Pup Not Chewing Food

LoveMyGSPs · Post by **LoveMyGSPs** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 1:13 am

We have a 5.5 mo GSP who is approx 50lbs (going to vet tomorrow so will know for sure then).

We had him on puppy food until this past weekend and switched him over to the large breed adult as I have read and heard that doing this will slow down his rate of growth and be better on his joints.

The puppy food was much smaller in size than the adult food. I figured when he didnt chew his puppy food it was b/c it was so small. Well now that he is eating his adult food, he is chewing A LITTLE but no where near as much as he needs to be. Even if I put rocks in the bowl to make him slow down (much like the bowls with the raised parts to slow down fast eaters) he still doesnt really chew.

Of course Im going to ask my vet tomorrow but wondered if anyone else has this issue? Will he grow out of it? He has never had a problem with bloat or choking or anything.

BTW We are feeding Nutro.

GsPJustin · Post by **GsPJustin** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 2:45 am

There are other things to puppy food than smaller kibble size. The proteins and fat are higher to keep up with there growth. There are some other factors, but I do not want to give out any wrong info...I believe 12-18 months is about the time most people switch from puppy to adult food. So you might be a little early in that area.

Also, I don't know what differences there are in nutro, but I don't think you need to feed Large breed. Adult should be fine. Ezzy would know for sure.

As for the food scarfing, some puppies do that, most of the time they end up with hiccups after eating. Some continue to do it. There are methods you can use to deter it. All I can tell you for sure is my dogs grew out of it.

Petra · Post by **Petra** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 9:35 am

I have been using the brakefast bowl for severe bloat with one dog and and reg. With my 5mo GSP eatting eatting too fast. It can be an inexpensive fix if it works.

PntrRookie · Post by **PntrRookie** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 10:18 am

My 10 yr old GSP did it as a pup and still does it now. I have also heard that to slow it down (besides the rock trick) is to feed them on a flat cookie sheet.

Dave Quindt · Post by **Dave Quindt** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 10:43 am

Greg's right; a cookie sheet works like a charm. To be more specific, a jelly roll pan is what you want. It's a cookie sheet with a slight lip around the edge. The lip keeps the food from sliding off. The flat surface makes the dog pick up the kibble piece by piece; they can't gulp it down.

FYI,
Dave

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 3:42 pm

A lot of young dogs eat like yours do. You would think you never feed them they eat so fast. Yes the flat pan work well. With GSPs they probably need a higher calorie food to keep the weight on during the growth period. Nutro is not a very high calorie food for working dogs. Great for pets though. You may want to kick it up to the NUTRO Ultra Adult or you might try CANIDAE. It is much higher calorie than normal adult food. http://www.canidae.com

Nutro doesn't publish the k/cal per cup amount for their food line. You could e-mail them for it.

Just my opinion.

Post by **Sharon** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 4:14 pm

GsPJustin wrote:There are other things to puppy food than smaller kibble size. The proteins and fat are higher to keep up with there growth. There are some other factors, but I do not want to give out any wrong info...I believe 12-18 months is about the time most people switch from puppy to adult food. So you might be a little early in that area.
.

A lot of folk would disagree with this. My pups never see puppy food but go straight to a performance dog food which is the same protein:fat ratio and you get 5 times as much for your money.

LoveMyGSPs · Post by **LoveMyGSPs** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 4:32 pm

The cookie sheet/jelly roll pan is an interesting concept! Will try that.

Went to the vet, all is well. 52lbs @ 5.5 months. Big boy! She said as long as he is not vomiting or getting bloated from eating like that, it is ok, but recommended the brakefast bowl as mentioned here.

How do you know what your individual dog needs as far as calorie intake? He is still gaining weight and looks great and has an insane amount of energy. I know the calorie intake for my mare is way higher than for my boarders gelding. But Im a big horse person but dont really know about these GSPs. The female we are adopting is on the Nutro large breed adult as well and she is very high energy and is gaining weight as well.

GsPJustin · Post by **GsPJustin** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 4:33 pm

Sharon wrote:A lot of folk would disagree with this. My pups never see puppy food but go straight to a performance dog food which is the same protein:fat ratio and you get 5 times as much for your money.

