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Slow eater - fast eater

3K views 19 replies 9 participants last post by  BrownStandardPoodle 
#1 ·
Hi,

Well, my black dog is eating chicken backs (reminds me of that commerical - I want my baby back, baby back, baby back ribs!). She ate 4 today!! However, she is sooooo slow at her eating. I want to feed both dogs outside. It would be nice if I could just feed them outside and leave them (especially in the winter) whilst looking out once in a while, and bringing them in when they're done. But I can't do that with her slow eating. My brown dog would just eat all of the black dog's unattended food. I ended up giving my brown dog food that I had set aside for my black dog, because I figure if she's so slow, she can't be all that hungry.

Do you think her slow eating (She picks it up, she licks it, she noses it, she starts chewing and chewing and chewing. Finally she swallows - about 5 minutes for one chicken back.) will get faster? I know she has bad teeth (vet mentioned that) - could her teeth hurt? If so, do you think that will get better?

Does anyone have any ways to feed slow vs. fast feeders? I do want to feed them oustide. Maybe I should feed my fast eater outside and my slow one inside on newspaper. It's just that feeding outside - there's nothing to clean up. I have a degenerative diability, and I only have so much energy. I know it seems such a quick thing to do - pick up the newspaper. It's just I want the easiest way - outside. LOL

Thanks for listening to my whining!
Carol
 
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#2 ·
it's real possible that she has some gum pain....that's the background for tom lonsdale...who wrote raw meaty bones and works wonders....he started with the premise that as puppies...they have gingivitis when they teethe....and then we give them kibble and the gingivitis never goes away...and just gets worse as they age...

so, for a time, it might be slower...plus, her jaw needs to adapt and her neck muscles will get stronger...

even slow poke malia eats more quickly now, but she is very methodical...some dogs are....

i'd rather have that than bubba who used to try to swallow things hole...thank g'd he's slowed down.

as to eating outside...can you check on them or see them every few minutes?

especially in the beginning...they ARE eating bone and sometimes bones can get stuck..not often and not to scare you...but S*** do happen, ya know?

you can also feed them in different places....a lot of people feed their dogs in crates...and keep them separated....

and then there are people like me....who teach the dogs how to eat on a towel in the kitchen....so i can watch them, leave the room for a minute and then come back...

on the other hand....four backs for a meal? wow. that is a lot of backs...how are the stools?
 
#5 ·
I don't think your slow eater has issues eating at all. That is just the way she eats. One of ours has always eaten that way. It definitely doesn't mean she's not hungry so I wouldn't not feed her the amount she needs.

Let me ask you this...when your fast eater eats, does the food even touch the ground or does it go straight down the hatch? What I do with our fast eater is feed her inside but just hand her one chicken back at a time. It literally takes her two seconds to crunch it and swallow. It never even touches anything other than her mouth, which means no clean up and our slow eater can eat outside with some peace and quiet.

You might also see if your slow eater will guard her food. If you give her a meals worth of meat, will she defend it from the fast eater or will he steal it? If she will guard her food I would say just give both dogs their total sized meal and let them figure it out. Our slow eater will defend her food from everyone else so they don't really bug her. If
she walks away from it it's fair game to anyone else. We somewhat let our dogs fend for themselves to figure things out. They do a really good job at communicating with each other.
 
#7 ·
Re - I don't like the idea of feeding in the crate. It would be very hard for me to clean. I have a tough time doing things. LOL I used newspaper on the ground before I thought of taking them outside to eat. I have to watch her, because she likes to take her "treasures" off somewhere to eat in seclusion. So yes, it is a possibility, and I might do that from time to time. As to 4 backs - Toffee (the bigger dog) will eat about 9, I think. He actually would eat 20 probably if I let him! Toffee's poo is very white. But on Sunday, I'm going to add chicken quarters, cause I think that will be a week. I'm going to go back to my first thread and see when I actually started him on raw. Jelly's is just starting to get white in her poo.

Jon might indeed have the answer. Jelly will defend her food at hand, but any in the bowl, I think he would steal. This way in the winter, I could just watch from the open door as he eats on the deck. He's finished his food really fast (yet he really crunches). Then I could bring him in, and leave her out there. I'm not exactly sure if that will work, because with kibble, if I leave the room, she follows, and will ignore her food. Poodles can be very clingy. But I'm going to try tying him up now when he's finished - I'll do my gardening - I have over 30 rose bushes, so I enjoy being outside. With him tied up, I don't have to spend my time babysitting him. I get really annoyed with Jelly , thinking hurry up, it shouldn't take you 20 minutes to eat your food. Yet I'll still be outside to monitor.

danemama - You're right - I can hand feed him, and it won't touch the ground. I tried that today. But with something like chicken backs (when he starts on them) I think he'll probably lie down for those. I think that Jellybean will only guard the food she's working on. I think he would be able to steal. So, I think I'm going to tie him up when he's done. That way we can all stay outside, yet I don't have to watch like a hawk.

Ubershan - yes that could work too.

Those are all really good ideas everyone!! Thanks for your help. I get bored easily and staring at her eat her food was getting tedious. She might even eat faster without me trying to protect her and her food from greedy gus.

I'm going to tie him up tomorrow after he eats. He won't mind - he'll still be where all the action is!

Thanks!!
Carol
 
#8 ·
Toffee's poo is very white. But on Sunday, I'm going to add chicken quarters, cause I think that will be a week.
If the poo is white and powdery coming "out of the chute" he is telling you that you are feeding too much bone and you need to add some meat to the diet. If it comes out yellow and turns white the next day or even several hours later, thats normal. I would think it's probably time to add quarters.
 
