Frenzy eating



Frenzy - wild excitement or derangement.  Yep that sums up Elsa during eating; it is up until now the only issue that we have had.  Over the thirty some years that I have had my own dogs I have never had a dog who was a frenzy eater.  If you have never seen a frenzy eater it is literally a hoover on steroids.  She can barely contain herself at feeding time; there is no chewing involved, only suction at lightening speed.

So as we quickly discovered that she was a frenzy feeder things changed in our house.  We have made her work for her food.  Much of her food is never given via a bowl but used as a reward for her work.  When she is fed with a bowl she is either spoon fed or hand fed from it.  I have fed her by dropping small amounts into a bowl with my hand and placed chicken/steak into her bowl while she is eating.  With a frenzy eater it is very important to establish that a human hand around the food bowl.

I'm really not sure if there will come a point when she slows down; as I said I have never had a frenzy eater.  You all know what I go through trying to keep Luke fed; he is at the opposite end of the spectrum from Elsa as far as eating is concerned.  When we were looking for a puppy I hoped and I hoped that we would not get another picky pants as it has taken so much work to keep meat on the boy.

Even though Elsa eats at a faster than light speed, her intelligence works at the same time.  If it is feeding time she rounds up all the dogs; she knows that she eats last and runs to each dogs spot making sure their bowls are placed quickly so that she can get hers.  Watching her do this is pretty amazing; the fact that she knows the order of bowl placement is after such a short time is crazy, but she is a poodle.

I hoped for a non picky eater for the the next....................be careful what you ask for.  :)

3 comments:

  1. Since I have switched to feeding a higher quality food, the amount has been cut back. Many people free feed puppies but after talking with my vet regarding loose stools he felt it was due to over eating. When I cut back on the volume the runny stool quit. I feel the higher quality food is good for the in some aspects but I don't feel they feel full. So, do you switch to a lower quality food so they have to eat more, or feed a high quality food and have them feel hungry?

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  2. Molly has always been a frenzy eater, being she is the first dog I had to work with and not having much knowledge I wish I would have done what you are doing now. The vet just said that was the Beagle in her and never gave me any advice on how to slow her down. She is 4 1/2 now and the 15 seconds it took her to devour her food early on now takes about 45 seconds. One good thing is that she has never had digestion problems, hoping that stays the same.

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  3. Our doberman Tanzeer is a frenzy feeder also, and Bella is a slow dainty eater. We split feedings into three times per day for Tanzeer's sake, I fear the bloat greatly. I almost lost my Piper to bloat at age 10 and he was not a frenzy eater. I like to have them work for food whenever possible. Sometimes I will scatter his around part of the yard where they dont potty and leave him to hunt while Bella is inside enjoying her meal. I have had starving rescue dogs that never ate the way he does. He eats like every meal is his last and someone's trying to steal it. The one good thing is that I have no worries about placing my hand or feet near or in his food pan while he's eating....he just backs up and waits until I stop messing with his food.

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