A dog wolfing food is highly dangerous and can be a choking hazard that often leads to fatal results if not addressed immediately. He can also experience extreme case of vomiting wherein he swallows so much air during eating. He can even develop an inner bloat in his stomach which can be life threatening. There are a lot of dangers that can happen if your dog keeps on doing this very nasty habit. Bottom line is, you have to do something about it because it is very unhealthy and harmful for your canine. Luckily, there are ways that you can do to help him stop from eating a bit too quickly than the norm. Read on to learn more.
- Use a wide and shallow container. Prepare a large clean cookie mat. Put the dry dog food in it and spread it as much as you can. It would be better if you use small kibbles to avoid the dog from choking and so that it would be harder to eat it all at once when placed on a tray. This will slow your pooch down when eating since the food is spread out and your dog does not have any other choice but to pick the food across the wide shallow tray.
- Get some rocks! You can also put a few big rocks on your pet’s bowl. Make sure that the rocks are big enough not to be eaten. Mix it together with the dog food. The dog will have to maneuver his way down and around the rocks to ensure he’s eating all the kibbles. This is an effective way to stop your pooch from eating too fast. You can also use a big ball (make sure it is smooth and clean). This will force your dog to eat around the object.
- Soak it all up. Instead of feeding your dog dry food, you can opt for using wet dog food. You can easily do this by soaking dry dog food and wait for a couple of minutes. You will see bubbles forming up. The water is releasing all the gases inside the kibble making it more compact. This can definitely prevent your dog from accidental bloating or gastric torsion, which could be really dangerous.
- Hand feeding is the way to do it. If you have the time, you can start feeding your pooch by hand. Just make sure you measure what you are giving him to avoid the chances of overfeeding. Very slowly put a handful of dog food in your hand and feed it to your dog. As soon as he finished eating it, do not rush on to the next food batch. Wait and then slowly give him the food again. Keep on repeating this until he gets the rhythm.
Just follow these very effective steps and you will soon have a very healthy dog without the risk of choking and other kinds of accidental dangers from eating too fast. Be consistent at all times when doing this. Repeat this procedure over and over again until your dog becomes accustomed to eating slowly. Never shout or do something violent if your pet starts the fast eating habit again. This technique will not help but will only make things worse. Stick to these steps and you will never be sorry. Good luck!