Skip to content

Soaking food, how long?

Basenji Feeding
  • Well, after reading how many of you don't soak I decided to give Gizmo the food dry. I guess soaking is for when they are only a few weeks old.

    Anyways, I just had the biggest scare with Gizmo to date. And I thought his allergic reaction was bad!

    Gizmo sucks in food like a vacuum. Barely even chews. The result? He almost died today….just 5 minutes ago.

    He choked on the food and it must of gotten stuck. He was trying to chough up the food, but no air was comming out, he started to panic and run around making a faint weezing sound. His neck was pulled all the way into his body the more he desperattly tried to gag. His eyes where HUGE all of a sudden!
    I had to pound him hard in the back, when that did no good I and to the helmick maneuver on him. He screamed in pain/shock of me doing this, and was REAL scarred of me after, but at least he is breathing....dear god I was shaking all over, and my heart is still racing.

    Now I feel bad, because he is scarred of me "beating" him so badly. Hope it passes.

    He has been eating like this since I got him, and it has worried me from the start. But I expected him to eventually learn that "sucking" in food is not necessary.

  • OMG i didn't know you could even do the Heimlich manouver on animals. You must have been so scared, thank goodness you managed to save him. This little Dog is going to give you Grey hair before youre time.
    I hope Gizmo is feeling better, i'm sure he will have forgotten all about it soon.

  • Poor Gizmo, he just likes to live on the edge, doesn't he.. Our dachshund does that as well, with raw meat and bones..inhales them whole, idiot..Our newbie, Moses, inhales his food as well, he is on kibble still, so I am thinking about what to do for that..

    There are food bowls for dogs that inhale their food, at least here in the states ( let me know and I will send you one, if you want), here are some sites..
    http://www.dogpausebowl.com/
    http://www.eatslowerpetdishes.com/
    http://www.planetbluedog.com/products/bowls-for-dogs-cats-that-eat-too-fast

    or just google and see what you find. I know some people even put large rocks, big enough so they can't be swallowed, in the bottom of the bowl, that way the dog has to slow down a little bit as well.

  • I don't know if you can either…I just had to do something. I sure wasn't gonna just stand there and watch my best friend die on me! Thank god it payed off.

  • @Basenjimamma:

    Poor Gizmo, he just likes to live on the edge, doesn't he.. Our dachshund does that as well, with raw meat and bones..inhales them whole, idiot..Our newbie, Moses, inhales his food as well, he is on kibble still, so I am thinking about what to do for that..

    There are food bowls for dogs that inhale their food, at least here in the states ( let me know and I will send you one, if you want), here are some sites..
    http://www.dogpausebowl.com/
    http://www.eatslowerpetdishes.com/
    http://www.planetbluedog.com/products/bowls-for-dogs-cats-that-eat-too-fast

    or just google and see what you find. I know some people even put large rocks, big enough so they can't be swallowed, in the bottom of the bowl, that way the dog has to slow down a little bit as well.

    Hm, looks interesting. I see what they pretty much do is just divide up the food into smaller portions slowing down the time it takes to finnish. But I don't see how it can stop the dog from sucking the food down.

    The thing is, this is what I have been doing for 3 days now since I started with dry food. I have been feeding him small amounts from my hand.
    It was this that he choked on. He sucked down a very small amount, maybe 5-7 small food pieces.

    I think I will go back to soaking the food, at least a little bit so they are just a bit soggy on the outside. At least that way they are "lubricated" and go down easier.

  • @NerdyDogOwner:

    I think I will go back to soaking the food, at least a little bit so they are just a bit soggy on the outside. At least that way they are "lubricated" and go down easier.

    In your case, I can see where soaking the food is a good idea - maybe giving him crunchy treats now and then so the benefit to his teeth will still be there. :eek:

  • We have directions for the doggie heimlich as well as dog cpr on our fridge at home. We printed them from a website. When I get home later tonight I will look at them and post the links.

    It could be just the information you need to save your dog's life.

    Miranda

  • I use food dispensing toys for my dogs (think buster cube). Or you can just dump the food all over the floor and he can forage. (This works best with only one dog.)

  • Another method I have heard of to help slow down dogs who literally inhale their food is to put a large ball in the dish so they dog has to roll the ball out of the way to eat forcing them to slow down.

