# inhaling food all of a sudden



## King James (May 28, 2011)

Rocky has starting inhaling his food over the past few days. Before then, I'd put his daily food allowance in his bowl. He'd eat a little bit here and there throughout the day. Now he acts like that will be the last food he gets. He is the only pet so it's due to competition. I haven't moved his bowls either.

Any ideas on what to do? I already changed it to feeding three times a day. He still inhales the food though.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

How old is he now? He might just be going through a growth spurt and he's extra hungry.


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## King James (May 28, 2011)

He's about 3 1/2 months right now.


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## Witz (Feb 28, 2011)

Sounds like his food drive kicked in. As long as there are no health issues, the only concern would be the inhaling part. I got my pup a slow feed bowl to try and slow him down. 

The upside is that a great food drive can make training much easier.


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## kr16 (Apr 30, 2011)

Mine is doing the same thing at 4 months old. No chewing, be careful his stomach swelled a few times, kind of scary. I crush his food up a bit and give it to him in slowly. I feed him 3 times a day.


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## suzzyq01 (Feb 15, 2011)

Sonar went through these stages also. When he was 12-14 months he would pick at food here and there. Now all of the sudden he eats (not quite inhaling) but eat the whole bowl in a matter of 20 minutes.


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## kr16 (Apr 30, 2011)

suzzyq01 said:


> Sonar went through these stages also. When he was 12-14 months he would pick at food here and there. Now all of the sudden he eats (not quite inhaling) but eat the whole bowl in a matter of 20 minutes.


 
20 minutes, you serious? mine will eat 1 cup and I havent timed it yet in about 2-3 minutes tops. 20 minutes seems like its a long time. I eat in 5-10 I know space out the one cup 3 times a day into 5-10 minutes


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## Grimsin (Jun 15, 2011)

same with Dexter 1.5 cups gone in 3-5 minutes.


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## wyominggrandma (Jan 2, 2011)

Actually eating his food when it is set down is the best way to keep him from being picky. My girl has always eaten fast when food is put down, she has never choked and her food is down and eaten within a few minutes.


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## suzzyq01 (Feb 15, 2011)

kr16 said:


> 20 minutes, you serious? mine will eat 1 cup and I havent timed it yet in about 2-3 minutes tops. 20 minutes seems like its a long time. I eat in 5-10 I know space out the one cup 3 times a day into 5-10 minutes


This is about 4 cups of food though. He will eat about half and then go drink water, come over and slobber on me (almost like see mom I'm eating!!), then go finish. So it takes about 15-20 minutes to finish. He woofed it down one day and puked it all right back up. I think he learned his lesson. lol


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## vomlittlehaus (Aug 24, 2010)

I feed my 6 month olds in 3 meals. They get 1 1/2 cups kibble at a feeding and it is gone in about 45 seconds. It could be that he is not getting enough food. They go through growth spurts and need an increase in their diet. If you do increase the food amount, keep an eye on body score. You dont want a fat puppy.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Give him another week or two and you'll be on this forum starting a thread asking why your pup won't eat. 

They do this to keep us on our toes. Once you get used to one behavior, they switch it up.


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## ChancetheGSD (Dec 19, 2007)

Yikes!! I'd be scared to feed 4 cups of food in one sitting even if it does take him 20min to eat. That seems like begging for bloat. :S

I have two opposites..Again. Chance always ate his food, but it took him about 5min to do so. (He ate 1 cup kibble morning and night with "extras" like meats, canned food, eggs, left overs, ect) He took his time. Zoey inhales hers in about 2 seconds (1/4th cup of kibble + 1 tablespoon canned 2x/day) and licks the bowl and floor around it, always has. Mind you, she also has about a cup of water in her bowl with the kibble to drink as well but it doesn't slow her down any. Now with Eevee, I put 1/4th cup of kibble and 2-3 tablespoons canned in hers and mix it together. She'll take a couple bites and then she's done. I pull it up and re-feed it in the afternoon which she typically finishes it at that meal but it takes her a couple minutes. At night I put 1/4th cup of plain dry in her kennel with her and it's typically gone by morning but she munches on it through the night.

I don't mind her being slow (So long as she continues to eat!!!) it's just a pain because I HAVE to watch her while she eats, otherwise Zoey will come over and steal her food in a second which is about how long it takes for her to inhale it.


