My pup always wants more to eat!

[afairchild0103]

This is my first time to train a dog so I'm looking into all sorts of resources to get this right. My pup is a 15 week old black lab. I feed her the max amount of dog food the label says for her to eat a day and she still seems hungry. She is a female but weighs just under 25lbs so she's not over weight. Would it be a bad idea to feed her all she can eat at these early stages to let her body develop. Does anyone have a taking on freely feeding your dog (keeping the bowl stocked with food). I have a buddy about to move in with me and he has a basset hound and he just keeps a bowl stocked with food so I don't know how to keep my pup for sneaking food. I've also got about a 1/4 bag left of puppy chow then I'm ganna switch her to Sportmix 24/20. From everything I've read on the internet, puppy chow and regular dog food don't have much of a difference except puppy chow has a high protein content and a low fat content. I've also heard giving your pup a good mix of protein and fat is good in development you just want to stay away from calories. I know i posted a lot. Thanks for the help!


Andrew

[ezzy333]

A quick word before eveyone gives you some advice. You DO NOT have a problem. Every healthy teenager or health puppy is going to be hungry. And you judge by body condition and not by a degree of hunger. If your puppy was not hungry it would indicate the pup is sick or grossly overfed and fat. It is good to watch your puppy carefully but do do not create problems that do not exist.

Stay the course and you and your pup will be fine.

Ezzy

[kninebirddog]

As long as the pup is not over weight do not feed more

What I would do is spread out the food onto a cookie sheet you can get at wally world for about 4 bucks that has a lipped edge forcing the pup to take more time to eat...This has worked far better for me on dogs that hork their food then any of those fancy bowls

[RoostersMom]

Labs always want more to eat. As long as your dog is a healthy weight, I wouldn't worry about it. I personally would never free feed unless I had a really good reason to do so. I like to know when my dog is off his feed and I wouldn't know that if I free fed. Also, I would not think it a good idea to have one free fed dog in with another that is not. Lots of potential problems from your pup eating this dog's food to this dog and your pup getting into a bloody fight over food at some point.

Dogs will eat when they're hungry - we leave food down for 10 minutes and pick it up after that if they haven't eaten. I would visit with your new roommate and if he's unwilling to change his feeding habits for his dog, then maybe he needs to crate his dog with the food so there won't be issues. Your dog WILL eat this dog's food and it will turn him into a roly-poly if he does. Maybe he can keep his dog locked in another part of the house if it's so important that he free feed the dog.

Also, if you've got a good puppy food that you like, I'd feed it until the pup is at least 10 months old.

[afairchild0103]

Labs always want more to eat. I like to know when my dog is off his feed and I wouldn't know that if I free fed.

What are the cons to knowing when your dog is done feeding. Just wondering if there's a reason!

[kninebirddog]

One free feeding it is harder to monitor what the dog is eating or if they may be a little off
Also if you have a dog that always wants more and you have one of those big feeder this will quickly lead to an obese dog or if they pig out real bad can lead to bloat /twisted gut which that can be very expensive if the dog doesn't die from it

There are plenty of dogs out there that would literally eat themselves to death if allowed

try also more exercise walks that are structured not just mindless walks down the road where the dog is doing there own thing sniffing this and that they have all day in the yard for that leash lead means time to do something

Chew toys Sliced knuckle bones from red barn I was just turned on t them by my show friend for helping to keep my dogs teeth cleaned but there is plenty of benefits for them part giving them to do

[GUNDOGS]

I agree some dogs will eat and eat and eat, thats why we are to blame if our dogs get fat, cause they dont feed themselves ..my shorthair pup is 5 months old today and she would eat her hole bag of dog food if i let her, look at the bright side your dog is food motivated so use that in training her also the food servings on the bag are just guidelines, just watch your dog and her weight to see if you need to cut back or add some food..as far as the roomates dog being free fed it will probably cause an issue..not a good idea imo..i would suggest to pick up the hounds food when nobody will be around, and possibly begin teaching your lab the hounds dish is off limits..also if your roomates dog is on a different feed that may cause issues with your lab tummy...p.s..i heard that sportmix is really a good food, never used it but heard good things.....ruth

[mcbosco]

Many dogs eat and eat and eat because they eat low quality carbo-laden food. It is the same with people, carbs cause a spike in blood sugar and then that crashes making the animal hungry again.

I have had a few labs and they are oinkers, they are also the poster child for grain-free diets, ie. high protein & high fat, low carbs.

[jlp8cornell]

Many dogs eat and eat and eat because they eat low quality carbo-laden food. It is the same with people, carbs cause a spike in blood sugar and then that crashes making the animal hungry again.

Agreed. It's a simple physiological concept.

I feed grain free. My dogs never act hungry after eating and plus that, they eat much less food.

[afairchild0103]

"look at the bright side your dog is food motivated so use that in training her

Are you saying to give her treats when I train her. I'm training her to be a retriever and from what I've been hearing she doesn't get treats for doing good. Her reward is the bumpers!

[GUNDOGS]

"look at the bright side your dog is food motivated so use that in training her

Are you saying to give her treats when I train her. I'm training her to be a retriever and from what I've been hearing she doesn't get treats for doing good. Her reward is the bumpers!

Most of us own dogs that are trained to retrieve, im training our gsp pup on upland and waterfowl and she is the same age as your pup, i have begun doing alot of bumper work, whistle and hand signals also ..sure the reward for her is the bumper..pups find rewards in many ways, they are motivated for many things and treats can be one of them..i use bumpers, i have also attached a wing to the bumper, i also motivate her with bacon ..i like to keep her interested and wondering whats next..i switch up the plastic bumpers and use foam dokkens too..**you dont have to use treats if you dont want to or if you are following a method or trainer that says not to use treats**, its not a necessity im just sharing with you what i do and what i have learned from watching others, if you notice in a few months she is bored (which is what happened with our setter around 8 moths old) and it helps to motivate her with food, try new things to keep her interested......ruth