Success at last!! At least for my lab/boxer mix. She was fine when I got her, but one day this behavior of "double gulping", incessant licking everything she could everywhere, anxiety and panic, acting like she would throw up, sometimes doing so, most of the time not able to, eating everything under the sun during the episode she could, grass, bark, rope, blankets... just anything. I would calm her down best I could, had to sit with her hours on end to keep her laying down, and the episodes would usually last throughout the entire day. I took her to the vet and started spending a lot of money, over 800 for the first visit alone, and no one had a clue, but they were willing to run very expensive test, x-ray etc., to find out absolutely nothing. I began researching forums online, only to find no one had a solution, and others had spent 5000-10,000 dollars on vets to find out no vet had a real solution.
On one forum, I noticed the issue seemed to be related primarily to their ability to digest the food. I read how having an elevated dog feeder was very important for big dogs, so I got one, and this did not fix it, but is important for larger dogs to prevent many medical conditions and aid in digestion. So, this is highly recommend to all big dog owners. I started to notice many dog owners with this issue had dogs that ate their food very fast, so many tried slow feeder bowls, which for me also proved to not slow my girl down, because she still did not chew the food. She will fill her mount with a handful of large kibble, and swallow it without chewing every time. The episodes were happening increasingly, and I might have a few days of peace or even a week, and then it would happen again, and I had to focus on her all day. The only time she ate her rope and things that were not good for her, was when she was in one of her panic double gulping episodes, so I kept her as calm as possible during these episodes and did not allow her to eat or lick anything.
Solution:
I prayed for Jesus to help me know what to do, as it seemed hopeless, and immediately, the idea came to my mind, digest the food for her! I could not get her to chew it up one by one, (tried feeding it to her by hand for a few weeks, but boy was that not fun)... so I decided to grind up her kibble, add some warm wanter and make it mush for her! I tried it, and with having an elevated dog feeder, coupled with giving her the already ground up mush kibble, I did not have to worry about her eating too fast, because it was already "chewed" up for her digestive system. I did not have to change her food, I just had to take care of the issue of her being able to digest and break it down in her stomach. It has been about a 2 years since this started to work, and she has not had an episode since I started doing this.
Before you waist tons of money trying new foods, medicines or on visits to the vet, just try getting an elevated dog feeder if you have a big dog, and grind up the food for them. Wet dog food would work probably just as good, but I have another big dog, and did not want to mess with two different foods, so I just grind hers up. I hope this solution works as well for you, as it has for me, and I am so thankful to God, because I believe Jesus gave me the idea, as it came to me just after I prayed.