I finally got the written report from the behaviourist yesterday. one of this things she mentioned is the speed in which Mist eats. She has always been very food motivated and eaten very fast. The report says that this is a sign that she is in a very negative emotional state and has advised that I feed her separately.
I have been feeding her on her own since the visit as she advised but certainly haven't seen her slow her eating. Does eating quickly really indicate she is so unhappy? she seems to love her meals, gets really excited about them and does not seem negative to me. really the whole visit has left me feeling as if I know absolutely nothing about dogs at all.

I can only tell you about my Pointer he was so bad that he got bloat when quite small. He has always been fed apart from the other dogs and is a very happy, well balanced, beautifully calm boy. Confident and very well socialised but he gulped like mad... I have spent a lot of time making sure he is calm before feeding.If he snatches a treat I always hold it back etc.. It is now really funny to watch him eat and he sits like an old man and chews things. I think he counts 15 chews!!! And more importantly no repeat of the bloat!!
Only my in put for what is it worth!

> Does eating quickly really indicate she is so unhappy?

I don't think the speed of eating, by itself, tells of an unhappy emotional state. My dog eats like he's been starved, always has done, but with him it's from a sheer love of eating! He gets excited when he sees his meal being prepared, but he is not tense when eating, it's just that he can't scoff it fast enough out of sheer gluttony, LOL (like me with chocolate ).

Did the behaviourist say your dog appeared tense or uncomfotable in any way while eating (stiffening posture/'whale eye'/hunching up/hunching over bowl etc), or was the opinion based soley on the speed of consumption?

ETA, if speed-eating means the dog is unhappy, an awfull lot of us on here must have miserable dogs ;)

THe behaviourist didn't see Mist eat a meal she just asked about meal times. Mist sounds exactly like your boy, she does a little tea  time dance and now bounces all the way to the dining room where I have been feeding her. Even when fed together with the other dogs there was  no tenseness, food guarding etc between any  of the dogs. thats why I really don't see how she can say the speed of eating is a bad sign.

In my experience a dog which eats slowly is either overfed or feeling off-colour. A normal, healthy dog scoffs down its food as quickly as possible, certainly in less than a minute (then another minute or so chasing its bowl around the floor!).

Feeding separately is a good idea anyway because then a dog doesn't feel that it needs to eat even faster to go and see if the others have left anything, but that just means it can eat fast in comfort, not under pressure!

I can imagine bloat must bbe really scary. Thanksfully not something miy dogs have had.  How do   you make sure your dog is calm? I ask for sits and waits but when I release her she dives into the  food. I might try putting her meal in a kong.

Two of my guys eat their food like they've been starved, one will gibble food if she's more stressed but generally it isn't about that it's just coz they love their grub.  I always feed them out of kongs just because they are deep chested breeds and it reduces the risk of bloat plus makes them work for their grub and gives me time to get my dinner going :-D  Either that or you could place a big kong or heavy big ball or soemthing in her bowl so she has to eat around it which will take her longer.

Not saying the behaviourist is wrong, it can be a sign of stess but equally it can just be a sign of a dog loving their grub :-)

> In my experience a dog which eats slowly is either overfed or feeling off-colour. A normal, healthy dog scoffs down its food as quickly as possible, certainly in less than a minute (then another minute or so chasing its bowl around the floor!).

My Pointer is not over fed and he is certainly not over weight. My BC was also very calm about food or maybe I am just comparing to my gobble gut dallies LOL
Pointer shoves his bowl around for ages.Apparently there is this magic hole in all food bowls and you have to lick under them to get the escaped bits!!
But I agree a dog that shows no enthusiam is probably under par!

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If the behavioursist has a theory that fast eating means unhappy dog would it not make things worse if she has to root around in a kong etc for her food?
I would look at other things on the report and concentrate on them before mucking around with her eating other than perhaps feeding her on her own incase she feels threatened by the others around her

I agree that a fast eating dog is not necessarily one who is unhappy. My gsd increases the speed he eats if he thinks it is going to be taken off him ie if anyone walks up to him if he is eating, when he realises I dont intend to take it he slows down to a fast chomp which is his natural speed.
Dogs are naturally "gorge" eaters and don't tend to browse like other animals. 

If the behavioursist has a theory that fast eating means unhappy dog would it not make things worse if she has to root around in a kong etc for her food?

I've never known fast eating to be a sign of a dog being unhappy it can at times be a sign of anxiety and I'm guessing if the behaviourist feels she is anxious she is giving you more to do than just popping her in a different room to eat.  A dog that is anxious and eating quickly because of it isn't eating more quickly because it makes it feel better and getting it to eat slower won't make it feel any worse, unless of course it's about gurading but the op has said that she doesn't guard.

