Nope Benji is a gobbler too. I gave him a large bowl of chicken last week (the one I was too scared to eat ) and it took him about 5 seconds to eat it - I was disgusted with him the pig The only thing that he takes his time with is dried food - he puts a few pieces in his mouth from his bowl in the kitchen and then brings them into the living room and spits them on the carpet and then eats them. Anything that he REALLY enjoys though is down in seconds and then he winges then for about 20 mins cos he has tummy ache

I have used a large rubber toy for that. The one I have found best is a dog toy shaped like a thick tractor tyre if you know the one I mean. Its large enough not to be a risk and sits in the size bowls my crew have just right so that it has to be nudged around to get the food. I found it especially useful for Defa when I first got him as he bolted food terribly which made him burp a lot, for Silk who basically survived by scavenging before rescue and thought she had to gobble her food as quickly as possible, and for Fluke because he is a Lurcher with a very deep chest [ bloat risk ], who gobbled his food initially.
Defa stopped rushing his food once his weight stabilised and his stressing stopped, Fluke soon realised the rest of the crew would not try to pinch his food, and Silk now knows that she can actually chew her food and it wont disappear I have`nt needed to use the toy for any of them for ages now.

Willow has always been a steady eater, and Gremlin thinks that not chewing each biscuit several times individually is just not ladylike so she has never bolted food, in fact she takes ages to eat

But for dogs which do need to learn slow down when they eat, yes a suitably weighted [ and large enough not to be swallowed ], item in the bowl really can help a great deal :smt001

mistys strange one day he will hoover it in seconds + the next he will be stood there for ages crunching up every little bit. xenie just looks at it as if to say whats that then 2 seconds later its all gone.dora on the other hand as soon as you put the bowl down she like wheres it gone + starts looking for more we tried adding a tennis ball + then 2 just to try to slow her down but she tipped the bowl over then eat all the food so we give her a few small meals instead but i have heard that adding things in there bowls can help

Not tried it but know people who have that it has worked for.

The Biff gulps down wet food, dry food he chews.
Mo chews.
First 2 pups wolfed food down, Saturn sits down and almost puts a napkin on his lap before chewing every piece of kibble 40 times...honest!!! Even training treats have to be chewed properly...in the middle of class!!! It is funny..

my 2 just woof it down in seconds!!! so i have started to wet their kibble now and they do take longer eating it!

I don't think Duncan's food even touches his teeth he's a hoover extrordinaire............

Toby is pretty much the same too, I've started buying the full size bonio biscuits because they actually crunch them up rather than just swallow them.

Bobby is a very dainty eater and chews everything.....but then he has a much smaller mouth.....

Ozzy just inhales it

In fact I have seen him cough and bits of whole kibble come out! The boy has no table manners!!

Midge and Jasper don't chew their food either. Especially if it's something tasty.

I did wonder if it was the competition between them which made them like this, but after Midge had a stomach upset (whole kibbles came up) I asked my vet about it.

He said that dogs don't actually have to chew because, unlike us, their digestion doesn't start in the mouth. Their saliva doesn't contain enzymes like ours does, but their stomach acid is stronger than ours. Therefore they can swallow ther food whole.

My explanation may not be brilliant as it was quite a while ago, but I think that was the jist of it!

Daisy always chews, but my old dog Barney used to swallow everything, he amazed me how he never choked himself

Tia chews her food but my mum has got a bullmastiff cross dogue de bordeaux and she just swallows hers