Morning all. Some of you are beginning to know Bud really well. What i think he has only shared in the smallest of detail is that he is starting to "hoover" his food down in quick time. It took us a little while to find a food that really agrees with his stomach, and a mainly dry kibble is the only texture that ticks all the boxes thus far. When he was eating a mixed meal of dry and wet, and even when i was softening the dry kibble, he used to down this extremely quickly. We have been on dry for a good few weeks now and his stomach (and bowels) seem to accept this. But it hasn't slowed down his eating. He tends to swallow instead of taking time to crunch and really enjoy the flavours. This morning i literally fed him small amounts at a time until he had received his full quota, and sat nearby with an occasional "slowly" command (that did get him to sit and crunch a little bit more before returning his head to the bowl.) I have been raising his bowls off the ground in accordance to his growing size yet i don't want to cause him to be uncomfortable when eating as there is still room to raise the height further. When we last saw our vet he had no problems with what Bud was eating, and only made the suggestions expected by a vet regarding the brands they supply. We are yet to discuss this hoovering issue. I thought i would therefore drop by myself on here and seek out a few tips and suggestions from those of you who have the time. Many thanks in advance. Tony
Re: Bud......Hoovering quicker than me!!!! Rolo inhales his food. I found a tip on here about making him work for his meals so half goes in his bowl (softened) and the rest gets split between a buster cube and a kong. Never thought about raising his bowls, should I be doing this?
Re: Bud......Hoovering quicker than me!!!! I think labs do hoover food usually! Harley has a kong wobbler that she used when she had just dry food. They have to knock it over to get food out and it used to take a good 5-10 minutes to get all the food out. The first few times, it took nearly 15 minutes. It really slowed down her eating She now has a mixture of wet/dry due to her sensitive tummy, but you can hear the kibble being crunched now - I have been told she is an unusual lab - not really food orientated!
Re: Bud......Hoovering quicker than me!!!! Hoover here too! Kong wobblers are great. When it was dry outside I fed all maisie's meals in the wobbler, kept her amused for a good 15 minutes. When all the food is out of the wobbler, she spends ages checking to see if she misssd any!
Re: Bud......Hoovering quicker than me!!!! Another one here for the Hoover club. We use one of those slow feeder bowls at home. She's got her technique sorted now but meals still last a lot longer than a standard bowl. I also put quite a bit of water in with her meal as she doesn't drink much. Slurping up the kibble flavoured water also helps slow down meal times.
Re: Bud......Hoovering quicker than me!!!! [quote author=Rolokris link=topic=8947.msg127447#msg127447 date=1417337370] Never thought about raising his bowls, should I be doing this? [/quote] Thanks for the tip. Appreciated. Not sure if you should be raising the bowls. Our bowls are attached to a kind of raising arm. It can only be raised so far but it prevents Bud hanging his head on the ground to eat. Not sure if there is any real benefit or not to this, after all isn't the natural position for a feeding dog one that is virtually sniffing at the ground? We just feel it is a more comfortable way to feed.
Re: Bud......Hoovering quicker than me!!!! Others have used a large tray to spread food on rather that putting it in a bowl.
Re: Bud......Hoovering quicker than me!!!! [quote author=Naya link=topic=8947.msg127450#msg127450 date=1417337827] Harley has a kong wobbler that she used when she had just dry food. They have to knock it over to get food out and it used to take a good 5-10 minutes to get all the food out. The first few times, it took nearly 15 minutes. It really slowed down her eating [/quote] We were wondering if there was something like this. We'll look into it. Thank you.
Re: Bud......Hoovering quicker than me!!!! Thank you Debs for your input. Steph - we have found that no matter if the food is dry or watered down, he does not slow down his eating. He just loves his food that he wants to gulp it down. How he can taste it i have no idea. We have not tried the slow feeder bowls yet. I was not sure if they would make much difference but no harm in trying them, especially if they do slow down the feeding as is the case with you.
Re: Bud......Hoovering quicker than me!!!! [quote author=drjs@5 link=topic=8947.msg127462#msg127462 date=1417339676] Others have used a large tray to spread food on rather that putting it in a bowl. [/quote That's different. Thank you.
Re: Bud......Hoovering quicker than me!!!! There is some thought that raising the food bowl could contribute to the slight possibility of bloat. I do not know the veracity of this and unfortunately don't have the time to look it up. I would not feed mine that way just in case!
