Not Chewing Food

[Ivy]

I have noticed that lately Tynan has not been chewing his kibble.
He is not eating with urgency at all, he eats at a normal pace.

Any tips on getting him to chew his food?

 

[chicklette]

How old is he? If you leave the food out all the time they will eat at their own pace, if you only give them food at a certain time I think they gobble it up with urgency. Mine get food at all times and they just chew it at a nice normal pace.

I don't know how you would get him to actually chew his food unless it was the canned dog food.

 

[Maura]

Maybe a sore tooth? Maybe he doesn't really need to chew. If you want him to chew, try getting a larger kibble

 

[Ivy]

How old is he? If you leave the food out all the time they will eat at their own pace, if you only give them food at a certain time I think they gobble it up with urgency. Mine get food at all times and they just chew it at a nice normal pace.

I don't know how you would get him to actually chew his food unless it was the canned dog food.

He is 16 weeks old.
I can't free-feed him as I have 4 other dogs living in the house.

 

[ACooper]

At 16 weeks old, a sore tooth is not out of the question as Maura pointed out........teething and losing teeth is probably the issue if he just started this not wanting to chew his kibble.

Maybe you could take a peek in his mouth to see. Also, some frozen stuffed kongs might feel good if teething IS the source of the problem

Not all dogs can be free fed, even if they are the only ones in the house, LOL, Phoebe would do fine, Orson would explode himself before he stopped eating.

 

[chicklette]

Maybe take him to the vets so he can have a look if he is having trouble.

 

[Saeleofu]

The ideas you got so far are good ones. It's also possible that he's decided it just isn't worth chewing. A lot of dogs don't chew kibble. That's one reason it can be hard to switch a kibble dog to a raw diet - they don't know how to chew.

 

[Izzy's Valkyrie]

Try a tug a jug?

 

[Romy]

It might be the tooth. Or, he might just be a gulper. Charlie gulps his food whole. We add water to his kibble so it slides down easier. I think it helps him digest it better since he doesn't chew it. I know he was a lot less gassy when we started softening his food.