# Eating too fast!



## brew1985 (Mar 10, 2010)

Hey everyone, Bison (9 weeks) is getting fed the recommended 2 cups a day (given over 4 meals a day, Canidae ALS) and he eats like a vacuum cleaner, he doesn't even chew a lot of the food, he just inhales it! We tried a big pan style bowl and put another, smaller bowl inside of that so he had to eat around it, he still just swallowed it all whole and managed to eat too fast. Our last resort has been to just scatter his food all over the floor so he has to search for it, it slows him down but he still just inhales most of it. I need some ideas on teaching him to chew...(go figure the ONE thing he doesn't wanna chew on is his food! :crazy: )


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## GSDSunshine (Sep 7, 2009)

Have you tried using the food dispensing balls/ toys like the buster cube. That way only a few kibble is tossed out at a time.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Two cups total a day? I think that may not be enough... I know my puppies can really scarf down food at that age so you may want to think about upping the amount to 3 cups (split up) a day.

Do you have a round cake bundt pan or old jello mold around the house? Donut shaped? Putting food into these make it harder for the puppies to chase down the food.

Also can purchase better bowls built for this issue:

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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

I dont think 2 is enough either. When Sinister was a puppy we fed him 3-4 cups a day. He was never a fat puppy. Your puppy might still be hungry and 2 cups isn't enough for him. Try 3 cups and see if that helps. Good luck


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

LaRen616 said:


> I dont think 2 is enough either. When Sinister was a puppy we fed him 3-4 cups a day. He was never a fat puppy. Your puppy might still be hungry and 2 cups isn't enough for him. Try 3 cups and see if that helps. Good luck


I also think you may even think about 4 cups a day, but try 3 first and see if that helps. Also keep an eye on how your puppy looks, seems like I'm always tweaking and adjusting amounts as my puppy grows. Specially if I'm using tons of training treats thru out the day.


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## brew1985 (Mar 10, 2010)

I was just going by the chart, so i'll try adding another cup i guess. Another thing my mom suggested is leaving his full day's food down to help alleviate the excitement when it's feeding time (to help reduce the possibility of bloat and torsion).


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## Remo (Sep 8, 2004)

Try putting his kibble in a 12 hole muffin pan.


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## roxy84 (Jun 23, 2007)

brew1985 said:


> I was just going by the chart, so i'll try adding another cup i guess. Another thing my mom suggested is leaving his full day's food down to help alleviate the excitement when it's feeding time (to help reduce the possibility of bloat and torsion).


then he may be eating a large quantity all at once, which some studies have implicated in bloat. you wont know how much he is eating and when. sseing how your dog does around meal times is a valuable tool for assessing how they are feeling. 

at that age id say you want to feed 3x/day.

here is a good thread about free feeding vs scheduled feedings. most of the discussion is about adult dogs (and thus most people feed 2x/day instead of 3x/day for the younger pups), but there are still references to the problems with free feeding or feeding 1x per day.

http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...g-vs-1-full-meal-day-vs-2-half-meals-day.html


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## fightin14 (Feb 18, 2010)

My puppy is 21 weeks and she gets two cups twice daily, and then extra food rewards totaling 3-4 hotdogs a day.


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## brew1985 (Mar 10, 2010)

Well I've been feeding 1/2 a cup 4 times a day, as recommended on the Canidae label. I know some foods recommend different feeding schedules. Mine specifies the amount for puppies but does not account for large breeds...so do i really want to start feeding a full cup 3x a day?


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

I would still up it a cup.


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## TYE (Mar 31, 2010)

i got my dog at 8 wks old and he ate like a pig , just like a vacumn cleaner. he still does he a lot at 1 time but he's 4 months now and starting to take his time with his food. I guess it will just take getting older for him to mind his manners haha


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## brew1985 (Mar 10, 2010)

hope so!


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## GSDSunshine (Sep 7, 2009)

Hey Brew, I checked out the Canidae Site and if it makes you feel any better, the directions are a little vague. The puppies/Adult/senior is not very helpful. The weight you are going to go by (at least at first... until you get a better idea of how much is just enough... then you can go up or down) is his projected adult weight. Then look at the Amount for puppies under 6 mo. It says to feed 4-5 cups/day for a 50-75 pounder. I think that dog food companies will up the amount a tad to get you to use their food more, So it you project his adult weight at 76lbs, give or take, and cut a bit out for over feeding (silly dog food companies) you end up at about 4 c.


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