Dog's food habits

Setun

Hello all,

Myself and my gf adopted a 7 year old greyhound two months ago, all going well apart from his food habits seem a bit off. With us being first-time dog owners, we don't have a whole lot to compare his behaviour to, so thought it would be worth posting here for some advice.

We're feeding him dry food - two cups worth in the evenings, one cup sometimes mixed with a small portion of wet food in the mornings. He basically inhales his food, hardly chewing at all, just swallowing it in sizable gulps, the bowl finished in seconds. Tonight, we gave him a dentastix (for large dogs), and after starting off chewing it a bit, he promptly swallowed the thing whole without us even realising! :eek: We were warned from the rescue that he was a bit of a chancer when it came to dinner etc left out unattended, which he has proven on one or two occasions since we got him, to our dismay! Does this point to anything about his treatment/training in the past, or is it fairly typical dog behaviour? Also if anybody has any tips for teaching a bit of restraint when it comes to his food that would be much appreciated!

muddypaws

If he was a labrador, I'd say that was perfectly normal

He may not have been fed much previously, or maybe fed some days, and not on others, so feels he has to eat whatever he's given quickly. He might also have lived with other dogs, so had to eat quickly to prevent someone else eating his food. You could feed him out of a Kong, or use a bowl that's designed to slow fast eaters down, you can find them in pet stops, they have raised bits in the middle, so the dog has to eat around them. Or, I put water in with my dog's kibble, I don't soak it, I just add water, which also seems to slow them down.

Setun

Thanks for the response - I'd say he was fed somewhat irregularly, it came to my mind before actually. I'll try adding a bit of water to his food in the morning and see how that goes

awanderer

My partner and I adopted a 2 year old labrador less than 3 weeks ago. The first time we gave him food, he had it eaten before his bowl hit the floor and had throw it all up before my partner had time to tell me that that was much too fast:P.
I went on the web and found a great tip to slow him down. I used it the first few days but it only works with Metal non-tip food/water bowls: Just flip it upside down and spread the food in the ring around the center. If you don't use that kind of bowl you can also achieve the same result by placing a LARGE rock in the food bowl and spread the food around it (I must say I wouldn't risk it with our lab as he might eat the rock whatever its size).
Since we got the monster I seem to spend my life on the internet trying to find tips:D. He is of course well worth it though:).

DBB

First of all, HUGE kudos to you for not only adopting a greyhound, but a slightly older one too... any chance of a pic? Lots of sighthound fans around here!
If you feed your dog a dry diet, you should be able to slow him down by feeding him from food-dispensing toys, for example the Kong Wobbler (which is such a cool toy): http://www.kongcompany.com/products/for-dogs/interactive/wobbler-2/wobbler/

Or an activity ball... there are a few different brands:
https://www.worldforpets.com.au/products/12290
http://www.kongcompany.com/products/for-dogs/rubber-toys/puppy-rubber-toys/activity-ball/
http://www.vetuk.co.uk/dog-accessories-dog-bowls-c-628_635/canac-activity-ball-standard-p-5581

These sorts of toys are great for stretching out a meal, making the reward factor last longer and helping to burn off some energy too. They also stop a gulper from gulping! I'd suggest feeding him his meals in these exclusively.

If you need to feed from a bowl form time to time, the bowl Muddypaws referred to looks like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Dogit-Slow-Anti-Gulping-Bowl-Small/dp/B0032GAJ46

But I know people who get the same effect by putting large stones or tennis balls into the bowl.
There's always a danger of bloat when a deep-chested dog gulps his food, so this is one I'd address one way or the other.
As for where it came from... I think a lot of eating patterns are laid down very early in life, and it's reasonable to assume, given his breed, that it was a case of being kept in a communal set-up, and it was a case of eat or starve.

