Bowser is a Hoover. And he's freaking me out!!

[Rua]

Right, so...

My second GSD, Bowser (15 weeks), is an unstoppable Hoover when it comes to eating his food.

He gets Raw for the first two meals of his day. And he's not great about chewing his food. If it's chicken wings or necks, he just swallows them whole. So I've started breaking the bones up for him a bit because he poops them out near whole which is rather disconcerting.

His evening meal is a grain free kibble mixed with raw mince meat or an egg. Again, he doesn't chew not one bit. He just swallows everything whole.

He will sit and chew a bully stick, tripe sticks, or any other kind of chewie, no problem. So I know he can chew. Why won't he chew any of his actual food???

My first GSD, Juno (15 months) eat everything very delicately and takes her time eating.

*Crunch Crunch Crunch*....that is the sound I like to hear. That is the sound of no bloat and of happy canine dining.
*SCOFF SCOFF COUGH CHOKE SCOFF* is NOT the sound I wanna hear.

Bowser is freaking me out! What can I do???

[Rua]

Seriously lads, any suggestions are appreciated.

Who out there has got scoffers like Bowser?

[MichaelE]

You might look into the ProSelect type feed control bowls. They have designs that will slow the dogs eating.

Problem is, it won't make him chew it up before swallowing so I don't know really what good they are.

[CelticGlory]

How big are the wings and necks? I would give bigger pieces if they are smaller than his mouth; the bigger it is the more time he would have to take to chew. Some people feed the raw frozen or half-frozen and it also seems to help to prevent them from gulping.

[Capone22]

Raw people- can she give him the rmb's frozen to make him slow down and work at it? Also I wouldn't give him such small bones then. I would make him work at a larger bone. Like a chicken back or something? Hopefully some pro raw people chime in. You could put his kibble with mean in a kong and freeze it so he has to work to get it out and chew.


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[Rua]

Originally Posted by Capone22

Raw people- can she give him the rmb's frozen to make him slow down and work at it? Also I wouldn't give him such small bones then. I would make him work at a larger bone. Like a chicken back or something? Hopefully some pro raw people chime in. You could put his kibble with mean in a kong and freeze it so he has to work to get it out and chew.


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Yeah,, so far I've been giving him lots of chicken backs which have definately helped slow him down a bit. He seriously would swallow whole anything if given the chance though. I gave him some large pork tongue chunks today because I thought he'd chew them a bit to break them up. Nope. Down the hatch they went. No chewing at all.

I've done the frozen stuffed Kong thing too. And spreading food around a room. And hand feeding.

I guess what I'm worried about now is whether or not he will be a high risk for bloat because of his scoffing habit.

[Jax08]

RAW food doesn't expand like kibble so I wouldn't worry about bloat. You've tried freezing the chicken backs and pork chunks? The only issue I had with Jax with a chunk of meat once she didnt' chew was her choking on it. I cut them up a bit smaller (narrower). But she usually gives a few chomps on her meat and then swallows.

I try to cut them up into pieces that they would normally tear off a carcass. What size would be natural to them? So I cut them a bit thinner. She does chew more if the food is half frozen. However!!! If you feed something like pork neck, don't give it frozen. I think that chipped some of Jax's teeth.