Min Pin gobbles food

Question
I have a rescue Min Pin that is at least 12 yrs old, but we are not sure.  Anyway, I have had her for a couple of years and this issue seems to be getting worse.  She gobbles her food so fast without chewing.  Twice she has choked on it to the point where I had to stick my fingers down her throat to dislodge the food because she was passing out.  Obviously I don't free feed and stay in the room with her while she eats, although at a distance.  A couple of times a week she will choke and cough on it.  I make sure she is isolated from the other dog so she doesn't feel she has to eat so quickly.  The other dog has never challenged her for her food and actually steps away and lets her have his if she manages to get in the other room before he is finished.  I don't know anything about her life before I got her other than she was one of five dogs brought in and all had heartworms.  I have tried just feeding her the smallest dry food I could find, but now she just gobbles it faster.  I'm concerned that one day I will not be able to dislodge the food and she will choke to death.  I considered wet food but worry about how healthy it is for her or even if it would matter as long as she is not chewing.  Also, as a side note, she has escaped the backyard and gotten in neighbors trash and come home so full she could barely walk.  Of course I rushed her to the vet for that and was told it was just a good case of "garbage gut".  After 3 escapes we finally poured cement under the bottom of the fence so our other dog can no longer dig her out, so that is not an issue anymore.  She just doesn't seem to get full.  I have asked the vet and he cannot come up with a medical reason for this behavior.  She has had a full medical evaluation at much cost and I have been told she is as healthy as can be.

Answer
Hi Michelle,

There are a couple of things you can do to slow your dog from eating so fast. First, get a smaller food bowl, then put a baseball in the bowl. The obstruction will slow her down, as she'll have to work her way around the ball to eat the food. Some dogs learn to dump the ball out of their bowl, in this case, the "Brake-Fast food bowl", the "Eat Slower Dog Food Bowl", "Eat Better Dog Food Bowl" or the "DogPause Bowl" should be used. They work as the same principal as the baseball in the bowl, except these bowls have obstructions pertinently built into the bowl. You can see these bowls here:

http://www.brake-fast.net/

http://www.eatslowerpetdishes.com/

http://www.dogpausebowl.com/

http://www.smarthome.com/6103EB/Eat-Better-Ergonomic-Pet-Bowl/p.aspx

You also might find these food bowls on ebay.

Other feeding options are:

* Feed your dog by hand, literally. Place a few kibble in your hand at a time and allow the dog to eat from your hand.

* Raise the food bowl up on a platform closer to the natural height of his face. He will need to reach for the food a little harder and that will slow him down a bit.

* Try feeding your dog on a cookie sheet, scattering the kibble around on the sheet.

Coming from a situation where there were 5 other dogs probably is a good explanation of why this dog eats as quickly as she does. She was in competition for food. Her previous owners may well have put down a bowl or two of food for all the dogs at once in one area, making mealtimes a "survival of the fittest" sort of event.

I hope I've been a help.
Best of luck,

Patti