Scoffing puppy!

[supersmurf]

HI...can anyone give me some advise plz, we have a 16 wk old Staffie male who every meal sucks it up like a hoover!......gone in 30 seconds n doesnt touch the sides...im guessing the reason for him doing it was from when he was with his brothers n sisters n he didnt want to be the skinny one!....as he is a smart lil fella!.

BUT...he looks like he is gonna cholk on it n it cant be good for his digestion, any tips on making him chew......or even taste!.....just a little slower even..anyone?

thanks

supersmurf X

[mycats]

sorry I cant help, just wanted to say "a16 week old Staffie" aaaaaaaaaaawwwwww :-) I LOVE Staffies lucky you

[lord molly]

it is normal for dogs to do this. i have a begle/staffie cross who devours his food within seconds. i heard somewhere that it was because, as decendants from wolves, dogs eat as fast as they can because in the past, when they were wolves, a wolf did not know when his next meal would be, so they munched it down in a flash.

[heathfield]

It's not just your dog's family background that causes this. When your dog's prehistoric ancestors were members of a wolf pack, each individual had to snatch what they could from the kill. Hence the expression, 'wolf it down'. This trait still exists in many dogs to this day.

Mastication is beneficial in breaking food down into smaller pieces. This provides a greater surface area on food and so aids digestion. This is unlikely to be a problem, since bought dog food tends to be made of small pieces anyway. Just don't feed him with whole steaks every time! Although there are some medical problems that might prevent a dog from masticating, they're not seen very often. (One clue here is if a dog never closes its mouth, and drools contantly).

For some excellent tips on health and diet for your dog, you might like to look here

[clair3934]

Although very intersting heathfield that bit of info that you posted the link for supports Iams and they do a lot of nasty tests on animals, don't think many doggy people on this site feed Iams I certainly don't I advocate the BARF diet www.ukbarfclub.co.uk, lots of raw meat and fruit and veg this is the sort of food a wild dog would get and my dog loves it the raw meat is minced you can buy packets of it in your pet shop its called prize choice you or you can order it from anglian meats at www.amp.co.uk or you can buy off cuts or offle and fresh bones from the butchers. your dog will still bolt the food but you can mince it to make sure its broken down properly and things like carrots and apple can be fed whole so they have to chew them up a bit more, this type of feeding should give your dog a good coat a longer life and less heallth and teeth problems and its not any more expensive than a complete diet. hope that helps a bit if you choose to use this diet let me know how you get on or any problems just post another question :-)

[heathfield]

Good reply, Clair - appreciated! (If you ignore the seeming promo for Iams, I reckon there's still some useful info on that link for dog owners).

[doglady]

It's not a problem him bolting the food, but if you want to slow him down, there are some things you can try.

You can try putting a tennis ball or similar in with your dogs food, so he has to eat around it. You can feed in a treat ball, so the food only comes out slowly, and he can't bolt it all at once (this will also keep him occupied for quite a while). Freeze the food in an ice block in the summer, if you don't mind a wet floor. He'll get plenty to drink, and will only get the food slowly.

One thing to be aware of is that sometimes when dogs eat too fast, they will bring it back up again. It doesn't look like normal sick, it's like a big long sausage of food. It's fine for him to eat the food again if he does this. and it will probably stay down the second time. it won't have anything nasty in it, like normal sick might, that you don't want him to eat again, it's just semi-chewed food.

[horselady]

clair3934

I didn't know that about Iams, i don't use it anyway but will make certain I never do in the future now. Thank you.

[supersmurf]

Thank you all for your contributions, Wow!......wasnt expecting you all to know so much...lol.

Well as for our little fella he seems happy enough n is growing fast so dont think he is suffering at all...his coat is beautiful n shiney n his energy is way beyond mine so i recon he will survive.

The ball or freezing thing sounds odd but can see how it would work, so far he has not sicked it back again ...just me who has nearly lost my breakfast watching him...lol.

Thanks again all

Supersmurf X

[lankeela]

Actually i do feed Eukanuba which is made by the Iams company. I have done so for about fifteen years now and as I sell pet food, I have access to all types of food. I have tried many others but always go back to Eukanuba because it is the best for my dogs.


Tip for the Staffie - put a housebrick in his bowl so it fills up most of the bowl and the dog will have to eat round it to get the food.

[lankeela]

Is this the same clair that works at the Bristol vet school where they collect pets bodies from vets and use them to experiment on?

[electricblue]

eh?????????????????

[clair3934]

Lankeela I take it from the question you do not approve? but how else do you think that vets learn? You like Eukanuba it works for you, thats cool. I won't get in to an argument about this cause it could go on forever. and there's no point in getting wound up over it. :-)

[lankeela]

No clair, I did not say I disapprove. If you read one of my answers you will see that I myself will be used for students to experiment on when I am dead. I just find it rather hypocritical that you criticise a company who have done their best to help people feed their dogs properly but you think that it is ok for students to do the same. If you follow the link given you will see that a vet criticises the barf diet that you preach about, when the vet has evidence that this type of diet causes severe medical problems for some animals.

[lankeela]

electricblue, I suggest your read the thread concerning disposal of pets when they are dead.

[supersmurf]

Sheeeeeeeeeeeeesh!!!!!!..........I only wanted to know how to make me lil puppy eat a bit slower..........***runs to find a nice spoon to slow him down the old fashioned way***

Will leave u two too it ;-)

thanks all

XX

[bugsyshan]

have you wormed him puppys need to be wormed every two weeks upto the age of twelve weeks and then every 6 months

[supersmurf]

Hi again all..........yes we worm him monthly at the moment as he is only 4 1/2 months, but thanks for the tip.....i think he is just a staffie crossed with a piglet :-)