# Eating too Fast?



## scarfish (Apr 9, 2013)

is it harmful for a dog to eat too fast?

our 4 month old pup Rambo eats twice as fast as our 1 1/2 year old Julie. twice as fast as she did when she was 4 months. he doesn't vomit. vet says his weight gain is normal. he goes to his 3rd visit in 2 weeks so hopefully vet says the same thing. Julie is tiny at 60lbs but vet says she's a healthy weight for her height, even more so than the majority of the dogs he sees. he's already 40lbs. his arms are twice as thick as hers. 

when he finishes his bowl we (wife or i depending on who's feeding) have to guard her bowl while she finishes or he will stick his face in her bowl and eat the 2nd half of her food and she'll let him. neither have food aggression and both automatically down stay and look at us 'till we say OK before rushing to their bowls.

so i'm not worried about aggression, weight, getting sick, knocking the bowl out of my hand. just the speed at which he eats. it blows my mind how fast he eats. is there anything wrong here?


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## scarfish (Apr 9, 2013)

Rambo the one closer to the camera.


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

Worms? Is he hungry all the time? Vet bill clear ?

There are plenty of ways to slow him down. A fist size rock in the bowl helped my guy...


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## Freddy (Apr 23, 2009)

I have a competition eater that's now 5. He's been that way all his life. We have tried special bowls, softball size aluminum ball in the bowl, everything. We still feed him twice a day so he's not getting so much at once, and use a muffin pan with 6 holes. He still eats like it's his last meal but at least it's a little bit slower.


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## scarfish (Apr 9, 2013)

Zeeva said:


> Worms? Is he hungry all the time? Vet bill clear ?
> 
> There are plenty of ways to slow him down. A fist size rock in the bowl helped my guy...


i doubt he has worms. he's never vomited, acted sick or uncomfortable and poops normal.



Freddy said:


> I have a competition eater that's now 5. He's been that way all his life. We have tried special bowls, softball size aluminum ball in the bowl, everything. We still feed him twice a day so he's not getting so much at once, and use a muffin pan with 6 holes. He still eats like it's his last meal but at least it's a little bit slower.


this is good to know. i just don't want him to be hurting himself somehow.

if i knew how he would eat before we got him we could have named him kobayashi or joey chestnut.


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## Freddy (Apr 23, 2009)

I know how you feel...

You are restricting water and exercise before and after meals, right?


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I use water (soak) in the food to slow mine down and other reasons. There are also 
"brake fast" feeders, muffin tins like above, scattering the food, food toys. 

Most of mine ate like that--if it is so fast they choke I step in and do things to slow it down. Eating fast, they can swallow a lot of air which can lead to bloat.


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## scarfish (Apr 9, 2013)

Freddy said:


> I know how you feel...
> 
> You are restricting water and exercise before and after meals, right?


yep, we fill their water and let them play wrestle mania with each other an hour after eating. if they start wrestling before them we seperate them.


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## scarfish (Apr 9, 2013)

thanks for the tips. i'm not concerned about having to guard one's bowl from the other 'cause one eats too fast. he doesn't choke so at least there is no immediate health risk. also glad to her he isn't the only one that eats like a monster.


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## Freddy (Apr 23, 2009)

You're doing what you can do. I've tried everything I can think of too!


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