You could do that, you would be getting some of the same things the puppy food provides I imagine. For some dogs they don't need a performance food though. Also that's brand specific. A dog of mine, when he was on Diamond, kept weight on with Natural Chicken&Rice. Even during the hard weeks. Just up'd the intake a smig.

It doesn't really matter what the front says on it, its what the back says. If you can get a feed that does the same things as puppy food, or a ALS food like Canidae, It should be fine.

GsPJustin · Post by **GsPJustin** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 4:37 pm

LoveMyGSPs wrote:How do you know what your individual dog needs as far as calorie intake? He is still gaining weight and looks great and has an insane amount of energy. I know the calorie intake for my mare is way higher than for my boarders gelding. But Im a big horse person but dont really know about these GSPs. The female we are adopting is on the Nutro large breed adult as well and she is very high energy and is gaining weight as well.

Its really just trial and error, kind of like the amount of food. Specially with pups, they grow in weird stages it seems, One day they have bear paws, they next there top heavy. At my house anyway.

Large breed has some different stuff for joints and bone growth etc. I would ask your vet to be sure, or maybe someone who knows for sure will chime in.

Post by **ezzy333** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 6:03 pm

The regular feeds will do fine for a puppy. The premiums are about the same formula. If they are lower it is good in my opinion since I am more concerned with pups growing too fast than anything else.

As far as how much to feed, the answer is however much it takes to keep your dog or pup in good shape. I have three dogs and they all get a different amount of the same feed. Just have to convince people they are feeding a dog and not dogfood. There is no correct amount of any feed so I never even look at the charts. Look at the dog and it will tell you.

Ezzy

3Britts · Post by **3Britts** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 6:58 pm

I have to agree with ezzy on this one. Growing too fast can cause alot more problems for a dog than eating too fast. The hiccups will pass.

LoveMyGSPs · Post by **LoveMyGSPs** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 10:26 pm

Well thats good to know. He is growing right along. Nov 25, 08 he was 39lbs. Today he was 52lbs. Vet said everything looks great. And vet said he should be on large breed dog food.

The main reason we switched to the adult at this age is to slow down his growth to help prevent possible future joint/bone issues.

As far as Nutro not being as calorie dense; it seems to be working for him. He has great weight, coat/eyes are bright and healthy, and he has PLUNTY of energy. I would rather feed more of the Nutro than feed a food that is "calorie dense" if those calories are coming from by products and other venues that I wouldnt want to feed my dog.

Thanks for the opinions! I appreciate it!

PrairieGoat · Post by **PrairieGoat** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 12:10 am

My youngest pup had the same problem except at times he would eat so fast that he would choke, cough it up, and then re-chew it.......ugh! I tried the rock in the bowl, the brakefast bowl, the cookie sheet, floating the kibble in water....nothing was working. During all of this I was feeding him twice a day. Finally I went to free-feeding...letting him have access to food all day....and he finally realized his food wasn't going anywhere, that he didn't have to compete with my other dog for it, and pretty much got tired enough of it that he only eats when he's hungry and eats MUCH more slowly. There haven't been any downsides to free-feeding and both my pups stay at a good weight.

PS....only caution that I would throw in here would be to make the switch over a few days. I made the switch too quickly and my pup ate so much the first night I thought he was going to pop. He was miserable and whiny that night....next morning he was a little more judicious on how much he ate!!!

subatomicstang · Post by **subatomicstang** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 7:38 pm

I hope we dont get into free feeding it would be hard to diagnose any problems and know exactly what and when he ate last. Ill just stick to the program we have in place now. He chokes on his food sometimes but i have never seen him bloat.
Besides i think fatty faticans would founder if we let him at it. Needless to say the tons of money it would cost for me to keep feeding him.

gdog · Post by **gdog** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 8:53 pm

I lost a dog a month ago due to gastric torsion. Bad deal. I'll be paranoid with the new pup coming in March. Do what you can to slow her eating down. It can't hurt. You don't want to wait to see if see bloats...many times..at that point..its too late.

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