Not chewing food?

[jenn1381]

Mya has just been transitioned from wet food to dry (same food, I just used to soak it) now that all her adult teeth are in and baby teeth are gone. The problem is, she won't chew! Like at all! I never hear any crunching coming from her. I'm worried that I soaked her food for too long and she got so used to not having to chew much that now she never will! Is there some way I can teach her to chew it - like maybe hand feeding her a couple times? Or is this something she may just grow out of.

Also, when do you transition a dog from puppy to adult food? She's 7 months old now. I really want to get her on a better quality food, but I don't want to switch her twice if I don't have to. Would rather just wait until it's time for the switch and do it then.

Any thoughts/advice is, as always, very appreciated!!!

[Britster]

LOL, Jackson would do this sometimes, too. He ate NV Instinct where the kibbles were smaller (also, he's 15lbs, so bigger mouth!) and a lot of times he would just swallow them whole. When we switched to Acana, the kibbles were a bit bigger, and now he chews them.

I think it all depends. Jackson didn't eat actual 'puppy food' for very long. I think I switched him to an all life stages food at around 5 months old. (Merrick's Before Grain). Yorkies are small obviously and usually they are done growing, for the most part, by 6-8 months. So I think it's okay to start feeding adult food to your 7 month old. I would look for an all life stages food.

[maybeiloveyou]

My dog is the same way but I think she gets excited about eating so she just gulps down all her food. I am looking into getting a brand of food with bigger kibble since that will force her to chew. Right now I either hand feed a few kibbles at a time or I only put a few in her bowl at a time since she slows down and chews them if there are only a few.

I also got an idea from those treat/food toys that roll around and dispense treats - I just cut two holes in a ball I had lying around and filled it with her usual amount of food and let her roll that around. A few kibbles fall out every time it rolls and she chews those! The downside of this is that I have to watch to make sure the ball doesn't roll someplace and get stuck, or that she misses a few kibbles under the furniture.

[jenn1381]

Hmmmm, maybe I should get a new food then once she's done her current bag. I really want her on something more nutritious anyways.

Treat ball is a great idea that she'd totally go for - but I have 2 dogs and Oliver would be eating 2 dinners then... lol. We put cherrios in their treat ball and Mya does all the work pushing it around and Oliver follows and pushes her out of the way anytime anything falls out.. lol.

Think I'll just look for something bigger so she'll be forced to chew it. Thanks for the advice, guys! Much appreciated.