Why does my small dog gag and growl when I eat? Should I be concerned?

It sounds like Dune may simply have been startled and reacted fearfully - growling and barking are common signs of fear in dogs. If he settled down quickly and has been acting normal again since then, I wouldn't necessarily worry. If this behavior continues to occur over the next few days or weeks, then I would recommend consulting with a veterinary behaviorist or a good reward-based trainer who can evaluate him in person and help determine why this is happening, so that you can put together a training plan to work on it. You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist in your area here (www.dacvb.org) or a qualified trainer here (www.ccpdt.org)

It would be unlikely that he has an obstruction if he is not vomiting. He could have some gastrointestinal discomfort from a parasite, infection, or possibly eating too fast or over-eating. If it continues, have him examined by your vet to determine if there is an abnormality. Your vet can check a stool sample to look for parasites and prescribe a dewormer, if needed. Your vet can also prescribe an antacid or gastrointestinal protectant to help relieve any discomfort.

Since he is so young and this isn't the first time he has regurgitated I would recommend having a veterinarian take a look at Oliver. There are congenital issues that can actually cause an animal to regurgitate. Your veterinarian may want to do some chest X-rays to rule in or out these abnormalities. I would just make sure that he is actually regurgitating not vomiting since the list of differentials would be different for both. In the mean time you can try watering down Oliver's food so he has to chew it more and potentially sit him up after he eats. You can also add some wet food to the dry food to see if that helps. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

It's very common for dogs to growl or show other types of resource guarding behavior towards other dogs when they are eating. This is probably causing stress for both dogs, so I would recommend feeding them in separate rooms or in their crates (if they are crate-trained) to avoid this problem :)

Some puppies can make noises while they eat, which can be normal, and if Bojangles is eating too quickly he could be choking a little which is causing the gag. Trying to get him to slow down in his eating and drinking with a slow-down bowl (or placing a few tennis balls in the bowl) or feeding smaller meals more frequently may help. If he is choking a lot, acting like he can't breathe or is painful, is vomiting or can't keep anything down, or seems in distress from it, a vet visit to rule out anything is always best.

Oli may be eating to fast. You can try purchasing a puzzle feeder dish (they are available on Amazon.com) with ridges in it that slow down eating and drinking if used as food and water bowls. If this doesn’t resolve the coughing/gagging, and he coughs/gags with canned puppy food as well, it is possible that he may have a condition called megaesophagus where the food doesn’t move down his esophagus normally. Your vet can take X-rays of his neck/chest to diagnose this if slowing down his eating/feeding him small amounts at a time or trying canned food as well does not help. Good luck! He must be adorable!!!

Hi there! I'm sorry to hear that you're having this problem with Petey. Many dogs get anxious and may show some resource guarding aggression around feeding time, especially if they've had to fight to defend their food in the past - we often don't know much about a rescue dog's history, so it's hard to say what is driving this behavior in Petey's case. It's hard to give you specific advice without more details about your normal feeding routine, including what specifically tends to trigger this behavior from Petey. In general, the best thing to do for resource guarding issues is to try and avoid making the dog feel threatened, and leave him alone to eat in peace. So for example, you might use a baby gate to keep Petey out of the kitchen while you're getting his dinner ready, place his bowl on the floor, and then remove the gate to let him go in and eat. I would leave him alone while he's eating, and go in and put the empty bowl away once he's completely finished and has walked away. If you want to work on this problem further, to eventually try and get him more comfortable with having you around while he eats, it would be best to get in touch with a veterinary behaviorist who can evaluate him in person and help you put together a detailed training plan. You can search for one in your area here: www.dacvb.org. I also highly recommend the book "Mine!" by Jean Donaldson, for detailed guidelines and training protocols for dogs with resource guarding issues to help get you started.