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05-01-2005, 11:59 PM | #1 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: May 2005 Location: Chicago
Posts: 61
| Swallowing without chewing Hey everyone. I'm new to the forum.... I'm so glad to have found it! Anyway, I had an question about food - specifically Royal Canin. Now, I know there is a wealth of information on this forum about it, but I had an issue that I didn't see addressed. When my dog eats this stuff, he chews about 10% of it. The other 90%, he simply swallows without chewing at all. The only way that I can remedy this is by literally throwing one tiny piece out at a time. For some reason, when I do this, he crunches the little piece before swallowing. I guess the only real negative that I perceive from this is that his teeth aren't getting cleaned when he eats his food. Is this a major concern? Are there any other concerns related to his non-chewing? By the way, he is 2.5 years old and average size and weight. Last edited by armaneo; 05-02-2005 at 12:03 AM. |
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05-02-2005, 06:05 AM | #2 |
Registered User Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Mallorca-Spain
Posts: 379
| Is he on a feeding schedule? Most dogs that only get fed a couple of times a day tend to scarf their food down so fast that some will even throw up afterwards.Have you tried leaving it out all day? At first he will probably scarf it down (expect the throwing it up afterwards) but after a while he will realise that you arent going to take his bowl away and eat with less desperation.This is what happened to us with Jess.At 8weeks she weighed 2lbs so instead of free feeding her we started of with a schedule,but she would throw up after each meal because of how fast she ate it,so we switched and started free feeding her..the first week she would still try and eat everything in her bowl without even chewing,but when she saw that right after eating ALL of the food we would top it right up again she stopped doing it because it just wasnt possible for her to eat so much food. If you dont have a schedule then I cant help...I hope you find a solution. |
05-02-2005, 09:46 AM | #3 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: May 2005 Location: Chicago
Posts: 61
| Chelsie, I have noticed the same thing with Armaneo....he eats as if the food is going to run away. And yes, at times, when I fill his bowl, he will eat so fast that he will throw up. I started free feeding him about a year ago, and this problem has subsided. I guess my major concern with Royal Canin is that the pieces of food are absolutely tiny. I'm not very familiar with other brands of food for small dogs, but this is the smalles I've ever seen. I feel that he is swallowing without chewing not because he is afraid anymore of the food escaping, but because the pieces are so small, that there is no need to chew. |
05-02-2005, 10:24 AM | #4 |
BANNED! Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 8,246
| I think he will be fine. You just have to brush his teeth more often probably or give him dental chews to clean his teeth. I am sure the kibble dissolves in his stomach without causing a problem. The idea of free feeding is a good one. |
05-02-2005, 10:32 AM | #5 |
Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Arkansas
Posts: 972
| our lhasa does the same thing. she hardly ever chews her food up but we think it is b/c she doesn't want the other dogs to eat but don't worry we make sure all 3 dogs get enough to eat. do you have any other dogs in the house? i think ours is simply an alpha thing. |
05-02-2005, 11:33 AM | #6 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: May 2005 Location: Chicago
Posts: 61
| Just the little one....but we want to get him a friend soon too. I really feel that he would love to have a friend around the house, but I'm afraid that if I got another yorkie now, that I wouldn't be able to give her the proper amount of time needed for a puppy. What is your opinion? If both my girlfriend and I work full time, isn't appropriate, right? Yea....I'm just trying to find a way.....8 hours is way to long to leave a puppy alone....... |
05-03-2005, 01:48 PM | #7 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Lynnwood
Posts: 154
| Some ideas in this article may help: http://www.doggiezen.com/handouts/re...-guarding.html I run into the problem of Bodhi inhaling his kibbles when used as a reward. He started hacking so I remembered what the trainer said about just giving a "taste" of food instead. I rotate the Royal Canin (puppy) with the Natural Balance in the size of a pepper flake and end with a 1" heart-shaped treat that he has to break apart and chew. I know that dog food doesn't come in Milk Bone sized bits and probably for a reason. So, I guess that bigger dog food isn't available. A 2nd pet. There are some good thoughts on this subject in previous threads about this. My personal concern would be keeping both pets healthy and bad habits that would be transferred to the other pet. A big decison! Much luck to you on this issue! Last edited by Bodhi'sMom; 05-03-2005 at 01:52 PM. Reason: Answering the 2nd pet question |
05-04-2005, 06:40 AM | #8 |
Boppin' Bo! Donating Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Indiana
Posts: 2,719
| I love this forum!! I had just been thinking today that I should feed my Schnauzer 3 or 4 small meals a day since he INHALES his food. And his food is in large chuncks. Seems like it would hurt his throat not to mention his digestive system. He's always ready to eat more and regularly tries to steal Bo's food (6 month old Yorkie). Bo is a nibbler and doesn't eat all his at once. Woody (Schnauzer) is at his ideal weight so I know I'm feeding him the right amount. I think he just gets really hungry between meals.
__________________ ~~~ i yorkies ~~~ Cynthia Turbo and Suri! |
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