PS I'd avoid Dentastix like the plague. Nutritionally, they're pretty crap, and although some dogs benefit from them dentally, I'm inclined to think they contribute to dental problems in others. Far better value for him would be natural dried-meat treats: tripe sticks, cow's ears, jerky, pizzles (yes... bull's willies!)... I know of no other site that has such a diverse range of dried meat chews that any of the zooplus sites (e.g. www.zooplus.ie, www.zooplus.co.uk). Personally, I avoid sinew chews as they tend to be really hard.

carav10

You could make a game of feeding time, hide bits of his food in different parts of the house or garden and let him search for it. Would slow him down and make him use his nose as well! Had great fun watching my one figure out all the hiding places this evening. Show him the game first & then let him work it out.

Is it two cups in the evening and no other feeds during the day? Maybe split his feeds as well so all the gulping of food isn't going sitting in his stomach. I use one of the dishes with the big bumps in it for one of mine who was inhaling her food, works brilliantly

Setun

DBB wrote: »

First of all, HUGE kudos to you for not only adopting a greyhound, but a slightly older one too... any chance of a pic? Lots of sighthound fans around here!

Sure thing! Here you go => http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=86634642&postcount=7722

As for the rest of your post - thank you for taking the time and effort to go into such detail! We have got a couple of the Kong toys already, but were using them more for treat-time than dinner time. Good point about the Dentastix, having read up a bit more on them now I see your point, although that they were on sale at our local vets is a bit of a strange one. Will be sure to check out zooplus for alternatives!

mistress_gi

I bought this for my Rocky, we don't use it all the time because it needs to be used outside(Rocky slobbers like there is no tomorrow) but it is really good, at 30 mins of entertainment! http://www.zooplus.de/shop/hunde/hundespielzeug_hundesport/beschaeftigung/beschaeftigungsspielzeug/159038

Inexile

Firstly, he is gorgeous.

Second recommend that you get your hands on a copy of 'Retired Greyhounds for Dummies'. Its written with an American perspective but it has lots of good advice re settling in a grey into a home and training tips.

As DBB said the eating habit could be down to communal feeding. One of my dogs (not a grey) was very thin when I got her used to wolf her food and I got her a gobble bowl which slowed her down a bit . Three months later she eats more slowly but I think its more down to the fact that she is now 3kg heavier and she knows she is not going to starve.

And again your boy is fab.

DBB

mistress_gi wrote: »

I bought this for my Rocky, we don't use it all the time because it needs to be used outside(Rocky slobbers like there is no tomorrow) but it is really good, at 30 mins of entertainment! http://www.zooplus.de/shop/hunde/hundespielzeug_hundesport/beschaeftigung/beschaeftigungsspielzeug/159038

Great to get some feedback on this one, as I don't know anyone who's bought one before!

Setun, your grey is fab, and lovely pictures... Does any dog smile quite like a grey, huh?!

boomerang

Josie was like that in the beginning - she hoovered up her food. A year in and while she still eats very quickly, I think the penny has dropped that each meal is not likely to be her last! (She's a rescue greyhound too, btw.)

We soak the kibble in an equal amount of warm water, so once the water is absorbed, it's kinda porridge-like. This satiates her more and does slow her down a bit. Also she's less likely to regurgitate having eaten that quickly, than dry. The other thing we do (don't laugh) is stand in front of the food bowl, and get her to wait while we could to three, rubbing her head on each count. It settles her (because she is nuts over her meals) so that she doesn't launch herself into the foodbowl!

If I could do it consistently, I'd also move her onto three, smaller meals a day, instead of two.

She's still essentially a crocodile, though - I think it's a greyhound thing!

Setun

DBB wrote: »

Setun, your grey is fab, and lovely pictures... Does any dog smile quite like a grey, huh?!

Nope, they're one of a kind in that regard :P

boomerang wrote: »

The other thing we do (don't laugh) is stand in front of the food bowl, and get her to wait while we could to three, rubbing her head on each count. It settles her (because she is nuts over her meals) so that she doesn't launch herself into the foodbowl!

Ha - we've been doing the same actually! It does help to relax him a bit.