Re: Bud......Hoovering quicker than me!!!! [quote author=Stacia link=topic=8947.msg127466#msg127466 date=1417340291] There is some thought that raising the food bowl could contribute to the slight possibility of bloat. I do not know the veracity of this and unfortunately don't have the time to look it up. I would not feed mine that way just in case! [/quote] Really? We had not been aware of this, and we done quite some research before we even got Bud. Thank you. I will put some time into research myself. UPDATE: My initial research shows that findings relating bloat and elevated food bowls are still in the process of clarity one way or another. But you are right in that it is a thought that has been raised and needs to be further analysed. Elevated dog feeders do also offer some real health benefits. Dogs tend to lift their heads after taking a drink to facilitate swallowing. With an elevated feeder, they do not have to raise their heads as far and thus are able to maintain better posture and a more comfortable stance while eating and drinking. An improved posture causes less stress on a dog's back and joints. This is important for senior, arthritic or dogs with other conditions that make swallowing difficult. (Most of this i quoted from a paragraph i read.) Since this has now been mentioned i will be keeping the subject monitored over time. Thanks again.
Re: Bud......Hoovering quicker than me!!!! Thanks Tony, interesting. My thoughts are that it is not a natural feeding position; however, if I did have a dog with painful neck or spine, then I would raise the bowl a little. I had a GSP with spondylitis (spine) and never needed to raise her bowl. I have two Lab and the younger one, he will be three in January, has suddenly decided to hoover his food!!
Re: Bud......Hoovering quicker than me!!!! Molly is never fed from a bowl. It all comes in toys (Buster Cubes, teat balls, Kong Wobbler), hand fed during training or in Kongs etc. I think both my husband and my skirting boards would prefer it if I fed her from a bowl
Re: Bud......Hoovering quicker than me!!!! Not a problem Stacia. Everyone will have their own thoughts and feelings. I had believed that elevating the bowls would be beneficial even though it goes against a natural position for a dog. If anything, you have made me even more aware that most things can be looked at from two prospectives. So thank you.
Re: Bud......Hoovering quicker than me!!!! [quote author=Mollly link=topic=8947.msg127474#msg127474 date=1417342622] Molly is never fed from a bowl. It all comes in toys (Buster Cubes, teat balls, Kong Wobbler), hand fed during training or in Kongs etc. I think both my husband and my skirting boards would prefer it if I fed her from a bowl [/quote] Interesting. It never even occurred to me that there could be alternatives to feeding bowls for the main feeds. I have always looked at kongs, treat balls etc as a source of feeding treats only. Appreciate your input. Thank you. (Love the end comment by the way. I think i can sympathise with your husband and your skirting boards. )
Re: Bud......Hoovering quicker than me!!!! Pongo is Hooverdog. Every meal is gone-in-sixty-seconds (or close to that). And then it is a quick dash back to the kitchen to make sure he hasn't missed any floor-cleaning duties. But why is this a problem? If he's happy and his digestion is working well, is there an issue with eating so fast? It never occured to me that it might not be fine... Rosie
Re: Bud......Hoovering quicker than me!!!! Hi Rosie. I had been under the impression that eating too fast could be another cause of bloat. And generally speaking i feel that if he is not chewing his food there could be a risk of choking (maybe not as likely on dry food due to the size of the pieces), and personally speaking - can he really be enjoying the full extent of his food if he is basically just swallowing it? We are not seeing any problems relating to digestion, and he certainly enjoys his food, so maybe i am just concerned again for no reason. 60-seconds you say for Pongo.....Bud is at 3 minutes at the moment and we thought this was quick Thanks Rosie. Tony
Re: Bud......Hoovering quicker than me!!!! Do labs even have taste buds. It seems the better it smells, the faster it gets sucked down. I think Sara's lips are the only contact with food her mouth has. The only thing she uses her teeth for is eating the house.
Re: Bud......Hoovering quicker than me!!!! [quote author=chrism link=topic=8947.msg127491#msg127491 date=1417361580] Do labs even have taste buds. It seems the better it smells, the faster it gets sucked down. I think Sara's lips are the only contact with food her mouth has. The only thing she uses her teeth for is eating the house. [/quote] I would like to hope they have taste buds - i couldn't imagine eating food and never being able to taste the flavours!!
