Behaviour
The bowl is empty in five seconds and sometimes the kibble comes back up. There is a reason for the speed, and you can slow meals down without taking food away.
Worth knowing. If a dog eats greedily and still loses weight, drinks a lot or has diarrhoea, he may have an illness that keeps him hungry. Start with a check-up at your own vet.
You put the bowl down, turn round to shut the cupboard, and by the time you look back the bowl is empty, licked clean and shoved under the radiator. Your dog gives you a look that says he hasn't eaten for three days. Sometimes, five minutes later, the whole lot comes back up unchewed, a neat sausage of kibble on the kitchen floor. Or you have two dogs, and one of them hoovers up his dinner in ten seconds so he can get to the other bowl as well. Most dogs who eat too fast are healthy and, from where they stand, have a perfectly good reason. Speed does carry real risks, though, and now and then it hides an illness. Below is where it comes from and how to slow mealtimes down without a fight.
This is the most common reason in homes with two or more dogs, and sometimes in homes with cats. A dog who has learned that food left in the bowl disappears will get it down as fast as he can. The other dog doesn't even have to have touched his bowl, ever. Being in the room is enough.
Puppies raised in a big litter, eating with their siblings from a single tray, and dogs who lived on the street or in a crowded shelter learned that food is scarce and goes quickly. The habit sticks, sometimes for years, long after the dog has a home and a full bowl.
Some dogs are simply hungrier than others. In Labradors, for example, researchers found a variant of a gene involved in feeling full in part of the breed. Dogs who carry it beg more insistently and put on weight more easily. It has nothing to do with manners.
One meal a day, small portions on a weight-loss diet, a very active dog fed like a sofa dog. When dinner arrives 24 hours after the last one, speed is only natural.
Some conditions keep a dog hungry all the time: diabetes, a few hormonal diseases, intestinal worms, digestive problems where food isn't absorbed properly. Some medicines also push appetite right up. The thing to watch for is a dog who eats greedily and still loses weight, or who eats more and more with nothing else having changed.
Some dogs gulp because mealtimes are chaotic: doors banging, children running about, someone standing over the bowl.
A dog who swallows without chewing swallows air as well. The most common result is regurgitation: the food comes back up a few minutes after the meal, undigested and without effort, often in the shape of the oesophagus. The dog usually eats it again and you get cross. Less often, large pieces can get stuck in the throat. And in large, deep-chested dogs (Great Danes, German Shepherds, setters, Weimaraners, big Labradors), a large study found fast eating among the factors linked to bloat and gastric torsion, an emergency that can kill within hours.
The most common "lesson" is taking the bowl away from him so he "learns there's no rush". He learns the opposite: food can vanish at any moment, so it has to go down even faster. After a few lessons like that, plenty of dogs start growling over the bowl, and that is where food guarding begins. Standing over him with a hand on the bowl does the same thing, only more slowly.
Raised bowls on a tall stand are popular because people believe they help digestion. The same large study that linked fast eating with torsion also found a higher risk of gastric torsion in large dogs fed from raised bowls. For a dog with neck or spine problems a stand can be useful. Otherwise, ask your vet first.
Cutting his portion "so he stops being greedy" doesn't help, because a hungry dog eats even faster. Telling him off helps even less. It won't make him chew; it just adds stress to a meal that is already hectic.
Pouring water over the kibble helps a little with some dogs. The really fast ones gulp down the soup and the soaked kibble just as quickly.
If the speed or the hunger has come on recently, if he is losing weight despite eating, if he is drinking and weeing more, or if he has diarrhoea or greasy stools, start with your own vet. A blood test and a stool test usually sort things out quickly.
The same amount per day, split into two or three meals. A dog who eats at 8, 2 and 8 comes to the bowl far less desperate than one fed once a day.
This is the part that changes things most, and dogs love it.
Bring them in gradually. The first few times, leave more food in plain sight so he succeeds easily and enjoys the game.
Before the bowl goes down, wait two seconds for him to settle, all four feet on the floor. Then put the bowl down and say a cheerful start word, something like "go on then". You aren't asking for a long wait; you just want the meal to start calmly.
| Day | What you do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Time the meal on your phone and note whether he regurgitates and how often. From today the dogs eat apart. |
| 2–3 | Split the day's food into two or three meals. The first meal comes from the snuffle mat or scattered. |
| 4 | The slow feeder for one meal a day, with food that is easy to get out at first. |
| 5–7 | One meal from food toys, one from the slow feeder, one scattered. Time it again. |
| 7 | Compare: does the meal last three or four times longer? Is he still regurgitating? If nothing has changed, book a vet check. |
Speed on its own is rarely a sign of illness. Still, book a vet check if you see any of these alongside it:
If you have a large, deep-chested dog, ask your vet what else you can do to help prevent torsion.
A meal found with the nose is a slow meal, and it is also half an hour of work for the dog's brain. A snuffle mat, or his dinner hidden round the house in cardboard boxes, turns five seconds of gulping into ten or fifteen minutes of searching. We see it all the time in training: a dog searching with his nose down doesn't rush, because scent forces him to slow down. And for a dog who spends long hours home alone, two searched-for meals a day are a good chunk of his daily activity.
Ask a trainer for help in any of these situations:
With food guarding and squabbles between dogs, help from a behaviour professional makes a big difference. One wrong move with your hand on the bowl can turn a dog who eats fast into a dog who bites.
What dog owners search for most often on the internet about this problem, with the short answer.
Most often because of competition, even if the other dog or the cat has never once stolen from his bowl. Then come habits picked up in the litter or on the street, where food ran out quickly, real hunger (one meal a day, portions too small) or genes, in some breeds. Less often, an illness that keeps him hungry.
It can be. Most often the dog brings his food back up, unchewed, a few minutes after the meal. Less often, large pieces can get stuck in the throat. In large, deep-chested dogs, fast eating has been linked to a higher risk of bloat and gastric torsion, an emergency that can kill within hours.
Yes, in most dogs they slow the meal right down. Pick one that suits the shape of his muzzle so he doesn't get frustrated, and start with food that is easy to get out. Snuffle mats, food toys, a muffin tin with tennis balls over the holes or simply kibble scattered on the grass work just as well.
If it comes up without effort, a few minutes after the meal, undigested and tube-shaped, that is regurgitation, often from eating too fast. Slow the meal down and split the ration. If he vomits with effort and his belly heaves, does it often or has other signs, or if the regurgitation carries on once he eats slowly, see a vet.
No. He learns the opposite: food can vanish at any moment, so it has to go down even faster. After lessons like that, plenty of dogs start growling over the bowl. Let him eat in peace, away from other dogs, and slow the meal down with a slow feeder or food-searching games.
A behaviour that appears suddenly or changes for no apparent reason can have a medical cause. For full details, consult your dog's own veterinarian.
They often come together: the same causes, plans that complement each other.
He freezes over the bowl, eats faster as you approach, growls over his bone. Resource guarding is natural behaviour that has become a problem, and you fix it by trading.
A big, restless dog retching with nothing coming up, his belly as tight as a football. A twisted stomach is operated on within hours, not days.
White foam on the floor, yellow bile on an empty stomach, or four bouts overnight and a chin on the floor. Not equally serious, and none is treated from the cupboard.
Bones under benches, napkins, socks, stones. Scavenging comes naturally to a dog and it is dangerous for him; the habit changes with patience and good treats.
An assessment session tells you where you stand and which plan makes sense for your dog. The behaviour programme then works step by step, reward-based only.