Too Busy To Eat

LabLuvr · Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2005 4:02 am Post subject: Too Busy To Eat

It is difficult to keep our puppy, Reggie, 6-1/2 month old Black Lab, interested in his food. He is too busy chasing bugs, looking for his bone or rawhide, going potty, wanting to play, or just walking around the house or porch (we have recently moved into the house to feed him as we are preparing for wintertime). I realize he is still a puppy and this is probably pretty normal behavior. He is very curious and loves to explore things and watch everything that's going on.

I want to make sure he is eating enough. He weighs 60 lbs, you can feel his ribs and he still has a waist, but my husband and I think he looks too skinny. He does get rawhide to chew on, and sometimes a Freshie dental bone. Also gets puppy biscuits or Milkbone treats after going potty.

What do you think of those "Savory Sauces" that you can add to dry food? Maybe it will make his food a little more interesting to him. Any other suggestions?

NicolaL · Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 11:18 pm Post subject:

Hi Michelle

We had the same issue with Smudge for a while as he didn't seem to be interested in his food at all which I thought was amazing for a lab!

We changed flavours of his dried food (mixed in slowly, Smudge has quite a sensitive tummy so even swapping flavours can be a bit dodgy for him!) and this seemed to help.

I haven't heard of Savory Sauces, but think I recall reading that some forum members had added gravy to their dried food?

To be honest, we didn't give Smudge any other treats and used his dried food as a training aid (my future mother-in-law thinks I'm so mean!).

Have you consulted your vet to see what they think? I think the general assumption is that labs are better off a bit leaner as they can tend to suffer from a bit of middle aged spread later! I know that Smudge's appetite shot through the roof when we had him neutered and I have to watch his weight carefully now because he is always scavenging for more!

_Mary_ · Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 11:31 pm Post subject:

At 60LBS he sounds about the right weight for his age to me Michelle, I was told by the vet nurse that CJ was too heavy at 40KGS which is around 88LBS, that was at 11months old, Reggie will put on more weight as his muscles develop.

I feed my dogs on the raw diet so they don`t get gravy with it, but with past dogs that were eating meal I did used to put some gravy on for them, they loved it!, not sure if its a good idea though because there`s a lot of fat in those sauces (have you ever allowed it to go cold?!! Surprised

)

I think that as long as Reggie is healthy in all other ways and it sounds like he is if he`s chasing bugs and things around!, I`d not worry too much.

But I`m no expert and if your really worried about him I`d suggest a trip to the vet to see what s/he says, and of course others will hopefully be able to advise you on here too Laughing

LabLuvr · Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2005 4:54 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the replies, SmudgesMum and Jesstiggs. I called the vet's office and they said not to worry too much and that it's normal for his age and breed to skip an occasional meal so I decided against the sauces. He is doing better now, with some coaxing at times. He is due to be neutered in the next couple of weeks so I will probably need to be watching his intake a little more as SmudgesMum suggested. I'll be asking the vet about that. Also have been feeding him according to what the bag says, but the vet said that he may not need that much, taking into account his treats and rawhide bones. I did find out recently that he LOVES baby carrots so he sometimes gets those as treats instead. My hubby thinks I worry way too much about him but I want to make sure he's a happy and healthy puppy so he turns into a happy and healthy dog.

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