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Greedy Puppy

5K views 17 replies 12 participants last post by  Marky Boy 
#1 ·
Hi everybody,

Baxter our puppy is now just under six months old and is going great. One thing that I have noticed is how greedy he is :eek:

When I feed him I have him sit and wait in front of his bowl before being given permission to eat his food. But when I say ok it is as if has never been fed before. This puppy can finish his dinner in well less than a minute at times and bit shocked to be honest. I have tried putting tennis balls into his bowl with his food to slow him down which it does, but he still goes at some pace.

Also if there is ever any food on the counters he tries to jump up and grab at it with his amazing extendable neck :blink: It is as if he just wants to eat all the time. He is not vicious or possessive with his food as I take it from him regularly to let him know I’m in charge.

Is this normal behaviour for these dogs at this age, and if so will he grow out of it?? I'm just a bit concerned that this may not be very good for his health.

Many thanks

Mark
 
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#2 ·
Hi Mark,
In answer to your questions, yes your puppy's healthy appetite is quite normal, and yes, they do counter surf (love the phrase, 'amazing extendable neck'). Mine are 7 and 3, down their dinners in less than a minute, and one almost counter leaps, not to mention counter surfs. I have bowls that are supposed to slow their eating down--they have plastic posts in the center, and it slow them down to finishing dinner in 60 seconds, rather than 30. Great that you've trained your boy to let you take his food away from him, and to wait until you tell him is ok to eat.
 
#3 ·
Bassets normal??? :huh:
Sorry, but I can't help you. I don't have quick eaters. I have two that take 6-8 hours to eat. I feed once in the morning, and sometimes they don't touch their food all day. Usually it's gone and I feed again in the evening, which takes until bedtime to eat. What's the chance of having two that eat this way?
My other "normal" thing is they won't eat in the kitchen. They carry them all over to eat. Scattered bowls in the yard and around the house. I have 10 bowls on hand just because I can never find a bowl.
One more "normal" thing. Mine will pee on the bowls when they're done, at least just the ones outside.

Digger taking his meal to go.


Dozer using his bowl for a pillow.
 
#4 ·
In general slow eating hounds are either over fed or from a single dog household. There is only one possible heath consequence from eating fast that I know of, it a risk factor for bloat. The only thing that I have seen that works fairly consistently at slowing a fast eater is canned pumpkin. If add to the bowl first it tends to stick to the bowl and the kibble. even mor so if the kibble is mixed in. It is kind of sticky, sorta like trying to eat peanut butter fast it is hard to do.
 
#7 ·
I agree with what Mikey said. I usually mix up a bit of canned pumpkin (or occasionally squash if i've just made some for the people) or a spoonful of wet dog food or a couple of chunks of something from leftovers. I also put in some warm water with the food. It forces them to eat a bit slower because of the consistency. My dog usually laps up the now flavored "broth" in the bowl first and then goes digging for the parts that taste best before he even starts to shovel food into his mouth.
 
#9 ·
My 2 have different eating speeds depending on the time of day/day of the week. M-F they usually take all day to eat their breakfast. On the weekends they eat it in about 1/2 a day. As for dinner they eat it immediatly (and quickly) every day of the week. When I first got both of my dogs they both ate extremely fast, they haven't fully grown out of it (they're 3 and 5). Sorry for not being much help, wanted to just add another experience.

~Heather
 
#10 ·
Baxter sounds and looks exactly like Louie with his eating and counter surfing...He's become a bit slower as he's gotten a bit older (he's now 9months old) but he still eats like he's starving!
As for the counter surfing, one good thing is that it makes us keep a very clean house!! lol
 
#11 ·
was just wanting to make sure that this was normal and that he wasn't going to cause himself any harm. See the attached video of the wee trooper having lunch.[/b]

Nice work on impluse control. Just for the record he would be far and away the slowest eater in my household including macey with the bent nose and hug overbite. But then again I have yet to seen any dog match speed with my harrier Fischer who literally inhales the food like a vaccum. Aint, no chewing going on in thats dog mouth.
 
#12 ·
Mine tend to vary, I have some that will pick at their food (and even have some left over at the end of the day!) and others that inhale. Chili's food disappears within seconds.
 
#14 ·
Baxter is adorable. And obedient.

I noticed that you picked his bowl up instantly after he was done in the video. Do you think he feels rushed in any way? You mentioned that you take his food away regularly to indicate that you are in charge. Just wondered if he felt his access to the food might be short so he needed to gobble it up before it was taken?

Both Elmer and Button wolfed down food when they were young, although now I have to beg Elmer to eat. Button still wolfs, so I bought him a Brakefast bowl. www.brakefast.com That works pretty well, but this is a normal trait in hounds. Mine like to lick the bowl for awhile after they eat, too. Kind of a routine for them.

They are funny, arent they? Here's a video I posted before when Button had gobbled up all his food and was barking at Elmer, who wouldn't eat. Kind of like he was saying "Nanny nanny boo boo I still have food and you don't!"

http://s102.photobucket.com/albums/m118/tm...¤t=HPIM0029.flv
 
#15 ·
Hi there and thanks for all your comments.

It is good to know that he is perfectly normal with his insatiable appetite. We currently feed him a mix of dry kibble and canned puppy food. We used to soak the kibble to soften it for him, and boy could he hoover that stuff down. In the last week we have stopped soaking his kibble and that has slowed him down somewhat, probably as he now has to chew it to a certain degree. We also feed him raw chicken carcasses from the butchers for lunch now and then which he seems to enjoy, although he tries to eat these at the same speed.

"I noticed that you picked his bowl up instantly after he was done in the video. Do you think he feels rushed in any way? You mentioned that you take his food away regularly to indicate that you are in charge. Just wondered if he felt his access to the food might be short so he needed to gobble it up before it was taken?"

I don't usually pick the bowl up that fast to be honest. I usually leave for a while after and then pick it up. Also when I take his food away when he is eating it, this is just for a brief period to demonstrate to him that I'm the boss. When had a couple of times when he was younger where he snarled when we tried this with him, so a sharp telling off and he now seems to accept it. So we take his food away on a regular basis just to reinforce the point.

His counter surfing is mildly cute, but also annoying at times. I never imagined a basset would be able to jump up like he does, but it is just a case of keeping things out of reach for the moment until he grows out of it. Although sometimes I am amazed when he gets things that I though were out of reach. Its all down to the go go gadget neck of his I guess.

All in all he is a great dog and I’m really enjoying having him around. I get cross when he digs up my garden and eats my stuff. But that is to be expected and I love him for it.

Mark
 
#16 ·
His counter surfing is mildly cute, but also annoying at times. I never imagined a basset would be able to jump up like he does, but it is just a case of keeping things out of reach for the moment until he grows out of it.[/b]
I'm sorry, but I was rolling on the floor laughing when you said he'd grow out of it. :lol: :lol: :lol: I can't keep anything within 12"-15" from the edge of the counter. I've had dish rags go missing, knives taken :eek: , and one time, a full stick of butter.
 
#18 ·
We had an incident yesterday where Baxter managed to get a packet of bacon from the counter. He is a little devil for his counter surfing. When either of us are in the kitchen with him he seldom tries to jump up. But as soon as we leave you can hear him trying it. Cheeky bugger. I think we should look at maybe getting some heavy lead weights and tie them to his legs, that'll sort him right out :rolleyes:
 
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