[janine]

Got questions....has anyone had this problem? Murphy 9 week old puppy been home for a week. We are feeding him a high quality dry puppy food. He is getting 2 cups of food spread out 3 times a day. When I feed him he is eating so fast...and looking like please give me more. Poor Chester is eating on other side of baby gate at this time so starving Murphy won't eat his food. While Murphy is eating I also put my hands in his bowl (my mistake when he bit my hand...he thought it was food.) I have always done this so our dogs are not food aggressive (don't know if this is the right way to go about it ... but it worked for me with other dog...at least in the past). Murphy went to the vets yesterday and is a good weight for his age. Ok...the questions, am I really feeding him enough, how can I get him to settle down when eating and will poor Chester be banned from the kitchen forever? I have tried the muffin tin ... that was just funny watching him eat...he was still fast. Got any ideas???

 

[Oaklys Dad]

It is not unusual for puppies to gobble up their food. I've seen a few ideas on here to slow them down a bit. Some of the ideas I've see are to put his meal in a soda bottle so he has to bat it around to get his kibble. They also make special bowls that make it more difficult for them to take big gulps. Some people have flip a rimmed bowl upside down to the put eats out of the outer ring. Good luck to you.

 

[Mssjnnfer]

Mine STILL gobble up their meals and look longingly at me for more. They would eat the entire bag if I let them, I bet.

What I do... sounds kinda mean... but it almost doubles their intake time.

I have them sit and wait and then I spread their kibble all over the floor. Mojo is in his room and Max is in the kitchen. It's ALL over the floor, so they wander around and eat it up. It's pretty cute watching them, too. And it slowed them down a LOT.

Plus it helps them "leave it" watching all this kibble fly across the floor. LOL

 

[CaptCooke]

food gobbler

Joy did exactly the same thing at that age. One thing we did was to stuff a Kong toy with half her dry kibble and let her roll it around the kitchen floor as though she was foraging for food. I think I read this in one of Dunbar's pamphlets on puppies.

I also have hand fed Joy on occasion and still continue to do so at 8 months although not as often. We always make her either sit or wait for her food so she does not dive into it. Good Luck and be patient.

 

[BeauShel]

Since he is only 9 weeks old, I would up his food to around 3 cups a day. When they are that small they are burning alot of calories and need that extra nutrition. At places like Petsmart you can get a brakefast bowl to slow him down or some people use a muffin tin to slow him down.

 

[FlyingQuizini]

I'd do a combination of some hand feeding for part of the meal and part of the meal served out of SOMETHING that makes it harder to get the food -- the brake-fast bowl, or put some sort of obstacle in his bowl, etc. While he's eating out of the "tricky" bowl, walk past him and casually toss something really yummy right next to him, or if you're comfortable and see no signs of trouble from your pup, reach in and toss the yummy item into his bowl. Sometimes dogs who eat really, super fast are potential food bowl guarders -- in which case, sticking your EMPTY hand in there is a bad idea. You want him to think that a hand hear the bowl = something GOOD.

And yes, a tiny puppy may need more than 2 cups of food a day. What's his weight look like?

 

[Pointgold]

If he has not already had one since you've had him, I would have a fecal checked to assure that he doesn't have intestinal parasites, which can make them hungry all the time. I would increase the amount of food he is getting, and I'd feed him in a bundt or muffin pan to slow him down. Was he from a large litter? Often, puppies from a large little gobble their food down quickly because they had to while in a competitive eating situation, and it becomes habit.

 

[Maya's Mom]

I use a toy to feed Maya so she eats slowly. I have both a Buster Cube (not the largest one b/c I think the kibble would be too small for it) and an Atomic Treat Ball. Both work well to slow her down. It's fun for her too. The Buster Cube takes longer for her to get the food out, but it is also really loud on non-carpeted surfaces. The atomic treat ball is not for strong chewers.

 

[janine]

Thanks everyone for your ideas. I will try some of these tricks. Going to look into a breakfast bowl....I don't want a food guarder. He has had a fecal check and was neg for all the buggies he is just a pig... he was one of four in the litter and already weights 13 pounds. We are thinking we should have named him Moose instead of Murphy. Except for his eating he has been a good boy....makes it outside for all poops and almost all peeing. And he is sleeping from 11:00pm until 5:30am in his crate for 2 nights in a row. We are thinking we might keep him

 

[TobysDad]

Ours must be starving too

Our guy eats like he has never seen food before.

Then tries to mootch my food. Then my wife's, then the kid's.

Given the chance, I think he would consume the entire refrigerator in one gulp, and the pantry closet in the second gulp. But he's healthy, so I guess it's ok....

 

[cubbysan]

MacKenzie was like that when we brought her home. I never knew a puppy could eat so fast! The brakefast bowl did wonders. She did get frustrated, but it is safer this way.

Just as a test, we fed her recently from an ordinary bowl, and she has slowed down on her own quite a lot.