When dogs are anxious and gobbling food they often take it and gulp it and take in air with it and that isn't safe as is more likely to increase the chances of bloat.  So I would be managing the safety aspect of anxiety ie the quick eating by using something that helps her to slow down and work on dealing with the anxiety in relevant ways :-)

> dog which eats slowly is either overfed or feeling off-colour.

Really? that is interesting as Mason is never excited by meal times. (Maybe because he knows there is much more exciting foods on offer in the bar downstairs)
I wouldn't say he is over-fed in the slightest or ill in anyway but this has got me thinking now. He used to get quite excited when I would pick up his bowl but that was when he was very little. I've always thought he wasnt overly enthused because he was relaxed, content and knew there was no threat to his meal. Maybe I have been wrong :-o
I must add, he gets very excited at the rustle of a crisp packet or similar, the smell of steak or salmon and look of someone enjoying something he cant have :)

> In my experience a dog which eats slowly is either overfed or feeling off-colour.

If the above is a change in eating behaviour then I'd agree.  However some dogs, for most of their lives, are considered and careful eaters.  My terrier type mongrel is one such case.  In his youth he was a fussy eater but now, motivated by a gundog in the house,  I'd describe him as quietly keen.  Doesn't make a fuss, doesn't rush, but doesn't leave any either :)

I think your 'behaviourist' should have seen your dog eat before coming to the conclusion it 'must' be unhappy if it eats fast.  I have three happy dogs, the eldest GSD eats and savours his food, my bitch eats a little quicker but also appears to be relaxed and enjoying her food and the rotty pup eats like its her first ever meal - blink and its gone.  My eldest shep has always savoured his food, he has never scoffed it down even when my 2nd dog came into our home.  I like to think he is secure that its his and it wont be taken away from him. The pup gets impatient cos she is 3rd in line to get fed so gulps it down.  Each dog licks the bowl for ages after the food has gone.  My slower eater is definately not overfed, neither is my bitch GSD, I like lean dogs so If anything they are a tad underfed so cant agree with Jeanjeanie on that one.  Each dog is different we should all remember that. :-)

> However some dogs, for most of their lives, are considered and careful eaters

Mine is like this - it doesn't matter what I feed him he takes it slowly, sometimes eating half then going back later to finish it off.  Always has from about 6 months of age.  I can leave sacks of his food around and he won't touch them, unlike my friends dog down the street who ripped one apart in seconds.  He has had a variety of foods and been the same with them all.  The only thing he wolfs down are chicken wings but on some days he also eats these slowly too.  I am not sure if it may be because he is a single dog so feels no competition but I am coming to the conclusion that he is just plain weird (never chewed anything as a pup really, no mouthing, etc - I'm not 100% convinced he is actually a dog!)

My snoop has always been an utter pig with his food and has gotten worse since I've got no 3 pooch- Starsky. I had to get him to slow up as after his tea he would sit there coughing like he had inhaled a bit of kibble! I stopped him well... to go easier with his dinner by putting some water in it. Also heard a tennis ball in their food makes them go slower but as water has helped snoop just stuck with that. I get them all calm and to sit and say their names until i put their bowl down first but all wait patiently and eat together. My boy is happy as a sand boy so who knows what your behaviourist was going on about?

> I've always thought he wasnt overly enthused because he was relaxed, content and knew there was no threat to his meal

My dog is usually relaxed so much he is practically unconcious, he has no worry about his food being stolen atall (you could stick your face in his bowl & he would simply look at you waiting for a tasty treat not that I have actually done that!), he simply eats fast through sheer greed.
Eating fast can be a sign of being worried that thier food will be stolen, but it will probably be accompanied by other behaviour/body language around food and is different to a dog that is just a piggy :)

> He used to get quite excited when I would pick up his bowl but that was when he was very little.

It's most likely that since the discovery of 'human' food, Mason now doesn't consider his own food as appealing as he once did and reserves his enthusiasm for the other stuff he knows tastes so much better :) Even though my dog will pig back his own food, judging by the look on his face, I'm sure he has fantasies about getting his gob around a doughnut, LOL

Thanks for the replies everyone. i will carry on feeding Mist separately as the behaviourist reccomended, but I am feeling a lot  more reassured now that  she is wrong about  why Mist eats quickly. Daft really I suppose. but I liked watching Mists enthusiasm for her meals, her dances when I prepare them and the way she bounces around  when I feed her,  and to be told that all this meant she was unhappy rather shocked me.
i have been watching her carefully and I really can't see any signs of stress or unhappiness when eating.

There are other  things I have to do mainly  to keep Mist calm and unaroused, reward her when she is relaxing, Increase her self confidence and keep her stress levels  low

Sounds like you are going to do really well with her - good luck.