# How do i stop a puppy from scoffing down her food



## nhaide1 (Jun 16, 2011)

Hi all

I have a 7 week old yorkie cross
I got her when she was 3 weeks old and i had to hand feed her for a week or two and she is now on soilds but will only eat dry food, she doesn't like wet food .
I am now feeding her royal canin mini junior and she gets feed in the morning and in the evening.

When im dishing up her food she howls like made until she gets it and gets very excited that she sometimes wets herself and starts to shake .
When i put down the bowl it almost makes me sick to watch her eat, she scoffs the food, she doesn't even chew she just swallows like shes a starving dog and it makes me angry because she gets fed the best of food and i no shes not starving and its not the way i want my dog to be.
Then when the food is gone she will sit licking the bowl and look for more food and will go around licking the floors looking for somethings else to eat.

I know im feeding her the right amount because i weigh it out everyday and i had her at the vets and the vet said that shes getting feed the correct amount.

I have tried feeding her out of the hand to get her to slow down but she scoffs it even more, i feed her piece by piece and shes just like a hoover and just sucks it up

If anyone has any advise i would really appreciate it as its really starting to annoy me :


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## ballybee (Aug 25, 2010)

Royal canin isn't a great food, there's loads of better foods for the same price.

You can use bowls designed to stop dogs from wolfing food(I think they're called greedy gulper bowls) or put some big stones or balls in her bowl so she has to eat round them. With regards to how she's reacting I would be walking away from the bowl everytime she got overexcited and leaving it until she calmed down again, try using her food for doing training so she learns to wait for a command before getting food and maybe spread her food out in more meals during the day if she's active like a starving lunatic.

Also, have you had her checked for worms/parasites/ thyroid problems etc if she seems to ba always hungry.


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## ebonyblack (Sep 16, 2011)

Maybe the time inbetween feeds is too long, could you try to feed her little and often. At 7 weeks I think she may need to be feed 3 times a day? I maybe wrong as I'm reading up about it not actually done it yet.


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## springerpete (Jun 24, 2010)

ebonyblack said:


> Maybe the time inbetween feeds is too long, could you try to feed her little and often. At 7 weeks I think she may need to be feed 3 times a day? I maybe wrong as I'm reading up about it not actually done it yet.


ebonyblack is quite right, at that age, three maybe even four small meals is what I'd be giving. The same amount but spread out over the day.


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## nhaide1 (Jun 16, 2011)

The food i was giving her was suggested to me by my local vets because of her size.

For weight she should only be getting 0.35kgs a day and i do split it into two meals, i do feed her a 10.30 am and at 4pm and then she gets treats in the evening as we are training her at the moment


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## JessiesGirl (May 8, 2010)

nhaide1 said:


> Hi all
> 
> I have a 7 week old yorkie cross
> I got her when she was 3 weeks old and i had to hand feed her for a week or two and she is now on soilds but will only eat dry food, she doesn't like wet food .
> ...


How on earth did you end up with a 7 week old Yorkie cross? I am praying this is a rescue rather than purchase situation as 7 weeks is not only too young for ALL pups to be rehomed, it's WAY too young for toy breeds.

At this age, the pup should be fed 4 times per day. Are you doing that?


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## GoldenShadow (Jun 15, 2009)

Pups below 12 weeks generally get four meals a day. Goes down to three meals at 12 weeks and two meals at six months or that's the 'guide' I have always known.

I would feed little and often, they only have dinky bellies at that age, would probably help a bit


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## nhaide1 (Jun 16, 2011)

JessiesGirl said:


> How on earth did you end up with a 7 week old Yorkie cross? I am praying this is a rescue rather than purchase situation as 7 weeks is not only too young for ALL pups to be rehomed, it's WAY too young for toy breeds.
> 
> At this age, the pup should be fed 4 times per day. Are you doing that?


Yes she is a rescue dog and no i am feeding her 2 times a day and treats during training and my vet told me to feed her twice a day as she was over weight and because of her greediness


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## Manoy Moneelil (Sep 1, 2011)

If you are going to feed 200g of food - give it split between two bowls or better feed half then after he/she has finished, wait a while then give the other half. The pause in-between main and afters shows that a quick finish to the first course does not result in the second bowl straight away as a reward.



nhaide1 said:


> .....over weight and because of her greediness


Can only be overweight if fed too much, paws don't open tins, bags etc.


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## lucylastic (Apr 9, 2011)

As you are feeding dry food you could scatter her ration on the lawn so she has to look for it. That should slow her down.


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## nhaide1 (Jun 16, 2011)

Can only be overweight if fed too much, paws don't open tins, bags etc.[/QUOTE]

She was eating my older dogs food when i wasnt looking


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## lucylastic (Apr 9, 2011)

She obviously really enjoys her food so it is vital that you make sure she does not have access to the other dog's food at any time. Hopefully she will eventually learn some food manners and self control but this will take a while. (Mine is 4 years old and still has no self control where food is concerned) I jusyt have to make sure that there is never food within her reach unless she is allowed to eat it.


