How To Get Dog To Eat More Slowly

I'm really glad you're addressing this. I have a couple questions I couldn't find in your Wits End Manual and Elvis's vet couldn't answer either. Also, while several local 'dog trainers' have offered their suggestions, I don't think too highly of them so I won't EVEN tell you what they said because frankly, neither of us needs the grief.

By now you're aware that Elvis was extremely abused, mishandled and ill treated prior to coming here to live with me 3 years ago You also know he's been given the utmost respect, lots of loving, and never a hand or voice raised against him but there is and always has been an eating behavior I'm at a loss to correct. I know the cause....he was severely starved almost to the point of death and has made a tremendous comeback, literally doubling his weight and is now only 15 pounds from where we'd like him to be. For anyone who doesn't know, watch Animal Planets show Animal Cops....you know those horses and dogs with bones sticking out? That's what Elvis looked like when he came here. Today he's the picture of health and looks every bit the champion doberman. He stands proud and erect and I'm so proud of him.

I understand that completely and I agree with your assessment. The question is..... even though there is ALWAYS food present, and sometimes we eat together (I'm trying to get him to calm down about food) ge still wolfs everything down as if its going to be taken from him and won't be any more.

All his bones get hidden, to be munched on in secrecy later. I know where he hides them and I've watched him act very guilty when he's caught me watching him munch. Breaks my heart. He acts like he thinks he's in trouble and slinkd off with his tail between his legs (if he had a tail)

Well then, he's a champion belcher

I know he's comfortable, this is evident by him going to everyone for attention now, when before he ran from everyone. Security wise..... I believe he feels secure as he no longer seems to fear his shadow, comes running for attention, seemingly adores everyone who comes by including the UPS, FedEx drivers. I see no more fear but obviousely, his problems are deep rooted...deeper than I'm capable of dealing with. Remember, I have no training myself, have read no books. I use common sense love and affection and NEVER scold or in any way give him reasons to be anxious.......that I know of. To try to get him to stop wolfing his food and actually enjoy it, here's what I've been doing:

1. His bowl is ALWAYS full. I have rigged a 55gal drum with a feed shute to his bowl. Same with his water...its on a pressure release valve from the garden hose. I should mention that he is always full too. He no longer eats 10 times a day, but about 4 times with loud resounding belches afterward. Actually makes me smile.

2. He gets a half raw chicken every other day on the vets advice. I know he looks forward to it .... its evident in his posture.

3. I sometimes eat with him, telling him to slow down, feeding him from my hand and not allowing him to 'snatch and run' with the food. Granted, at first he did it all the time, but its been ages since he even tried. He now takes the food gingerly and calmly from my upturned palm, and I often get some affection in return from him.

4. I HAVE found that talking to him while he's eating slows him down only because it interrupts his eating but now that I think of it, his pauses, looks at me, wags of the tail MIGHT be his way of saying 'would you shut up so I can eat!'

So point blank, any little tips, insights on how I can slow down his eating? Not that its really hurting him or anything but there's no need for frantic eating anymore, especially after these last 3 years, and I do worry that he might choke on something.

HOWEDY janet,

Well janet, unless you want The Puppy Wizard and Soup aka CEO to go through your entire HISTORY of lies and abuse, you'll have to just settle for an occasional BWEEEAAAHAHAHAHA!!!

Oh? You mean like HOWE The Puppy Wizard amongst all your other DEADLY and NEAR DEATH experiences of mishandling and abuse of your dogs, FORGOT to mention your KAT!!!

NO PROBLEMO, you miserable simpleton!

Your DE CLAWED kat ATTACKS you when you punish your dogs and has been in treatment at the NEUROLOGIST for his 'seizure like' activity when you act like a psychopath.

Yeah... LikeWIZE, The Puppy Wizard.

BWEEEHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!

Best friends don't surgically mutilate their best friends and abuse them till they GO MENTAL.

Nice manners ain't taught by surgical mutilation.

BWEEEHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!

The Puppy Wizard. <{}; ~ ) >

has had enough anxiety about food that you probably add to it my trying to get him to slow down. Someday when he gets older, and his teeth are not so great and he feels very secure and loved, he will level out. My experience is that he will always wolf the good stuff down. Just let him be.....that is the way he is now! If that is your biggest problem and it is really his, it's not a big deal. Helen

Glad you have a legit question. Now do us all a favor and stop crossposting Jerry Howe's bullshit across usenet. He's marginal as both a dog trainer and a human being, so listen to him at your peril, but it's damn near torture making the rest of us sift through this garbage.

I had a legit question and you insist I DONT post it just because of who its to? Who the hell do you think you are? The last I heard, newsgroups are PUBLIC.

Furthermore, I snip out what is NOT relevant so as NOT to repost someone elses diatribes. I'll agree with you that Jerry is verbose, abusive, and argumentative and most of the time just a plain old fashion biatch to most people, but I've also noticed that when there's a legit question by anyone who is sincere in helping their animals that he responds accordingly.

I don't condone his online personna, in fact I've told him point blank what I think of him personally, but if you'd remove the blinders from your eyes you'd also notice that he only lambasts those who endorse abuse to their animals in the name of training.

So, I'll continue to post or in his case AND YOURS....REPLY by hitting the reply button because I don't know which newsgroup forum you're actually in.

NOTE: This post was a REPLY to yours which goes to many many groups, so why don't you take your own advice.

Don't you EVER EVER dare to tell anyone who they can respond to. What are you, a net cop? Sue me.

Nope. I asked you not to crosspost Jerry's bullshit. Way different.

Someone who gets sick of sifting through troll rants.

