Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 9:46 pm Post subject: My Lab Wants To Eat All The Time!!
Hi everyone. Does anyone else have a lab that wants to eat non-stop? I'm really worried about our chocolate lab Jake. He is constantly hungry. If you are eating he just sits by you and drools. The other day we forgot and left a whole loaf of bread on the counter and he ate the entire thing. He looked so bloated! But believe it or not, before too long he was pawing at his food bowl wanting to eat again. Any food that's out anywhere, if we turn our back, it's gone. He even laps up the milk from the kids cereal bowls when they put them in the sink. Today he ate a sleeve of Girl Scout thin mints that the kids left lying around. I'm totally frustrated!! We've talked to our vet quite a while back and he said basically there are two types of dogs one being the type that eats to live and the other being the type that lives to eat. Well, we know which category Jake falls into. We started supplementing his food with green beans quite awhile ago, but they aren't keeping him any fuller. Does anyone have any suggestions/advice? TIA!
If he tends to do most of his 'food burglary' in the kitchen I would be inclined to put a stairgate up to stop him from getting in there.
Do you have a crate you could put him in when you are eating to prevent the drooling thing? Or another room you could put him into instead?
It sounds awful to exclude him from rooms he is normally allowed into, but sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind. It would be far better for him in the long run!
He`s not hungry, he`s being a typical lab pig!!, they are opportunist thieves as you`ve found out with the bread, i daren`t leave anything out in my kitchen or it`ll be gone.
Mel`s idea is a good one, put Jake into a crate or a separate room, he`ll create but he`ll get used to it and learn that he does`nt eat when you do or what you eat! .
Mel, love your new sig pic of Lionel, what a handsome young man he`s growing into, hard to believe it wasn`t so long ago you were waiting to pick him up
Thanks for the replies guys. I'm determined to get Jake slimmed down. I admit I haven't been walking him as much this winter b/c it's been absolutely freezing! We walked today and I've talked to my DH and kids and made sure they know Jake is officially on a diet as of today! Sometimes we give him scraps of food, I know, BAD! It's just sometimes when he looks at you with those eyes, I just can't help myself! But no more!! We will walk tomorrow no matter how cold it is. He's on lowfat Eukanuba dog food and he gets two cups in am and two cups pm plus a can of green beans a day. I've done pretty well with ignoring him tonight while he's begging me to eat. He will get his final cup right before bed. Thanks again and I'll keep ya posted on our progress!
OMG I sympathise, we used to have a GSD who was very much an opportunist thief.
Hally would be like this if we allowed her to be, but she has always been taught not to jump up in the kitchen, and she is not allowed to sit in front of me when I am eating a meal (the rest of the family are another problem - much as I love them, having dogs sit and drool in front of me when I am eating has always been a pet hate of mine ).
I would certainly close off the kitchen to him, but would allow him in when you are there, and firmly, kindly and consistently teach him that it is wrong to jump up on the surfaces fulllstop - irrespective of whether there is food around (and don't turn your back on him).
As others have said, if there are no doors, invest in stair gates - we can comfortably leave full around on the work surfaces, Hally will very kindly guard it for us (we only have to move in the kitchen and she is there ) but she just wouldn't dream of taking it
Now socks and tights, thats a different matter
If it is any consolation, like many on here, I have a lab that would live to eat if we let her,
For his health and your sanity, you need to sort this out. Good luck
Bailey too has been taught not to jump up on the sides although it has never been an issue. I can leave all sorts as close to the edge as i like and he won't take it
He does lay at my feet while i eat and if it smells really yummy he will sit there and drool (although not till the end of my meal as he knows if he is good and leaves me alone he will get a tiny tit bit when i am done )
I am very lucky as he isn't really a food thief
A story for you.......
One night last year my brother stayed with me for the night....as i went off to bed the last thing i said to him was " whatever you do, don't leave anything lying around he may chew that you don't want him to"....i then went off to bed.....
The following morning, i started walking down the stairs and there, sat proud as punch at the foot of the stairs was Bailey.......with a king size mars bar in his mouth
As soon as i got to the bottom he handed it over and looked really pleased with himself I praised him loads, went straight to the kitchen and cut him off a nice piece of cheese as a reward
When my delightful (but clearly deaf ) brother got up from his pit we had serious words. I told him how dangerous chocolate was for dogs and that i had specifically told him not to leave anything lying around......grrrrrr....
He told me he had had it in his pocket and it must have fallen out and he was really sorry
It turns out it fell out on the sofa and that Bailey (who sleeps on the sofa) had 'looked after' it all night and brought it to me first thing.....i was so proud (and relieved)
I do believe (although all dogs are different and people do different things with their pets) that the reason he didn't eat it and doesn't steal, is i freely give him tit bits of the human kind if he is good. Hence he knows if he doesn't steal he'll get something anyway.......and if he doesn't beg and sit right in my face he'll get his little tit bit
This is just the way i have done it and it worked/s for me
That said, tissues, paper, socks, bra's etc are all fair game
He's on lowfat Eukanuba dog food and he gets two cups in am and two cups pm plus a can of green beans a day.
If you want him to loose some weight I would reduce that amount slightly. 4 cups a day is a lot for a dog that doesn't get much excerise. I would reduce it to 3 cups a day plus the green beans but up the excerise. An hour of excerise per day is about right for the average adult dog.
Kay we have taught Fudge the same, she has never to my knowledge stolen food, even when the kids leave it on the cofee table at her height, and same with our food she gets a teeny treat if she leaves us alone.
Oooo can some of you come to my house and teach Majic not to jump up and take things of the food variety I am forever saying 'Majic off' or 'Majic leave'.
I guess I am quite lucky really. Although Charlie would eat anything and everything given half a chance, jumping up to the worktops and kitchen table is something he has never really given problems with (about the only thing I should say ).
Don't many labs have "dustbin" as their middle names? When I say Charlie would eat anything and everything I mean that it does not always have to be food
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).
(we only have to move in the kitchen and she is there 
) but she just wouldn't dream of taking it
I praised him loads, went straight to the kitchen and cut him off a nice piece of cheese as a reward 
