Help! My dog gobbles up her food within seconds

Dear Jennifer

I have a problem, I am a bit greedy. When my meals get served, I literally just gobble it up and barely come up for air. This means that I really don’t get to enjoy my food and my mom says that me eating so fast is really not good for me. Is there anything you can do or suggest for my mom that she can do to help me eat my food at a more manageable pace?

Love
Peanut

Hi Peanut,

Well there’s certainly nothing wrong with enjoying your food and having a good appetite. But your mum is quite right when she tells you eating too fast is bad for you, gobbling your food can lead to all sorts of digestive and other undesirable problems.

There are a number of things your mum can do to help you eat more slowly. Here are three of the more common methods you can suggest to her. Firstly ask mum if she will buy you a slow feeder bowl – these bowls have moulded “lumps” in them which makes it harder for you to gulp your food.

Secondly mum could get you a snuffle mat and serve your food on the mat. The mat is like a big shaggy carpet and when your meal is placed on it the kibble “disappears” into the deep piles. You then have to rifle through the mat to find the food which obviously stops you gulping it.

Scatter feeding is a third and easy option for mum. All she needs to do is scatter your food over a one to two square metre area outdoors and let you forage for it. This method, much like the snuffle mat, also helps to give you mental stimulation as you first have to search for your food. Unfortunately, if there are any other furkids in the family and mum chooses this option, then she will have to feed you separately to avoid any interference from any of them.

Bon appetite

Kind regards,

Jennifer