Robin and I were at a new Home Dog Training Family in Kennesaw last week working with them and their beautiful Akita named Mulan. It wasn’t too difficult to take care of most of the obedience and behavior issues they were experiencing with Mulan. She was a very fast learner and overly willing to please and give respectful focus. Within about two and a half hours we had taught our clients and Mulan everything they would need to know to have a wonderful relationship. As we were finishing up, it just happened to be Mulan’s dinner time. That sparked another question from our clients. Whenever they fed her, she would scarf everything down like a powerful vacuum cleaner. She would sometimes get sick because of this. The also heard that this could cause even worse problems if they let it continue. They wondered what they could do to slow her eating down to more of a “polite manner”.
Robin and I have seen a lot of solutions touting the can curb a dog’s “speed eating”. The most popular are the special dog bowls that are designed with compartments and barriers to slow the dog from simply acting like a pig with the food. We think we have a better way.
There is a natural way of slowing your dog’s “speed eating” by adding entertaining diversion to the process. This is a great idea to try first because it is free!
Don’t forget that your dog is a forager. He is always looking for things on the ground, on tables, chairs, etc. Why not join their hunger with their natural foraging instinct. This can be accomplished through a process called “Scatter Feeding”. When it is time to feed your dog, measure his food and put it in his bowl. Now, don’t but the food down. Instead, command him to sit. Next, toss some of the food from the bowl on the ground.
Your dog will now go after the dog food that is now scattered on the floor. As he is finishing up the last bit of food, throw some more dog food on the ground. If he is eating the food too fast, scatter the food in a larger area and make the portions slightly smaller.
This is an instinctive way that your dog will naturally eat and a process that he can easily understand. You have taken charge by determining how fast the food is presented to him and your dog is having a cool time foraging for his food on the ground.
Give this a try and I am sure you will get some great results. It has worked well for us and our clients for many years.
Just watch out for this: If you have multiple dogs in your household and you thing there is any food aggression among them, make sure that the other dog(s) are separated before you begin to scatter feed with your “speed eating dog”.
Please call Robin or myself at (770) 718-7704 if you are in need of any dog training help. We have a lot of good dog training advice at Best Dog Trainers Kennesaw Georgia. Find all our phone numbers, text addresses and email contacts at Dog Training Help Center Kennewaw Georgia.
Follow Us!