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## pogo (Jul 25, 2011)

Sorry but at that age she should have at least 3 if not 4 meals a day spaced out throughout the day. The vet shouldn't really have advised otherwise as she's far to young.

Are you leaving the older dogs food down all day? as i would give set meal times if the pup is stealing the food.


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

As others have said, she should be on 4 meals a day, just split the rda into 4 instead of two. 

Then down to three meals at 12 weeks and 2 at 6 months.

Agree with the comment about royal canin too, vets will suggest it because they get cash for selling it.

Fish4dogs puppt is MUCH better, around the same price, grain free too. Jesis for RC prices you can get Acana and Taste of the wild.


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## ballybee (Aug 25, 2010)

A lot of vets tell their clients royal canin and hills and iams are great foods....because these companies pay them to do so. The reality is there are much better foods available at all prices.

Also, vets don't know a lot about nutrition at the best of times unless they take it upon themselves to actually do some research, a 7 week old puppy should be getting 3 or 4 meals a day, you say she won't eat wet food, what wet foods have you tried as they're certainly harder to eat quickly than dry biscuits. You can't expect such a tiny puppy to not get very hungry considering she has to wait so long between meals.

Another way to slow your dogs eating down is put water in the bowl, they can't gulp it all down and this way you know she's getting a drink too.

So, ways to slow down a dogs eating

-greedy gulper bowls
-scatter food over lawn
-add water to food or mix in a good wet food
-spread the food out into more meals during the day
-buy toys like the kong wobbler which they have to move around to release a small amount of the food

Better foods for your puppy include wainwrights wet or dry(from pets at home), james wellbeloved, acana, orijen, skinners, fish4dogs, naturediet(wet food), applaws wet or dry, ziwipeak etc

Or you could always look into raw feeding, my dog takes about 5 minutes to eat 400g of normal food but about 20 minutes to eat a raw meal of about 4-600g. Don't trust everything your vet tells you about things like nutrition and breeding as these aren't things they get taught about while training, they have to go and research the details themselves.


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## nhaide1 (Jun 16, 2011)

Ok so i tried putting an egg cup in the bowl this morning and it didn't work she just kept knocking it over and eating even quicker cause i kept taking the bowl away from her to put the egg cup back in.

I am now splitting the meals into 4 times a day and see does that make a difference but it doesn't seem like there a lot in the bowl when i do give it to her.

So is it a case im not giving her enough and would it be safe to put her on a more filling food :


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## Guest (Oct 1, 2011)

Hi there,

I am a newbie and not an experienced pet owner so listen to me at your peril! I have just also posted a new thread on here about whether or not I should change Reba's food.

Reba is now 12 weeks old, and we have just reduced her feeding to 3 times a day 7.30 - 8am; 12.30 - 1.00pm; and 6.30 - 7.00pm. This seems to be working pretty well. She too was a bit of a gulper but with time and lots of hiccups(literally) she seems to be slowing down. I also use the Kong dispenser ball for her at least for one meal a day.

I think you will definitely see a difference with feeding your pup 4 times daily. Are you feeding her within an hour of her waking as if not she may be really overly hungry at 1st feed and then starts a pattern of gulping and scoffing as she may not know that she will have access to food when she needs to find it?

Again, treat what I say with caution, I am a learner

Gavs


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

nhaide1 said:


> Ok so i tried putting an egg cup in the bowl this morning and it didn't work she just kept knocking it over and eating even quicker cause i kept taking the bowl away from her to put the egg cup back in.
> 
> I am now splitting the meals into 4 times a day and see does that make a difference but it doesn't seem like there a lot in the bowl when i do give it to her.
> 
> So is it a case im not giving her enough and would it be safe to put her on a more filling food :


Try a brake fast bowl. They're a few £ and really do work.

Don't worry about how it looks, she's still getting the same amount of food as before. Just split up.

Bailey was on 60g of food per day when he was tiny ( I fed Arden grange), looked pitiful, especially split into 4, he was fine. Plus, they grow so fast you'll soon be upping it in accordance with her weight.


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## nhaide1 (Jun 16, 2011)

Ok just an update

I have tried feeding her bit by bit from my hand and she just swallows it and doesn't chew and nearly bites your hand off to try and get the food, so that hasn't worked :confused1:

I have tried feeding her with a kong and because her food is so small she just empty's it all out and scoffs it in seconds so that didn't work :confused1:

I tried the Rock and Egg cup in the bowl and she ate it even faster and i gave up on that.

I have moved her feeding times to four times a day and its every 4 hours and it stop at 8 or 9 pm, depends on the time of her morning feeds.

I also got a lend of one of those slow feeder bowl off a friend to see would that work before i went out and bought one and because her head is so small she can if it into the bowl and the gaps and the bowl was a small sized one and you cant get any smaller so that didn't work either.