Hmmmm, you don't know where I am, I don't know where you are. Since you don't wanna play nice, I'll just keep it that way.

You started the crosspost , pally, and in order to ask you to quit it I gotta post everywhere. Now, in future if you'd like to preface your crossposts with 'I'm in the alt.pets.whatever group.' I'll happily ask you to confine Jerry's crap to there by posting a response to that one group. Until that far off day, I does what I can with what I'm given.

Look, I don't give a damn if you post daily to ask Jerry how you're screwing up your dog (and since you aren't him, you inevitably will be accused of doing so). I asked you not to crosspost it. Simple. When you hit the reply button, take out the eighty-twelve groups Jerry tacked on to your original post. He's using you to get around our killfiles, and you look like a putz for falling for it. It's good usenet manners to not crosspost crap just anywhere (and yes, I'm aware of the irony, which I think we've agreed by now is your fault). I could care less that you want to talk to Jerry, just stop making the rest of us sift through it.

This is stupid statement on several levels.

For one, not everyone who participates in Special Olympics is mentally handicapped.

But you don't seem overly concerned with facts, in any case, so accuracy is probably not all that important to you.

Geez, its an OLD internet expression to show the idiocy of arguing online. Get a grip.

Hey pal, I had a legitimate question. I DONT know where these people are so when I hit reply, it goes to THEIR addresses. If you want to decide for me, how I want to play, then its your problem not mine. I find it rather conceited that you think you can tell people how they are to reply to anyone, and that makes me indignant.

I hit REPLY. What part of that don't you understand? I didn't start anything...I REPLIED.

Nobody has agreed to anything. I REPLIED, I didn't start anything and I don't see where you get off deciding who started what. Nobody forces you to open every thread that comes along. It doesn't take a kill file to NOT open a thread. Just don't read it.

HOWEDY EEng,

Perhaps THAT'S HOWE COME such notables as lyingdogDUMMY and mikey d and paul foster have offered to come dHOWEN to The Puppy Wizard's HOWES to beat him up for NOT HURTIN dogs to train them?

CuriHOWES ain't it, HOWE COME only the MENTAL PATIENTS here complain abHOWET NOT HURTING DOGS to train them?:

From rpdb ALLSTARZ crazy person list. Theresa Willis

(paxil, depression, robot displacement) Theresa is a gang banger who comes out of cutesy robot mode when it's time to gang attack people with her pal shelly Victim is usually Leah, but may be a random person.'

The Puppy Wizard. <{}; ~ ) >

HOWEDY psychoclHOWEN,

But that's not the case here abHOWETS. Here we got MENTALLY ILL LYING DOG ABUSING PUNK THUG COWARDS who HURT INTIMIDATE and KILL HOWER best dogs.

RIGHT!:

And from terri willis, Psychoclown wrote: 'Nope. That 'beating dogs with sticks' things is something you twisted out of context, because you are full of bizarro manure.'

Like THIS?:

'Get a stick 30- or 40-inches long. You can have a helper wield the stick, or do it yourself. Tougher, less tractable dogs may require you to progress to striking them more sharply.

REPEAT, VARYING HOW HARD YOU HIT THE DOG.

Now you are ready to progress to what most people think of as force-fetching: the ear pinch.

Make the dog's need to stop the pinching so urgent that resisting your will fades in importance.

but will squeal, thrash around, and direct their efforts to escaping the ear pinch even get a studded collar and pinch the ear against that if the dog still does not open its mouth, get out the shotshell.

Try pinching the ear between the metal casing and the collar, even the buckle on the collar. Persist! Eventually, the dog will give in

With your hand on the collar and ear, say, 'fetch.'

Immediately tap the dog on the hindquarters with the stick.

Repeat 'fetch' and pinch the ear all the way to the dummy. You can press the dog's ear with a shotshell instead of your thumb; Say 'fetch' while pressing the dummy against its lips and pinching its ear.'

Gotta LOVE koehler. dahl makes koheler look like St. Francis.

'Many People Have Problems Getting The Pinch Right, Either They Do Not Pinch Enough, Or They Have A Very Stoic Dog. Some Dogs Will Collapse Into A Heap. About The Ear Pinch: You Must Keep The Pressure Up,' sindy 'don't let the dog SCREAM' mooreon, author of HOWER FAQ's pages on k9 web.

You think HURTING a HUNTING DOG to MAKE IT HUNT is NECESSARY???

'Well, Jack Did Hit My Dog. Actually I'd Call It A Sharp Tap Of The Crook To The Nose. I Know Jack Wouldn't HaveDone It If He Thought Solo Couldn't Take It. I Still Crate Him Because Otherwise I Fear He Might Eat My Cat,' melanie.

You think allowing a 'FEAR AGGRESSIVE MAN SHY' dog to be BEATEN by a strange male trainer is INTELLIGENT BEHAVIOR for a DOG LOVER?

'Warning: Sometimes The Corrections Will Seem Quite Harsh And Cause You To Cringe. This Is A Normal Reaction The First Few Times It Happens, But You'll Get Over It.'mike duforth, author: 'Courteous Canine.'

You think HURTIN dogs and CRINGING is COURTEOUS?

'I have heard advice stating that you should pre-load your dog for Bitter Apple for it to work as efficiently as possible. What does this mean?'

Means the author is a dog abuser of the worst magnitude.

'When you bring home the Bitter Apple for the first time, spray one squirt directly into the dog's mouth and walk away. The dog won't be too thrilled with this but just ignore him and continue your normal behavior.'

You think HURTING your dog is NORMAL BEHAVIOR?