Is Your Puppy Eating Too Fast? How Slow Feeder Bowls Can Help

For many dogs, one of the highlights of their day is mealtimes - and puppies are no different. While some pups are happy to enjoy their food calmly, others can vacuum up their meals in an instant. There can be several reasons for that so let’s take a deeper look into why puppies rush their food - and if you should be concerned.

Why does my puppy eat too fast? Common causes explained

There are several reasons that puppies might eat fast and it is important to understand why this could be happening.

Food Obsession & Enthusiasm

Some dogs are just food obsessed. This can be a breed characteristic or just an individual’s personality, but for them food is one of the most exciting things in their life. These puppies eat fast because they love their food so much that they just can’t eat slowly! It is especially true in breeds like Labrador Retrievers who are known for being overly enthusiastic foodies, but it can manifest in almost any individual.

For a puppy who has newly learned how delicious solid food is, taking their time is almost impossible!

There are other reasons however that a puppy may rush their food:

• Perceived competition or stress: If a puppy is fed around other dogs, in a busy environment, even near cats, they might rush their food to make sure no one else can get it or take it away.
• Insecurity: If puppies are fed away from their owner or are left alone while eating, they may rush their food in order to get back to the security of their caregiver as quickly as possible.
• Rearing environment: If a puppy has been bred and reared in an environment where they had to compete for food with littermates, or where food was scarce, they may have learned to rush their food. This is most common in rescue puppies or puppies bred by unscrupulous or inexperienced breeders.
• Inappropriate feeding: If a puppy doesn’t enjoy the experience of eating (noisy food bowl, slippery floor etc), while they may want the food, they will want to get the meal over with as fast as possible.
• Misguided training: An old-fashioned and deeply misguided method to attempt to prevent resource guarding was to take away a dog’s food while they were in the middle of eating to ‘teach them that this was the owner’s right’. This was often started early in puppyhood and effectively taught dogs that people might take their food away so eating quickly was important.

What happens if a puppy eats too fast?

Eating too fast can result in a variety of health issues. Often in their rush to eat, puppies can swallow excess air or else they don’t properly chew and so swallow large pieces of unchewed food. This can lead to indigestion, discomfort, regurgitating, and even gagging or choking. Even more seriously it can lead to Gastric Dilation-Volvulus (bloat) where the stomach twists and cuts off the blood supply. This is a veterinary emergency and can be fatal. This is especially common in deep chested breeds.

Also, dogs who rush their food don’t get the full nutritional benefit of their diet - or the satisfaction that comes from enjoying a meal. For whatever reason your puppy is eating too fast, it is important to slow them down.

Can I train my puppy to eat slower?

Some dogs will always eat quickly if given the opportunity - and this isn’t about training, it is about management.

It is about making sure you are feeding your puppy in the best way, in the optimal environment, making the most of a variety of available equipment in order to help them feel relaxed enough at mealtimes that they can enjoy their food - and then, where necessary, slowing them down a bit.

For fast eaters, there are two key parts to slowing them down. The first is to look at the environment and the eating experience, and then the second is to look at the meal itself.

Creating the Optimal Feeding Environment

To create an optimal, stress-free feeding environment, consider the following:

• Make sure you are feeding your puppy somewhere quiet, away from other dogs, and passing people (and intimidating cats!).
• Stay close to your puppy - somewhere they can see you while they are eating.
• Ensure that they are comfortable while they are eating - so avoid slippery surfaces, noisy food bowls, deep food bowls that they might not feel confident putting their faces into, high sided bowls that are uncomfortable to stretch down into, tags or collars hitting the side of the bowl… In other words, make their mealtimes totally stress-free.
• Split daily food ration into more meals a day to prevent puppies feeling overly hungry.

Introducing Slow Feeder Equipment

Once you have got your puppy’s feeding experience right, what do you do if they are still rushing their food - either through enjoyment, over-enthusiasm or habit?

There are plenty of options on the market that claim to slow dogs down while they are eating, and choosing one that will work for your puppy will depend on their personality, their dexterity, and their physiology (muzzle shape etc) - as well as their confidence and frustration levels.

Firstly, there are two types of bowls:

Types of slow feeder bowls:

Maze or puzzle feeders

These will require your puppy to extract food from a maze system or some other puzzle. These work best for adult dogs who have experience of puzzle toys and enjoy them, have some training, and are relatively long-nosed. For kibble only.

Raised centre bowls

These split the food around the edges of the bowl and so make it harder to get a large mouthful. Often these are raised or high-sided bowls which can be difficult for small puppies. Good for the deep chested, bloat-prone dogs. For kibble only.

Spiral bowls

These are similar to maze bowls - with all the same advantages and disadvantages.

Concave and convex bowls

Different shapes can give a slower eating experience or a more comfortable eating experience depending on the physiology of the dogs. Can be used for wet or dry food.

Bowls with raised sections

Often the simplest slow feeding bowls just have raised areas at the bottom of the bowl that the puppy has to eat around. For flat-faced dogs, these should be as low as possible whereas for longer nosed breeds, these can be higher. They slow the puppy down while they are eating without frustration or challenge. Can be used for dry or wet food.

Then there are also food dispersal toys that slow down feeding and can make eating more enriching - such as Kongs, snuffle mats, Lickimats - or homemade versions - for older puppies.

Balancing enrichment and slow feeding with frustration and lack of confidence

Access to food is a basic right and one of the Five Freedoms. Getting their daily nutrition should not be contingent on puppies performing certain behaviours, behaving in a certain way, or solving puzzles. Making access to food - especially when dogs are hungry - challenging or complicated, can cause food-obsessed dogs' frustration, and can cause less confident dogs to further lose confidence, and in both cases, make mealtimes a cause of stress and not pleasure.

Having simple measures to slow down eating - and using toys and other feeding equipment to enhance mealtimes - can boost your dog’s enjoyment of their food, and by slowing them down, protect their health. It’s a fine line but start off with the very simplest options you can that have the desired effect.

Conclusion

Mealtimes are a key part of your puppy’s day - and will continue to be throughout your dog’s life. Making sure they are enjoyable experiences that enhance their health and happiness is a major part of dog ownership.

FAQs