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## Dexter (Jul 25, 2010)

Dexter did this to me also ... well he always did it actualy ! from 2 month to 1 year.
eating like 2-3 cup in a few bite! Was scary... i bought a slow eating bowl. Helped a bit , not much! My Gf called him ''the Vaccum''

But like some1 said , there is a good way to see thing. Food drive help a lot.

Give him 3 meal a day is the best way, Even if he eat fast 3 time a day , they are small amount.


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## suzzyq01 (Feb 15, 2011)

ChancetheGSD said:


> Yikes!! I'd be scared to feed 4 cups of food in one sitting even if it does take him 20min to eat. That seems like begging for bloat. :S
> 
> I have two opposites..Again. Chance always ate his food, but it took him about 5min to do so. (He ate 1 cup kibble morning and night with "extras" like meats, canned food, eggs, left overs, ect) He took his time. Zoey inhales hers in about 2 seconds (1/4th cup of kibble + 1 tablespoon canned 2x/day) and licks the bowl and floor around it, always has. Mind you, she also has about a cup of water in her bowl with the kibble to drink as well but it doesn't slow her down any. Now with Eevee, I put 1/4th cup of kibble and 2-3 tablespoons canned in hers and mix it together. She'll take a couple bites and then she's done. I pull it up and re-feed it in the afternoon which she typically finishes it at that meal but it takes her a couple minutes. At night I put 1/4th cup of plain dry in her kennel with her and it's typically gone by morning but she munches on it through the night.
> 
> I don't mind her being slow (So long as she continues to eat!!!) it's just a pain because I HAVE to watch her while she eats, otherwise Zoey will come over and steal her food in a second which is about how long it takes for her to inhale it.


He is 85lbs and still a puppy/young adult. I feed him what the required amount for the food and activity level (4 1/2-6 cups for BB Wilderness Salmon). I do wait until we are done with activities for the night and I know he will just be relaxing. He munches on about 1 cup during the day and then eats 3-4 cups at night. Depends on if he eats the whole bowl I will give him another cup (currently his is eating 4 cups). He is still growing and can stand to gain some weight (he is skinny). He is going to be a big boy. I am VERY cautous about bloat, but I have to feed him according to his schedule. He will not eat much of anything during the day so I have to "create" a feeding schedule specialized to him. This is what works and I make sure his butt is parked next to me on the couch when he is done for several hours.


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## King James (May 28, 2011)

Thanks for the help. I got one of those slow feed bowls. That has helped a lot. I may have to find a different one though. This one has handles. He already figured out that he can flip the bowl over once some of the food is gone. This is the one I got.

PETCO Blue Slow Feed Plastic Bowl at PETCO

I ran some tape through the openeing to hold it down to the floor. He was getting quite aggravated trying to get to the food.


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## ninemaplefarm (Mar 2, 2010)

King james,

Did you say that your puppy use to just pick at his raw diet? I am, suddenly, having that very problem- opposite of yours!! My pup who was devouring her new raw diet has stopped eating completely or will just eat 1/2 at each meal. I am scared she will lose even more weight off her skinny, boney body.

Did you just keep offering the food throughout the day and then put it back in fridge? I am afraid if I keep doing that she will learn to not eat her food when I put it down. I don't want to be putting her food down all day forever!

Did you add something to get your pup to eat?

I know if I call my vet he will say to switch back to kibble.


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## King James (May 28, 2011)

This is getting rediculous now. Either this bowl isn't doing the job it should've been doing or Rocky has found a trick to still inhale the food. It may not be either though. He'll get a bunch of whole kibbles and walk somewhere else. He'll then hack up the whole kibbles onto the floor. Woild it be a good idea to find a food with bigger kibbles that he can't swallow without chewing?



ninemaplefarm said:


> King james,
> 
> Did you say that your puppy use to just pick at his raw diet? I am, suddenly, having that very problem- opposite of yours!! My pup who was devouring her new raw diet has stopped eating completely or will just eat 1/2 at each meal. I am scared she will lose even more weight off her skinny, boney body.
> 
> ...


Never noticed your post. Sory about that. I never had him on a raw diet. He is eating all of his food for the day though.


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## kr16 (Apr 30, 2011)

Use a flat plate and feed a handful at a time and take breaks, that's what I do. It works. Try throwing like 5 kibbles on the floor spread out he will chew those. Its the mass amount of food in front of his face he will devour.


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