Shelb74 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 My 11 week old whippet puppy Paul, inhales his food and then runs over to Izzy's (the older dog) bowl and helps himself to hers! Lucky for him Izzy isn't agressive and lets him eat her food.. We separate them when eating so that he cannot see her and we release Izzy first to give her a head start and with the hope that Paul will find an empty bowl when he runs over to help Izzy finish her food. This worked for a little while until last night Izzy decided to eat particularly slow so there was still food in there when Paul had finished his dinner. We watch them eat so I was able to catch him before he stole any and I put him in his crate until Izzy finished. This morning I think he was motivated by the possibility of eating 2 breakfasts so he ate at lightening speed but when he ran over to Izzy's bowl I scooped him up and put him outside. So, does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to teach him to slow down? We are teaching him to "wait" which he is starting to get, and as mentioned above we separate them so that they can't see each other, and we also supervise. Should I feed him in his crate which is in the spare bedroom? or feed him outside and Izzy inside? Has anyone had success with those slow feeder bowls? Here is a pic of the little angel with his patient sister.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Put HER in a crate or behind a closed door so if she wants to eat slowly she can and he can finish and run around as much as he likes but it won't gain him anything. Good luck teaching him to slow down, I assume you're feeding dry food or something that doesn't require chewing? How about giving him something that he needs to chew? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivory & Beau Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 As for slow feeder bowls, they work for my greedy Labrador. I would be feeding the puppy in the crate with a slow feeder bowl and only allowing him out when Izzy has finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelb74 Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 (edited) Put HER in a crate or behind a closed door so if she wants to eat slowly she can and he can finish and run around as much as he likes but it won't gain him anything. Good luck teaching him to slow down, I assume you're feeding dry food or something that doesn't require chewing? How about giving him something that he needs to chew? Sandra, we've been feeding him a meat mix but he also gets chicken necks for breakfast, which he was chewing until this morning when I noticed him pick up a neck, chew on it a couple of times (but not enough) and then swallow it whole! So I may need to go back to holding his chicken necks for him again until he goes back to chewing properly. Thanks for your suggestions. Tonight I will feed him outside and her inside, that way he can still run around as much as he likes once he's done, and on cold/rainy days I'll feed him in his crate :D . I'd forgotton how much work these puppies can be!! Lucky he's cute! Edited October 22, 2014 by Shelb74 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Instead of holding a chicken neck - you could switch to chicken wings or turkey necks (maybe half or quarter of the turkey neck, they're HUGE!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Frozen chicken wings are great for puppies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelb74 Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 will his whippet puppy teeth be strong enough to crush the bone of a chicken wing or turkey neck?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Probably not a turkey neck but it will give him a good workout ripping and chewing the meat and tendons off it. A chicken wing - pretty sure he'd be fine, perhaps you'd need to give it a bash to crush the bigger bone or perhaps you'd want to just cut that one out and leave the skin and meat. Certainly better 'exercise' for him than swallowing a chicken neck whole anyway :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebanne Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 will his whippet puppy teeth be strong enough to crush the bone of a chicken wing or turkey neck?? yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaCharlie Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 will his whippet puppy teeth be strong enough to crush the bone of a chicken wing or turkey neck?? We start BC pups on chicken wings (held by us) at about 5-6 weeks of age and they get through it fine :) In answer to the original question, we use slow feeder bowls with a number of our dogs. They are all fed separately in crates so no competition but some of them still insist on eating too fast for our liking. The slow feed bowls work really well and I wouldn't hesitate to use them on any dog. 2 of ours were on slow feed bowls from about 6 weeks, after having Rush at emergency overnight at 4weeks of age for scoffing down more than her share of the puppy tray we don't take chances anymore. There are no cons to using them so it certainly wouldn't hurt. Just be aware that your fellow will have a narrow muzzle so choose a design with narrow gaps. There are some bowls that hardly slow the BCs down because their muzzles are too narrow, so just be aware of that :) I would also discourage running around