still doing it. How can we stop this?

Answer 1

My dog is 11 and still scarfs his food. If you are feeding the dog a lot make him take breaks after a few seconds we started doing that with our dog and are getting some results.

Answer 2

ohhh i know im getting 10pts for this.. if not-- not fair.

From the TV show  Its me or the dog, a dog trainer named Victoria Stillwell, goes to people houses who message her show, stating that they need help with their out of control pets, and the people doggie owners usually have 1-2 even 3 dogs and each have numerous problems. So a couple episodes ago, there was this girl and her boyfriend who’s dog was pooping all over the house, and after Victoria over sees what they did on a regular basics for awhile she immaturely knew what the problem was. The dog at his food TOO FAST!  

1-So what she did was tell the owner (you) to take the dogs bowl (empty) and put food in it.

2- Before you place it down, for the dog to eat it.

3-Make him come in front of you and sit. (It wont be hard getting him because of the food, but you must make him sit, to establish some dominance)

4- Take some food from his bowl, and pretend to eat it, so that he can see your in charge of food.

5- Once he sits down, place the food and try to make him wait for it.

6- Once he’s calm, let him eat. (Just to let you know your only suppose to let him eat about 1cup every 30mins… just to get him into the habit of savoring his food)

>>>>>>>

Please let me know how it goes!

Answer 3

My dog does it to she will eat a ton so I break up her meals so she doesnt get a stomach ache. She is only 3 1/2 months old I feed her about 1/2 cup 3 times a day.  

Answer 4

All of my dogs scarf down their food.

Just crush it into smaller pieces so they won't hurt themselves.  

Answer 5

Give you're dog soft food and crunched up hard food and give him small portions of it. like every hour give him 1/2 a can for 2 hours in the morning (8 or 9 should do) and in the evening do the same thing (at around 5 or 6) After about a month switch it back to hard food.

Caution: Your dog's stomach will probably get sick of the new food, but feed it to your dog until he settles down. Use Iams or Science diet soft food

Answer 6

This is not a dominance problem, so the making him sit thing wont work. It is important for him not to eat too much too fast or else he might get bloat, a serious problem. Here are a few ways i have thought up.

- When its meal time, let him eat about 1/4 of his food and once hes done, wait a little and then give him another 1/4. That way it gives him time to swallow and chew.

-This next one is also good for mentally stimulating him. Take a little handful of his meal and place it on the ground. Walk 6 feet away from it and place another handful. Continue making a trail and at the end, be there to give him a few treats. This helps because he sees that there is no rush as he sees there is no one around and that there is plenty.

Also, he may be eating to fast because your time limit may be to short.  

Answer 7

thats a silly question

if you don't want him scarfing his food

don't feed him any

Answer 8

Trainers use large rocks in the bowl - large enough that they can't swallow them - this will slow them down.

Answer 9

I dunno.  My husband does the exact same thing.

Answer 10

There are special bowls designed and sold just for this issue, you will find them online.  

My pup does the same thing, we feed several times a day, because what they body does not have time to digest, will pass through and she will miss out on the nutrients, etc. She is missing out and you will be wasting food.  Please make sure to feed a high quality human grade food, it really does make a world of difference.

Answer 11

I have a beagle terrier mix that I rescued from a puppy rescue last Novemeber.  He'll be one next week.  He does the same thing.  It takes him 15 seconds to eat his food.  We feed him 3 times a day so he is less suseptible to bloat and we put a tennis ball in his bowl while he's eating and I only put so much in his bowl at a time...I make him wait so he can let it go down before I give him more.  I'll be watching this closely to see anything good coming by for this.

EDIT:  It's not that we're feeding junk food.  I feed him a mix and a rotation of Canidae, Wellness and Nutro Ultra Holistic.  The BREAK-FAST bowl didn't work either for my boy.   I do make him wait and sit for his food and in between so it's not a dominance thing at all.  He knows that I am the pack leader and boss of the food.  He's not food aggressive, just a pig.

Answer 12

You could feed it to him a few spoons at a time.  That way, he has to breathe in between bites.  But really, unless he's throwing up or choking from eating too fast, he's probably fine.  Some breeds, like Beagles, always act like they're positively starved (even though they aren't) because they just LOVE food.  Every meal for my Beagle is like this huge celebration thing.  He hops up and down and then eats his food in like, 2 seconds.  He only gets a heaping 1/2 cup twice a day and he is in no way skinny.  I think it's just the nature of the beast.  1 year old is really not much older than a puppy.  He will probably calm down bit by bit.  Still, you could try the thing I mentioned where you give him a little bit, let him breathe, then a bit more and so on.  At least maybe he'll taste it.  Don't hold your breath though.  I don't think my dog chews his food and he's almost 4.  : D