Boston terriers who eat everything whole

[JenJen1971]

I have 2 Boston terries and 1 black lab. One of the Boston terriers swallows her food and every treat whole. Even if I give her a bigger treat thinking she will take her time she breaks it into 2 or 3 pieces and proceeds to swallow them whole. Sometimes she chokes and I have to rescue her, but usually she just throws up. She doesn’t gorge herself on food but just swallows it whole. She only eats a few pieces of kibble at a time. When I try to give treats the Boston terriers act like this is the first time they have ever had food. They always act like they are starving. I feed them a high quality grain free food to try and stop them from eating their own poop, but that didn’t work they still do that every so often. They have about 50 different chew bones that they cannot chew through as they are the worst chewers I have ever seen. They destroy toys and the house and that’s why I found indestructible toys for them. Give them a stuffed toy and it is destroyed in about 10 minutes. Nothing left but a few bits of stuffing.

I really want to know if there is something to stop my dog from swallowing treats whole? And also why these dogs think they are always starving?

Here is Piglet (left) and Mayhem (right). Mayhem is the whole treat swallower.

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[PDDT]

Have you tried kongs? Our dog is a rescue who had been starved. She wolfed her food down. We made kongs using kibble and wet dog food watered down. We froze them. She really had to work at the kong to get her supper. Along with slowing her down, it is great enrichment as they have to work to get their food.

There are also puzzle dishes which slows them down. Putting a couple of inches of water in their bowl also slows them down.

There are toys, kong and others that you can put treats in so they dont eat them too quickly.

eta: forgot to mention the obvious…Piglet and Mayhem are adorable!

[PDDT]

Another thought - it may help to put her in a room by herself when she eats. It may be a form of resource guarding.

[Sugarwells]

@PDDT

Have you tried kongs? Our dog is a rescue who had been starved. She wolfed her food down. We made kongs using kibble and wet dog food watered down. We froze them. She really had to work at the kong to get her supper. Along with slowing her down, it is great enrichment as they have to work to get their food.

There are also puzzle dishes which slows them down. Putting a couple of inches of water in their bowl also slows them down.

There are toys, kong and others that you can put treats in so they dont eat them too quickly.

eta: forgot to mention the obvious…Piglet and Mayhem are adorable!

This ^^^^^. Kongs are a life saver literally

[snowblaze]

I had a whippet that was such a piglet, a super fast eater. Sometimes she ate so fast she’d choke. I found that sprinkling her kibble out on a towel worked great. She had to slow down and pick up the kibbles individually.

[JenJen1971]

I am not so much worried about the way she eats her food, just that she swallows it whole. It’s very small pieces. It’s the treats I am more concerned with. She tries to swallow treats whole. Greenies she will break up and swallow, Milk Bones she will break up and try to swallow whole, but any other small treats she will just swallow whole.

I have 2 of the black Kongs for extreme chewers.

[PDDT]

How is her poop? If her system is not digesting the food, then I would be worried. The only other option I can think of is to feed wet food or soak the kibble so that it is mush.

[S1969]

Pretty typical dog behavior. Most dogs don’t spend a lot of time chewing. I have two that bolt their food and one that is a little bit slower. Mine also polished off a few mostly whole moles this morning. And mine generally eat as though they haven’t been fed for weeks, despite regular feeding.,even the slower eater.

If the dogs’ teeth are in decent shape I wouldn’t be that worried about not chewing but it might not be ideal for them to bolt their food and vomit. Inconvenient, at any rate.

You can get different bowls/trays that will slow them down and it might prevent them from vomiting/choking from going too fast. Eating poop often has no nutritional foundation so I wouldn’t assume there is a connection. Gross, but not necessarily a sign of a deficiency.

[Sswor]

Dogs swallow most of their food whole. As long as it’s smaller then their esophagus, down it goes.

But agreed with feeding separately. Most dogs will eat faster when there is another dog present. It’s instinctive. Eat what you have and see if you can find more food before the other dog does. Chewing slows you down.

[JenJen1971]

@PDDT

How is her poop? If her system is not digesting the food, then I would be worried. The only other option I can think of is to feed wet food or soak the kibble so that it is mush.

She seems to be pooping just fine, but sometimes gets a little constipated when she holds it too long. She hates going potty outside when it’s freezing cold out. She doesn’t like her dry kibble to get wet. I sometimes put a little beef broth over the food as a treat, but she eats that real fast before it can get soggy. Not sure what to do about the treats. I guess just give her small treats so she doesn’t choke.

[Sswor]

@JenJen1971

I sometimes put a little beef broth over the food as a treat, but she eats that real fast before it can get soggy.

The point is to let it sit for a few minutes to let it absorb the liquid before feeding.

[MsM]

I have a gulper. She is a Cavalier. If I give her and her brother dental chews, he will chew his into reasonably sized pieces and swallow. She will try to swallow huge sized pieces. The last time I tried to give them she chewed a short time, then got the long piece length wise and shoved it down her throat, swallowing repeatedly. :eek: Looked like a snake swallowing its prey. No more of that!
I have not found anything to chew on that she will not try this with. Being alone doesnt help.Neither dog is interested in hard chew toys. About the only safe chew exercise I have found for her is baby carrots.
Fortunately, she is not bad with kibble/dinner. I always soak it, letting it sit a few minutes before adding meat or pumpkin. They do get stuffed kongs when I leave them.

Please be careful with other stuff she chews. My girl got away with her stuffie-destroying as a pup but took up trying to destroy and eat cloth things like her bed later on. In spite of my best efforts to protect her from herself, she ended up with an obstruction and surgery.

[Sugarwells]

@Sswor

The point is to let it sit for a few minutes to let it absorb the liquid before feeding.

Right. Allow it to absorb the water or broth. Also if they are swallowing Greenies in big pieces, don’t give them Greenies anymore.

[Foxtrot_s]

Our daschund had all his teeth out and we just fed him small pellets - he swallowed them whole and was just fine.

My daughter’s French Bulldog is also food obsessed and she is an only dog. The towel idea sounds brilliant. My daughter puts a rock in her dog dish so the dog has to hunt a little. It still gets vacuumed up crazily.

She also realizes that she has to have a very limited and measured amount of food to keep her at a healthy weight - no matter how much the dog says otherwise. She keeps a routine, feeds two times a day.