Virtually every other dog I've known will eat whatever is put in front of him as quickly as possible. Not only will most dogs attack their meals immediately after they are presented but they also will wolf down their food at an extraordinarily fast pace. Instinct seems to dictate that you should engulf your meals before anyone else comes along who might also wish to take a bite.
The Professor, however, has a different attitude towards mealtime. We had trained him to wait until we said "OK" before he was allowed to tuck in but it turns out this was redundant. Oscar routinely waits until he's good and ready before he starts eating. And when he does decide to begin it's a very mellow, controlled affair. He takes his time, pausing between mouthfuls to assess his surroundings and often will interrupt the meal to go and investigate something else. He doesn't quite chew his kibble but he is very deliberate about how often he returns to the trough. He usually finishes his bowl but sometimes he will leave a little left over from breakfast so that dinner is a bit bigger than normal. One delay tactic worth noting is his tendency to spill a select number of morsels all over the floor with the first few bites so that it takes additional time to at the end of the meal once the rest of the food has been eaten. The overriding lesson here is to take your time while eating and appreciate the hard work that went into producing this meal, or at the very least provide yet another source of amusement for the person who scoops two servings into your bowl every day.
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...or the lesson is that when you are an only child, you have no sense of urgency or competition while completing daily tasks, so those of us who are only children are more calm by nature and less apt to scarf down food immediately. I've seen this keenly displayed at many a family dinner when siblings are at the table. Oscar needs a sister, or maybe not...
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