[PRR]

I might be overthinking this, but I just found a food (Canidae Multiprotein All Life Stages) that has a small kibble. I have a 2 yo Belgian Malinois mix that has mostly eaten large kibble. She has thrown up a few times since we've adopted her (a year now) and each time, I have seen her large kibble unchewed (enlarged even, with gastric juices I suppose) in the vomit. A few times in a year isn't that much, but since she has been fussing about her food lately (not eating as often as she used to) I decided to switch to another food, which she gobbles down as soon as the food tray is put down. This new food has fairly small kibbles. I can hear her chewing the small kibbles, and in the 3-4 days I've been feeding it to her, she has not thrown anything up.

When looking for a kibble that was fairly small, but still not dedicated for small breed dogs, it was rare to see one that was ALS/all breeds. Some of the ones that did, have little to no glucosamine, which I did want for her. So it made me wonder about the lack of choices here. Perhaps there is a reason why companies don't make small kibble for big dogs.

Is there a reason why a large dog (80 lbs) should not be eating small kibble? I searched this forum and someone complained about a large dog choking on small kibble. That is something I'll look out for, but at this point that's just not happening. But is there another potential hazard I should be aware of?

 

[BKaymuttleycrew]

In my experience, most dogs don't chew kibble much, if at all. It's also not unusual, again in my experience, for the occasional vomit to yield swollen pieces of kibble in their original form. The size of kibble (small vs larger) is usually marketed towards those who own small dogs that might not want to chomp up large pieces of food (not that they can't do so...) I have never had any issues feeding a larger dog smaller sized kibble.

I'd just make sure she wasn't inhaling the smaller kibble at what seems an unhealthy rate (if she is doing so, you can slow her down by adding some water to the bowl and/or utilizing a bowl designed to slow down rate of consumption) As long as it's formulated for ALS and she's tolerating the formula, I'd say stick with what works.

One final note - glucosamine is added to some/many kibbles, but if you really want your dog to benefit from this addition, you might want to just supplement her diet & not rely on the kibble to provide adequate levels.

 

[emlopre]

I have a dane and I prefer larger kibble for her... helps slow her down a bit and actually chew. That said shes on a veterinary diet right now w no large kibble option, and she definitely wolfs it down so I like to add pumpkin or water to slow her down a bit but doesn't make as big of a difference w the small kibble she still inhales it so I will have to look into a slow feeder while she is on it.

If your dog doesn't have any issues with it I think its totally fine though.

I might be overthinking this, but I just found a food (Canidae Multiprotein All Life Stages) that has a small kibble. I have a 2 yo Belgian Malinois mix that has mostly eaten large kibble. She has thrown up a few times since we've adopted her (a year now) and each time, I have seen her large kibble unchewed (enlarged even, with gastric juices I suppose) in the vomit. A few times in a year isn't that much, but since she has been fussing about her food lately (not eating as often as she used to) I decided to switch to another food, which she gobbles down as soon as the food tray is put down. This new food has fairly small kibbles. I can hear her chewing the small kibbles, and in the 3-4 days I've been feeding it to her, she has not thrown anything up.

When looking for a kibble that was fairly small, but still not dedicated for small breed dogs, it was rare to see one that was ALS/all breeds. Some of the ones that did, have little to no glucosamine, which I did want for her. So it made me wonder about the lack of choices here. Perhaps there is a reason why companies don't make small kibble for big dogs.

Is there a reason why a large dog (80 lbs) should not be eating small kibble? I searched this forum and someone complained about a large dog choking on small kibble. That is something I'll look out for, but at this point that's just not happening. But is there another potential hazard I should be aware of?

 

[PRR]

I bought her a 12 "cup" muffin tin to eat from. It has slowed her down a fair amount.

I'd just make sure she wasn't inhaling the smaller kibble at what seems an unhealthy rate (if she is doing so, you can slow her down by adding some water to the bowl and/or utilizing a bowl designed to slow down rate of consumption) As long as it's formulated for ALS and she's tolerating the formula, I'd say stick with what works.

 

[DaySleepers]

Putting a ball or other easily cleaned toy in a food bowl is another easy way to slow down fast eaters! Or feeding meals out of Kongs or similar stuffable food toys, especially if you wet the kibble a bit (with water or a topper like unsweetened plain yogurt, wet food, etc.) and then freeze.

But on the original point, I agree that so long as the dog doesn't seem to be inhaling the smaller kibbles in a dangerous fashion, I wouldn't think there's anything wrong with feeding it to larger dogs. The general wisdom for training treats regardless of the dog is the size of your pinky nail, and that's smaller than some small-breed kibble out there! The only exception would be with feeding a growing, large-breed puppy; I wouldn't assume that a kibble marketed for small breed puppies is going to have the correct calcium/phosphorus ratio for large breed puppies who really need care to ensure they have slow, consistent growth. That doesn't mean that no smaller kibble would work in that scenario, just that I'd do more research to and be more picky about any given formula.

As a small dog owner, I suspect the larger kibbles are more 'standard' for many food manufacturers, with there being fewer options for smaller kibbles because it's marketed as a more specialized product. My boys will eat any sized kibble honestly, but I do like smaller ones that I can include in my training treat rotation - harder to train small dogs when 20 'treats' could be a whole meal's worth of calories, haha.