  • Here is a link to Animal CPR and Heimlich

    http://www.ahimsarescuefoundation.org/dogcpr.pdf

  • Is he inhaling it because he is truly hungry? If that's the case, try a different food with a change in nutrients…he may not be getting all the nutrients he needs and his body is hungry for something he's not getting. I've seen this in dogs whose people put them on vegetarian diets. Dogs are carnivores and need the amino acids and fats in meat.

    If this isn't the case, hand feeding him a piece or two at a time may teach him to slow down a little. He may be so used to wet food he doesn't bother to chew it because he doesn't have to. I like the ball in the dish trick...crafty! :)

  • @tanza:

    Here is a link to Animal CPR and Heimlich

    http://www.ahimsarescuefoundation.org/dogcpr.pdf

    That's the one. Thanks, Pat. Jason whisked me out to wine tasting and then dinner after work, so I didn't get time to post it.

    Miranda

Suggested Topics

  • Raw Food

    Basenji Feeding
    2
    5 Votes
    2 Posts
    705 Views
    D
    Thanks for posting.
  • Food

    Basenji Feeding
    18
    1 Votes
    18 Posts
    3k Views
    S
    I would find out what he scared of or what he dislikes about the car. Is it the car itself, the sensation of being closed in, the movement when the car is being driven? Then work on whatever the problem is, with food. As for food, I use raw duck and vegetables. And I hand-feed all meals, so I never have a problem with not eating/partially eating. I would also recommend hand-feeding for anyone who does have a dog with food issues. Shredded chicken is good (as long as he doesn't have any reactions). But that and some kibble isn't a balanced meal. You may wish to look into a vitamin supplement, specifically something that has a focus on omega 3 (since chicken is high in omega 6), Vitamin C & the B vitamins (because if all he's eating is chicken and kibble, where is his source of vitamin C and the B vitamins?), zinc & copper (same reasons). All the best. EDIT: I just realized this thread is a year old and was bumped by what is almost certainly a bot.
  • Food recall

    Basenji Feeding
    17
    0 Votes
    17 Posts
    9k Views
    sabaS
    Ive just put one of my guys on TOTW, and just bought a bag yesterday. Thankfully this bag appears to not be affected, BUT… I have 4 sample packs, one of which is open and has been fed to the dog... I cant find a Production Code box on any of the sample packs ??? Should I just chuck them out, or does anyone know how I can check to see if these are contaminated ??? ETA Im in Australia, and have heard nothing about this recall, until I came here today...
  • Raw food

    Basenji Feeding
    28
    0 Votes
    28 Posts
    14k Views
    L
    We switched our 2 boys to raw from kibble about 6 months ago. The switch came because we were simply exhausted from walking them 3 times a day because they had loose stool (we don't have fenced in yard, so we need to walk them to go to the bathroom). Our vet recommended more fiber in their diet to help with loose stool. This intuitively just didn't resonate with us. Basenji are one of the most ancient breeds of dog… why on earth would more fiber be a solution to their problem (I know the theoretical why, but logically it was counter-intuitive)? We read many sources or literature on the raw diet and thought this would be a good switch for them. Again, they are an ancient breed so moving toward raw foods seemed appropriate and logical. It took that about a month for them to get really accustomed to eating raw chicken quarters, rabbit halves or pork shoulders but now they have no problem gulping their meal right down, bone and all (for those of you who don't feed raw, gulping is a normal behavior and bone is an essential part of the diet). Their digestion issues have vanished and we've even seen marked improvement in their destructive behavior. Two super happy boys now, two super happy Basenji owners!!
  • Food Time

    Basenji Feeding
    10
    0 Votes
    10 Posts
    5k Views
    Robin_n_JackR
    Jack will paw at his water bowl, tip it over, grab and run with it into the living room, throw it around the kitchen…. And not only when it's empty- if he decides he wants fresh water, he'll knock water all over the kitchen floor.:mad:
  • Bad Foods…

    Basenji Feeding
    23
    0 Votes
    23 Posts
    13k Views
    B
    [image: 03.gif][image: 09.gif][image: 10.gif] Here's the link for them all. http://www.scaashanghai.org/funstuff_cleaner.shtml