A little worried about bloat with new puppy

[shaner]

Titan is about 3 months old and he is extremely food driven. He's also a gulper, so he destroys his bowl of food as quickly as he can. He's also a very high energy puppy (more so than the average puppy, in my experience), so he tends to gulp his food, run around the house, drink a gallon of water, run around some more, get the hiccups (at least twice a day he gets the hiccups), run some more, etc.

We feed him three times per day, but I'm a little worried about him getting bloat from how he eats, how much water he drinks and the fact that he seems to give himself the hiccups all the time.

So for those who have or have had puppies/dogs like Titan, what precautions did you take, if any? Did you limit water after dinner, did you limit exercise after dinner? If so, for how long? Also, how on earth did you limit exercise short of putting him in his crate, because that is the only way to slow him down, and unless I have to I don't particularly want to put him in his crate after every meal.

Am I worrying too much about this and in all likelihood he'll be fine?

I should also state that before I got my GSD's, I have a husky that died from bloat, so it's quite possible I'm worrying over nothing.

[onyx'girl]

Pups don't usually bloat, but getting him to slow down now for his later "bloat age" would be good. I'd scatter his kibble in the yard or whatever to slow his eating down. And I'd also crate him after that for some down time. Hiccups are common in pups, they tend to outgrow it, but Karlo almost 3 had them the other night!

If this were my pup, I would start a routine of limiting exercise after eating or doing some obedience with his meal.
That is the best time with a food driven dog~ train him with his meal!

[Lesley1905]

I agree with what Onyxgirl said. We feed our kids in a low food stands, restrict exercise before and after they eat, and also watch their water intake before and after. Also, Brody is a gulper as well. Spreading the kibble on the floor is a great idea. Or they also make bowls that help slow them down. The bowls didn't work so much for Brody, but I have known other dogs that it has worked for. We have a giant steel ball that we put in the middle of Brody's food bowl, this way he has to eat around it and move it himself with his nose. It slows him down a good bit.

[shaner]

Alright, maybe I'll try putting a tennis ball in his bowl so he has to slow down a bit, although I don't know how well that will work. We'll see. I'm also going to pick up his water right before meals and won't put it back down until 30-60 minutes after. I'm going to try to limit his exercise afterwards without the crate if I can.

I've never had a dog before that was this food driven or this high energy. Seriously, every time I feed him, he acts like he's absolutely starving. He thinks being fed is the greatest thing on earth.

[Lesley1905]

Originally Posted by shaner

Alright, maybe I'll try putting a tennis ball in his bowl so he has to slow down a bit, although I don't know how well that will work. We'll see. I'm also going to pick up his water right before meals and won't put it back down until 30-60 minutes after. I'm going to try to limit his exercise afterwards without the crate if I can.

I've never had a dog before that was this food driven or this high energy. Seriously, every time I feed him, he acts like he's absolutely starving. He thinks being fed is the greatest thing on earth.

You could also split up his meals during the day if your able to...more frequent smaller meals is also a good thing!

[Holmeshx2]

Agree with Jane... I generally wait til they take a nap then feed them so they were not doing alot of running around before the meal then they get fed in their crate and bowl is taken out afterwards and they are forced to take a nap or crate quiet time for a MINIMUM of 30 minutes I prefer an hour as a pup after eating. This way it sets up a habit as they get older of quiet time after eating. I no longer feed Jinx in her crate however after eating she comes in the living room and lays down after a bit she will get up and walk around with a toy or something but no rough housing, running or jumping or she gets "grounded"

[Holmeshx2]

If hes young he should be eating 3 times a day anyways. For a pup you're gonna play heck getting him calm afterward either a crate or an expen for quiet time after eating is a big thing to learn now. Also just scattering the kibble on the ground works his brain as well as slows him down. With foster pups (or treats with jinx) I will scatter then down a hallway or something in a line so the dog kind of "tracks" the food.. makes them slow down and works their brain some looking for the next piece and working that mind is SOOO crucial to helping keep them calm and worn out.

[BUBBAGSD]

Hi Shaner

If you feed him dry kibble for food you might soak the food in water for about 20 to 30 minutes before feeding, we do that with all our dogs. The dogs and puppies will have less water because there is some in the food and the food has expanded in the bowl and not in their stomach when they eat .

[Geminon]

Geminon is the same way he gets a full cup three times a day, and within seconds hes eaten it up. We dived his meals into smaller portions and call them 'Snack Time!' which pretty much means 2/3ds of the cup are scattered around the floor or hidden and he has to search for it, so he takes his time eating slowl sometimes it will tkae 5 min. to finish that 2/3 cup, and then he'l get his actualy meal, that last third cup so i dont mind if he swallows that bit up fast since its not that much.

it's working so far plus we are able to do alot of extra training during snack time also.

[shaner]

Originally Posted by Geminon

Geminon is the same way he gets a full cup three times a day, and within seconds hes eaten it up. We dived his meals into smaller portions and call them 'Snack Time!' which pretty much means 2/3ds of the cup are scattered around the floor or hidden and he has to search for it, so he takes his time eating slowl sometimes it will tkae 5 min. to finish that 2/3 cup, and then he'l get his actualy meal, that last third cup so i dont mind if he swallows that bit up fast since its not that much.

it's working so far plus we are able to do alot of extra training during snack time also.

How old is Geminon? I've been wondering if 3 cups per day is appropriate for Titan. He just acts like he's starving, and he's quite lean (although what GSD pup isn't lol).