Why Won't My Dog Chew.

[crazeediamonds]

Eskie has never really chewed his food. When he was on kibble he just licked or sucked it up. Even now on the barf diet he doesn't really chew. I constantly tell him to chew. The only thing he really properly chews is raw carrots. When I first gave him raw chicken legs and wings he used to chew them. Now he probably chews 2 or 3 times and then swallows. There are no other pets in the house and he has no food issues. I can take gnawing bones and unwanted stuff out of his mouth with no problems. He is 18 weeks old.

Is this normal for some dogs or should I be worried. Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions etc

[Removed #5]

Dogs typically *do not* chew, it's one of the hang ons from the old heritage - when there's food available you get as much as you can as quickly as you can any way you can.

Some dogs will take a kibble or three and chew them, others - it seems - can't get themselves around it quickly enough.

Dogs, if you look, don't have anything resembling molars - those are the flat topped teeth we have in the back of our mouths to chew our food with.  Unlike herbivores  or omnivores (us), their digestion takes place *in their stomachs* and beyond, while our bodies start the process of digestion by chewing and mixing in a lot of chemicals in our mouths.

Now, all that to the side - if he has no problems ( er, doesn't regurgitate what he's eaten ) then it's really not a problem.  (( However, bloat is a potential problem! ))  You can find dog food bowls that will make him slow down - it doesn't mean that he's going to chew, but it will force him to get and eat one or two kibbles at a time.  See this link for an example of one.

[Andy]

[sjwrx]

Panda has always scarfed down kibble with or without those bowls that are meant to slow them down.

 

While with raw i find when he is eating chicken he will only chew it enough that the bone breaks and will swallow the rest. Wings in particular only take 2 bites or so to snap and crunch.

If you do want to see him work a little bit harder or to see if he chews a bit more, freeze the wings or quarters and feed to him.

 

I feed Panda chicken carcasses that are frozen, takes him a good 3 minutes or so to break it down to smaller pieces to swallow.

[kchesney8]

Tuff doesn't chew his food, we call him hover when he eats.  Only thing he chews is his rawhides.  He loves him some bones.  I got the 20 inch bones from Pet Smart for him and he will sit for hours and chew on it.  

[crazeediamonds]

Thanks Al and Sunny. Eskie has had a bowl from pets@home  to make him eat slower but it didn't work. I was just worried about the wings and drumsticks lodging in his throat. It is nice to know that it is sort of a normal behaviour. I will try giving him the chicken wings, drumsticks etc frozen. Just hope he doesn't get brain freeze