food obsessed puppy..........

[littlehoofprint]

Does anyone else have a food-obsessed dog?

I have a 4-month-old golden retriever puppy! I know that they are know for being greedy but Roxy is OBSESSED with food! She will eat everything and anything and is getting a bit bigger now and has begun to snatch food out of our hands! She is told off but will try again as u are telling her off

And when she knows it is feeding time (or any other time during the day when she gets hungry) she barks loudly and constantly until fed!

she is given big meals enough so that she usually comes back later and finishes it! She is fed three times a day and is on meat and mixer.

It has got to a ridiculous level and she is starting to annoy the neighbours who are being woken up at 7am by a very loud puppy

does anyone have any suggestions or tips to help us through this?

thanx for any replys in advance

 

[Sooty]

How many meals a day is she getting? Maybe she would be better off with several small meals, or you could try ad-lib feeding of dry food. At least if she is interested in food she should be easy to train!

 

[Weezy]

I agree with Soots - my dogs have always had ad lib dry food available to them - the bowl is emptied and I fill it - deffo the way forward to me

 

[GinaB]

Such a greedy puppy! My schnauzer is the same, she begs for food a lot, although being 5 year old now she would never snatch food off someone.
Is the pup beginning to get overweight at all? Due to her snatching food you'll need to be very firm with her when telling her off, maybe going as far as a little smack just to reinforce the point. Problem with retrievers and labs is that they are both run by their tummies and all they think of is food. You're best to feed little and often and as both Weezy and Sooty say having food available to her is maybe a good idea, but just keep a very close eye on her weight!

 

[Sooty]

Yes, I forgot to say that since Morgan has been spayed we can no longer feed ad-lib, as she just wolfs her way through any amount of food and as we have a second dog it is hard to ration it. Second dog is very old, so we may go back to carefully monitored ad-lib once she has gone.

 

[emma69]

My lab was food obsessed, ate loads, but was so hyperactive that he didn't put on weight. If she is leaving food I would make her meals smaller, but more often, say 5 meals through the day. One thing that worked great for ours is a big plastic ball that you put dogbiscuits in (I think you are supposed to put treats in but we justed used dry food!!! Aren't we mean!!!) It has little holes so the biscuits come out slowly, and it takes them ages to push it around to get the food out - and it was practically indestructable (a good thing when it comes to labs!) I would keep an eye on her, make sure she isn't gaining more than normal for puppys or loosing any, they do burn off an amazing amount of calories

 

[Oneofthepack]

Hi, I have a rescued lurcher that had what the vet called a 'deranged appetite' which sounds very much like your pup. I cooked 3-4 days worth of grated carrot and shredded cabbage, kept it in the fridge and added like for like quantitites to his normal meals, which I split into 4 a day. It meant he could wolf down quite large amounts without getting fat (be warned, the first few days has quite an effect on the poos!) I kept this up for about 6 weeks and gradually cut it down and he's fine now and didn't put on any weight.

 

[Sooty]

Now I know the term for my condition - deranged appetite! Bring on the veg...

 

[Tempi]

PMSL @ Sooty!!

My whippet 9month old love hers food, she would eat all day if i let her!! She currently has three meals a day, and they're not small meals either - she eats her food mega quickly and then spends about 20mins after eating burping!!

 

[Sooty]

LOL - she sounds like my husband!