piggy labrador

Question
Hi,
My 2-year-old female black lab was a very mild-mannered eater
when I lived alone with her. I moved into a house 6 months ago
that has two other labs. All the dogs are fed together in the
morning. My dog has gotten unbelievably aggressive about
eating her own food since she's been around the other two dogs
(both are quite passive)- her dish is empty in about twenty
seconds. She usually throws it up and then re-eats it. I've tried
feeding her separately from the other dogs, and at night, and
her behavior is the same. She is never unfriendly to the other
dogs or me (I sometimes take her bowl away when she's halfway
through in efforts to slow her down). How can I get her to eat at a
reasonable pace again?  

Answer
There is an easy fix, or at least a work around for this common problem.  Feed her is such a way as she can't get a big mouthful of food at a time.  You can put large rocks, fist sized in the food dish making her roll them around to get at more food.  You can spread the food out on a cookie sheet or something.  Some of my friends just throw the food on the bottom of the crate.  The dogs quickly catch on, being in the crate by the time you get there with the food.  I have even dumped it in the top with the dog already shut up in the crate.  Feeding in the crate maintains order with several dogs that would steal each others food.