#9 ·
I would think its time to start adding in more meat, and it will definitely get easier as I think chicken backs as far as feeding is one of the harder things to feed because of the bone content some dogs do tend to eat slower.

Once you can add in real meat with less bone content I'm sure that the slow eater might not be as slow. Good Luck.
 
#10 ·
Carol,

If you do start feeding quarters don't be surprised if you see some bone fragments in the stool. With chicken backs my GSD has no fragments but I think the bone in chicken quarters is denser. Everyone keeps reassuring me her stomach will eventually be able to break down the bone except for the rare bone fragment.

Tami
 
#11 ·
i think you've really given this a lot of thought and careful consideration....i don't feed any of my dogs in a crate either, since i can't move around as well as i'd like....hence, the towel...

i didn't allow my dogs to guard food....when i started feeding them, i sat between them...and gently corrected until they could literally lick each others' bowls..not that they use them...as RFD and others have stated...bowls are for me, not them...because the food comes right out onto the towel.....but since i still weigh food....not so good at eyeballing....never was.....bowls help me....

but, you know your dogs better than any one else and you know yourself and what you want to be able to accomplish....

i too think your dogs are ready for some meat, given their chalky poos.....which is a big yay for both you and the dogs....

and, jodysmom is right...some dogs will get some bone fragments in their poo....mine did..now they don't....it took about six weeks to eight weeks....before that stopped...and it was only scary the first time and then of course, it was explained to me and then it was fine and then it went away :)
 
#12 ·
Well, I fed chicken quarters to Toffee today. I'm still giving Jellybean (what a silly name - LOL) only the chicken backs, because she wouldn't eat for a few days, while he just went right away at it.

Toffee was a bit puzzled at first. He chomped at it and chomped on it. But wasn't eating anything. Then he just got the hang of it.

I threw her pieces of meat next to her, and since she's the alpha, he didn't touch her food. He circled around her, and then walked away.

I've found that since feeding them real food, they are very much interested in what I put on the counter and in what I take out of the fridge. Before they were much more mannerly. Now they poke their noses in whatever they can. Little porkers!! LOL

Carol :)
 
#14 ·
Oh yeah - my brown poodle is 85 lbs and quite tall - he just looks at the top of the counter - he doesn't have to rely on his nose.

A pug sob - oh my!!! "I want some, I want some" I don't know how you could resist giving him anything he wants - I mean look at that face!!! And those eyes!!! :)

I gave Jellybean a quarter chicken today. She just carried it around and licked it. So I took it away. Hopefully she'll eat it tomorrow. Toffee would have hoovered it up...but he had had his share already (that pig). LOL

Carol
 
#16 ·
Re - can't remember now - maybe half an hour?

But REALLY good news!!

After (I think) 3 days of not eating anything (just licking the quarters), (and except for scarfing some bird seed) she ate 2 (yes 2!) chicken quarters. She started out by stripping the meat off, then they crunched right down and ate the whole quarter. So I gave her another, and she left the meat on and started crunching!!!!

YEAH!!!

My husband was getting worried about her. She had such a bad summer with 2 months of diarrhea, and now, not eating the raw. He was talking about putting her back on kibble. I said, "No way!" "Let's just keep on trying." So I am very relieved that she has eaten. I mean, really relieved.

So she wanted more, but I thought since she hadn't eaten in awhile, I'd just give her 2 chicken backs, and leave the rest for later. Which is what the advice here is anyway for the first 2 months give 2 meals a day. It's just that since she's actually eating, I wanted to keep feeding her. But I resisted her pleading eyes, and stopped feeding.

Anyway - I'm really happy!!
Carol
 
#17 ·
I'm glad she is finally eating. I'm not surprised. They all give in eventually then you can't stop them from eating. :smile: However!! I want to caution you that one of the causes of diarrhea is eating too much. 2 chicken quarters is plenty but adding the backs was too much at this point I think. My Great Danes only eat 2 chicken quarters and 1 back in a day. Just be careful. I am always big on preventing digestive problems and I can see you headed toward them. Maybe you will be lucky this time.
 
#18 ·
oh, carol.....that's the bestest of news.....

newbies like us get so excited, well, i know i did...that all i wanted to do was listen to that crunch and watch the dog who dances with food and the other one whose eyes lit up when the fridge got opened...

it's almost six months...and i still make mistakes...but one thing i'm learning is to not overfeed....chicken is the least rich of the foods we feed...and, if you're lucky enough to belong to a co op or you live near asian/mexican stores or your bestest friend is a hunter...you are going to have access to all kinds of game...

some of this stuff, whilst really good for them is much richer....

even pork and beef and fish....is richer than chicken....

but i have to tell you....i know exactly how you're feeling right about now....bet you're grinning from ear to ear....not only that, you're preventing the picky eater....YAY!!
 
#19 ·
Glad to hear you won the battle! It sometimes takes a stubborn dog a bit to realize that you are the one in charge and so they give in! It took two of ours about 3 days as well to get the hang of it and its the best thing that we did the tough love approach.

I agree with RFD, that is a lot of food for the first day on raw. I wouldn't be surprised if you see some loose stool or even cannon butt. If you do see this....don't feed her tomorrow. The next day feed her just one quarter and see how it goes. I hope you don't see any issues at all!
 
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