Now she has developed a habit of shaking when she knows she getting fed or getting any type of food, why shes doing this i have no idea or where she got it from. its a full on shake like she freezing or something:

I am now at a stage where i find myself almost getting angry with her when shes eating because ive spent hours with her trying to get her to stop and spent a fortune on trying new things with her and shes just getting worse, I hate feeding her because it almost makes me sick to look a her eating like a starved dog, i even went out a bought a weighing scales to weigh her food to make sure she was getting enough and she is getting the right amount for her size and i got her weight checked by a vet and shes a very healthy weight

I now have no idea what is the next step or what to do with her when it comes to eating and im afraid if i dont get her out of this horrible habbit when shes young she will have it for the rest of her life and i dont want her to become obsessive over food and get dangerous when she doesn't have to :

Can anyone advise me on what to do next please


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## Cockerpoo lover (Oct 15, 2009)

Has she been wormed recently?


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

I'm not sure why the bowl didn't work. My friend just got one for her staffy pup, she is minute, and I mean minute. And it worked for her.

Bailey was a rescue, got him at 5 weeks, he was dot sized and it worked with him?

This is the one we both used

Dogit Go Slow Dog Bowl Anti Gulping | Net Pet Shop

I'm also a little worried that it makes you 'sick' to watch her eat. That's a bit extreme. If not for the brakefast bowl, Bailey would scoff like he'd never ate before. I see no reason for it to make you angry. Some dogs are like that. Bailey will literally kill himself to get a crumb, he's calmed down a little now he's a bit older, but if he was allowed, he would sit on my knee while I eat.

The shake is excitement, she enjoys her food.

Instead of giving up, why not use it to teach her to sit/lay down etc. Dogs are very smart, yes she'll try and grab it out of your hand, but she's very food oriented so will learn quickly that sitting gets her a treat. Use her love of food to your advantage. Makes for easy training.


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## nhaide1 (Jun 16, 2011)

Cockerpoo lover said:


> Has she been wormed recently?


She was wormed for 3 days just one month ago


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## nhaide1 (Jun 16, 2011)

Lyceum said:


> I'm not sure why the bowl didn't work. My friend just got one for her staffy pup, she is minute, and I mean minute. And it worked for her.
> 
> Bailey was a rescue, got him at 5 weeks, he was dot sized and it worked with him?
> 
> ...


It make me angry because i have literary tried all i can to get her to slow down and its not the nicest thing to watch your dog eat like there starved when she actually doesn't have to and is getting fed the best of food that i can give her and has her meals measured out to four meals a day

I have taught her to sit and wait for her food and she does do this and does it very well but that doesn't stop her from eating like a wolf


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

Pups should be wormed every two weeks until 12 weeks old, then every month till 6 months, then every three months. So I'd pop the vets or order some drontal online and get her wormed again asap.

Sorry, just my oipinion, Bailey is the same, he always has been, it's never made me angry. He's been on the best foods money can buy, raw, orijen, arcana, taste of the wild, arden grange, and like you, I measure the food to be sure he has enough. Everything, he scoffs like he's never been fed. I still don't get why it makes you angry.

The bowl I linked to has worked for me on the smallest of pups.

If you've done all you can, and she still does it, maybe it just time you got used to it.


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## nhaide1 (Jun 16, 2011)

Just a bit of an update 

I have tried the non gulping bowl and it hasn't worked 
Tried worming her and that didn't work
Tried hand feeding her one by one and that also didn't work

So we said we would try and feed her a bigger sized nut and it worked a tiny bit but that's because she has to chew them or she will choke but she is still the same and has made no improvement on anything we have tried 

So i guess im just going to have to accept that's the way she eats


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## Callia (Jan 14, 2009)

I honestly think you just need to relax a little. She is a baby who was only being fed twice a day due to a very stupid vet and so she must have been very hungry when food times came  Its obviously going to have caused her to get very excited over food but now that you are feeding her 4 times a day she will settle. I know you are measuring the food as you don't want her to get fat but she is very young and I have never done that for such a tiny baby. The bag only gives a guideline to the amount to feed and does not mean that it is right for every dog. Could you not increase it a little if she is eating it within seconds ?? I would be thinking its just not enough for her. She is likely to be getting very active within the next few months and a little extra puppy tub is not the end of the world (I'm not suggesting you let her become obese obviously) as she is certainly going to run most of that off


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## Burrowzig (Feb 18, 2009)

When my pup was 7 weeks, she scoffed her food like a maniac too - but mine had been fed from a shared bowl along with the rest of her litter, so it was a case of eat fast or miss out. She soon slowed down and now eats normally - even a bit slower than my other dog.

Another thing you could try is to either feed canned food, or pre-soak the kibble - then press it out thinly (using a fork) over a baking tray so pup has to gradually work over the surface.

But I think it's your problem, not the pup's! Chill out! If you don't like watching her eat fast, leave the room.


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