# Our pup swallows his food instead of chewing it



## Mike Smith (May 13, 2017)

Yo sup.

Our dog's 3 months old now(106 days to be exact)
We noticed our puppy is swallowing his food instead of chewing it. He takes it in his mouth, and then just swallows it. We gave him a chewing bone which is milk flavoured and soft. He took it, bit it and just swallowed it whole in front of us. We we're worried sick that it might've been stuck in his throat but thankfully it wasn't. We feed him Royal Canin Junior. The thing we do is, we put it in hot water till it gets kinda soft and watery and the give it to Toby which he eats pretty quick and give him milk afterwards. This afternoon, we didn't put it in water and it was kinda hard. He just kept swallowing it and doesn't at all, seem to chew it. We're really concerned about him and hope that this behaviour doesn't affect his future behaviour and such.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

That is pretty much how dogs are DESIGNED to eat. They do not have chewing teeth other than the back teeth intended to crush small bones.

I would kill the milk. No need for it. I soak my food too.


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## Mike Smith (May 13, 2017)

NancyJ said:


> That is pretty much how dogs are DESIGNED to eat. They do not have chewing teeth other than the back teeth intended to crush small bones.
> 
> I would kill the milk. No need for it. I soak my food too.


Alright got it. So, we increase the dog food if were gonna drop the milk right?


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## Femfa (May 29, 2016)

No, you do not need to increase the food unless you gave so much extra milk that your dog is substantially missing out on calories without it. You need to feed either according to the guidelines of the kibble or by feel - though generally the guidelines are easier to follow if you're not confident in your ability to gauge the fitness of your dog.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I would base the amount of dog food on how the pup is growing. You want to keep him lean at all times. A good food for LARGE breed puppies or an all life stages food (we have a post on that) without too much calcium (I assume maybe that is why you were giving the milk?) should be great. The Junior I am not familiar with as RC has so many formulas all I could find was a medium and a giant junior. Do you have a link t the food.


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## Mike Smith (May 13, 2017)

NancyJ said:


> I would base the amount of dog food on how the pup is growing. You want to keep him lean at all times. A good food for LARGE breed puppies or an all life stages food (we have a post on that) without too much calcium (I assume maybe that is why you were giving the milk?) should be great. The Junior I am not familiar with as RC has so many formulas all I could find was a medium and a giant junior. Do you have a link t the food.


Pm'ed to ya


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## gdenton55 (Jun 1, 2017)

*Kong Bowl*

I got mine one of these and it worked great. Now she eats slowly out of a regular bowl. I gave it to her about 3 months and at 7 she didn't need it any more.


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## Jrenkie (Jun 9, 2004)

I use a similar feeding bowl. It now takes Izzy 15 minutes instead of 2 to eat her meals!


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

It seems common in pups they are in a habit of probably getting most they can and competing with their siblings as very young pups. I soaked my food to.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

chomp , crush , gulp --- dogs "wolf" their food 

can you find a better quality food that isn't laden with wheat grain, wheat flour, corn , gluten rice etc .

and then as a treat you are giving (milk) bone ---- more starches 


Image result for ingredients royal canin junior
COMPOSITION: dehydrated poultry protein, animal fats, maize, dehydrated pork protein*, wheat, beet pulp, wheat flour, rice, maize flour, hydrolysed animal proteins, vegetable protein isolate*, maize gluten, fish oil, yeasts, soya oil, minerals, fructo-oligo-saccharides, hydrolysed yeast (source of manno-oligo- .


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## Aly (May 26, 2011)

Old School Solution (after you've eliminated the milk per the previous posts): Go outside and find several largish rocks. Yes, rocks.  Rocks large enough that puppy can't get them in its mouth (don't want to create additional problems). First, soak the rocks in a bucket of hot water for several hours, then scrub each thoroughly with a very mild dish detergent and rinse completely. Once they're dry, scatter the rocks in puppy's food dish and spread the food around the rocks. 

I understand and agree with @carmspack's point about dogs wolfing their food. But I've also been unnerved by the way some puppies frantically bolt their meals. The above suggestion came from a decades-long breeder and works a treat whether you're feeding kibble or raw. 

Aly


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