Re: 8 month old lab advice! [quote author=MontysMum link=topic=10442.msg154675#msg154675 date=1428277305] Hiya, Our 8 month old lab was on Millies and also lost his appetite. I tried changing to another flavour but this didn't work either and he's now on Skinners (less than half the price of Millies too!!). But I am now looking into raw and will change over once I've done enough research. BTW when I called Millies, they advised that as he was a house pet and not a working dog he should be on Countryside Mix. Is yours an active dog, as I think that the Agility mix is aimed at dogs that do lots of agility style work? Just a thought. [/quote] I contacted millies as well as I was confuses as to which mix to get him they said any 50/50 mix will be good for his activity level and now that I add warm water to his meals he leaves a clean bowl every time! And now I have the issue of food aggression which I'm trying to deal with I'd like to be able to smooth my dog while he's eating with no growing
Re: 8 month old lab advice! Food is very important to our dogs, as they are working on the assumption that nature has taught them - that you don't know where your next meal is coming from and you had better keep what you have already. It is reasonable for dogs to want to be left alone while they are eating and to worry if they are approached. Your dog is growling because he feels anxious when you approach him while he is eating and he is politely telling you to go away. He thinks that you might take his food, which he is actually right about because you have actually been removing food from his bowl. If you, or other people, want to be able to approach him without him growling, then the best thing to do is to follow the advice in that article. Here it is again: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-stop-your-dog-growling-over-food/ Approach this task with the goal of making your dog feel less stressed when you are around him and he is eating. That is a good thing to do You are trying to teach him that he doesn't have to worry that you will take his food away. You have some catching up to do there since you have taken food from him in the past. You will need to stop removing any food from his bowl. The method outlined in that article is based on adding food, never taking it away.
