Adult dog coughing up food in front of puppy

Question
My adult male dog Rocky, is about 10 years old.  We recently got a little puppy about 4 weeks ago she is now about 4 months old.  We have noticed that Rocky now ocassionally coughs up the food he just ate usually right around the puppy.  Is there a reason for this?  Its never been a problem before with Rocky.

Answer
I can think of 2 possibilities.  He may be eating too rapidly due to the competition and coughing it up.  There are not one, but 2 easy, tested, effective ways to control it. You can spread the food out on a cookie sheet or something. Some of my friends just throw it on the floor of the crate. You can put large rocks in the food dish, much to big to swallow. Either way, the dog can't gulp down one big mouthful after another.

It could be a throw back to the wolves that regurgitate partly digested food for the pups to eat.  Is the puppy licking his face just before it?  At the moment, I can't think of a good remedy for that.  It may go away as the puppy matures.

You could have the vet check for a physical problem that just coincidently happened when you got the puppy.