My puppy has been with us for just over a week now and thoroughly enjoying.  When I feed her she dives at it and eats it within seconds,  I'm told it's because she's used to being with her siblings and has to eat it before they get it.  Does this pass, is it something I need to train her out of or what's your opinions.

When I have puppies mine never eat particularly fast as I have always given as much food as they can eat, and some left over for Mum.  No-one feels they won't get their fair share.

So when the other pups leave I do have to be strict about lifting the bowl up after 5 minutes and keep ushering the pup back to her bowl to make sure she gets the idea that she is to eat it up.

Now at 12 weeks she does clear her bowl in half the time the adults do (though of course she only has about half the amount of food in her dish).

If the pup is getting enough to eat (well covered and putting on weight) and not choking whilst eating then I would not worry.

If you really need t slow him down and there are no othrr dogs about you could scatter his fosd on the floor or in the garden, or put a ball in his bowl so he has to eat around it.

I have 6 dogs now and I do expect to pick up the first bowl almost as soon as the last is put down. ;)

My cocker spaniel was like that with his breakfast so I got one of those treat balls and put his kibble in there and let him chase it round till it was empty, I tried the ball in the dish but he just picked it up and put it to one side, his evening meal he ate at the normal rate.

There are special bowls that have 3/4 raised points in the base so they have to eat around them and this slows them down, if he doesn't out grow the habit then it may be worth investing in one of those.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=brake+fast+dog+bowl&tag=mh0a9-21&index=aps&hvadid=21857687&ref=pd_sl_9r7r89ukmc_b

I don't see speed eating as a problem at this age - most puppies can easily convince you that they've never been fed a meal before and yours is a GR isn't he, so it's par for the course!!

An enthusiastic eater is a big advantage when they get to the fussy stage and I don't think you need do anything to slow him down unless he's choking - make sure to add fluids if you are feeding kibble and leave it for a short time to absorb, this makes the food a bit sticky and less likely to cause coughing.

When he's a little older it's a good idea to teach him to wait before he dives into his bowl (helps with food manners or timing when feeding multiple dogs) but you've plenty of time to start that training and I'd never do it with a dog who is at risk of turning away from their food (although this isn't a problem for you just yet... ! :) )

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">I don't see speed eating as a problem at this age - most puppies can easily convince you that they've never been fed a meal before and yours is a GR isn't he, so it's par for the course!!<br />

My GR teleports his food :-)

I feel better hearing all that and I totally agree GR do like there food a tad lol she's the only dog so it's a case of holding her back with one hand while putting the bowl down with the other and hoping you time it right so she doesn't head butt the bowl lol it's quite an art and it's every meal not just breakfast

I train them to wait till given the go ahead to start but this doesn't stop them eating quickly once permission is granted.

To avoid food guarding a pup should allow you to take the bowl away or put your fingers in the bowl without any negative reaction, this is important if small children are about, as a child, not particularly small, I was playing with a ball in the back garden, I didn't realise that Mum had given our spaniel a bone which he had taken up the side of an outbuilding, I bent down to retrieve my ball and he went for me, grabbing my thumb,puncturing the pad at the base of my thumb and stripping some skin off as I pulled it out of his mouth, I was the one told off for going near the dog whilst eating, I vowed that no dog I ever had would do that to me or anyone else by starting training early, thus far there has been no problems and would be happy to allow anyone to go near during meal times or when having a treat.

Sorry, Rhona, but I totally disagree with that type of training and I mean this with the greatest respect:)  I wouldn't be happy with someone hoovering near my food everytime I ate.  Putting their hand infront of me, etc!!  So I do with my dogs what I expect them to do with me.  I don't stare and everyone gets their own space.  And I have 4 kids! 
I have never had any bother with guarding foodbowls as when they are young, I add to the bowl, high value food(usually chopped chicken breast) when they are eating so if a hand is coming near the bowl, it's to add good things not to wave my food around.
Also, if my dogs get bones, they are in the 'dog section' of the garden where the kids are not allowed.  My kids are taught from an early age not to approach an eating dog so I never get bother that way.

I must admit this is my third retriever (had one at a time ) and I always made a point of teaching them as rhodach did, I used to sit down the garden with them and get the bone marrow out that they couldn't reach and spoon feed it to them cos I didn't want them to worry when/if a bone or food needed to be taken away.  I didn't just take food etc away them just because but although my children knew what to do and not to do there friends didn't and when they were little I didn't want her to snap at them like rhodach said.  Don't get me wrong she had her own space and they were all taught that you don't pull the dog or hit or anything.  I trained them like this as I didn't know any different and it made sense to me.

completely agree with you there cracar

>When I feed her she dives at it and eats it within seconds,  I'm told it's because she's used to being with her siblings and has to eat it before they get it.  Does this pass, is it something I need to train her out of or what's your opinions.

Some dogs continue to eat like this for the rest of their lives but some 'relax' over time. If you are worried about it then you could try tipping the food out on a tray. This will stop the dog gulping the food down.

>To avoid food guarding a pup should allow you to take the bowl away or put your fingers in the bowl without any negative reaction, this is important

My dogs are always fed 'in their own space' either in the kitchen or kennels but they are also taught from day one that I can (and will) pick their bowls/bones/toy up at anytime I wish too. I think it is a valuable and necessary lesson that can be taught with little effort and something that will save 'conflict' at a later stage. It is also something that may save a dogs life so worth the time to teach it :)