too much straight after a meal, bloat can still occur in breeds that aren't necessarily prone to it. Even from pups ours are crated for 2hrs after a meal so that everything can settle down and digest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I use Kong Wobblers for my dogs' dry food- mind you I bought them super cheap and on free shipping from the US. For puppies I also like to put their food in something from the recycling box....cardboard boxes, clean milk bottles etc. Makes a mess but you do end up with a sleepy puppy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuralPug Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 (edited) Stuff his meals inside large Kongs or similar - or two or three clean empty plastic jars. That will make him work to get his feed out and he won't be able to guts it down all at once. ETA: Sorry TSD, didn't see your post until now - you beat me to it! I agree with TSD LOL Edited October 22, 2014 by RuralPug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Fed sep chances are his mission to eat fast is so he cans teal the next dog a great game,great & feed make eating time calm,you can place some tennis/golf balls in the bowl & see what happens but yes the slow feeders do help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stressmagnet Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I use a slow feeder bowl for my 6 month old lab pup - he still scoffs it back in under 3 minutes but at least I can measure the time now. He also waits for his food, and I will take it away mid way thru if he's really bolting it down. I do think the slow feeder has helped - as well as soaking his kibble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelb74 Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 I can't believe I didn't think of using a kong! we used to use Kongs when the other dogs were pups. Thanks for the reminder, I will purchase some today. Thanks again everyone for all of your suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taliecat Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I've got one of the slow down bowls and I'd say it takes my boy maybe a minute to finish eating. I've taken to scatter feeding kibble over the patio area so he has to look for the food. Now takes about 10 minutes on the patio or 20 minutes on the grass in the back yard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VizslaMomma Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I use Kong Wobblers for my dogs' dry food- mind you I bought them super cheap and on free shipping from the US. For puppies I also like to put their food in something from the recycling box....cardboard boxes, clean milk bottles etc. Makes a mess but you do end up with a sleepy puppy! That's a great suggestion. I had the Kongs already and got Horrible Herbert his own one. Not sure why but he has never been interested in them. Yet he tends to be a food freak. Must be a solution somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suziwong66 Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) we have a 11.5 week old labby guzzler in this house atm We feed her in an ex pen totally separated from her big labby brother. She's now just started using a slow feeder bowl for her wet mix; it's slowing her down a little, which is better than nothing. As for raw bone content she inhales all bones even frozen, in an alarming manner. I now smash all bones flat with a meat mallet. I gave her chicken necks both fresh and frozen; utter fail. I have her chicken wings: another fail. smashed up frames cut into thirds have been fine. I may start hand feeding the wet mix to slow her down; we'll see how the slow feeding bowls goes a little longer. Edited to add that i've tried stuffing and freezing Kongs with her and they haven't worked - she knows what to do with them as i've done some training sessions with her, but she just won't engage with it. Edited October 28, 2014 by suziwong66 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 Hope you are having fun with her! They will get fed up with Kongs if they are not immediately rewarding. I stuff them very loosely to begin with - even just dry food. Chicken necks are for my cats! Puppies have several frozen wings stuck together or frozen Turkey wings or whole chicken frames - I just cut most of the fat out. Personally I get rid of any wet mix pretty quickly unless I use it in a Kong - I'm not a fan of soaked kibble for pups. Would rather scatter it outside or use something out of recycling as a dispenser. I rarely feed out of bowls past the first few weeks at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotdashdot Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 I have a Petlife Buster Maze that is the best thing for slowing down a gobbler! It might not look like much, but my girls can't get anything other than a tongue into the maze, so kibble is licked out a few pieces at a time. I didn't buy it for that purpose (more just because it looked cool) and I'm very impressed, moreso now my younger dog has come along and is a gobbler. Whippies have thinner jaws than dallies, but Petlife say they tested this with all sorts of breeds with success. It retails for about $40 but its so worth it, as it can't be tipped over and is a tough plastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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