Hi there We have a black Labrador puppy who has just turned four months and as we’ve been advised have upped his food intake to 120g of dry food three times a day . Over the last couple of days we’ve noticed that isn’t eating the full amount in one sitting . He will start off fine but then soon leave the food and walk off, only to go back to it every few minutes but not finishing it . Did anyone else expierience this when increasing the food amount ? I don’t know if we should leave it until it all goes or if he keeps walking off to take the bowl away from him so he knows he can’t keep going back to it ? Any reply is appreciated !
Can I just ask who has given you this advice? The right way to feed a puppy or dog, is by eye. That means, assessing whether they need more or less food based on what they look like - and keeping in mind the objective of a fit, lean, muscular breed.... If you like the way your puppy looks and you don't think he is underweight, then I definitely would not be increasing the amount of food he is fed. Do not feed the amount specified on a packet, they almost always recommend giving too much. Do not feed the same amount your previous dog got as a puppy, or the person next dog, or the breeder who is keeping a puppy or what the vet says either. (Since most vets have - due to seeing so many overweight dogs - actually forgotten what a healthy fit dog should look like!). Here is a video showing how to assess a dog's weight - I don't like that the poor demo dog they use is scared, but the information is good: This is a sure sign you are feeding him too much. And it is a huge problem for training and for food motivation. If he is so disinterested in food, he will walk off and leave it, how are you going to train him adequately and well? To achieve that he has to really desperately want food and be prepared to work hard for it... You should always remove any food left in the bowl the instant the dog walks away. Leaving food available decreases food motivation even further, because what is always available is valued less. This is called 'free-feeding' the dog, so they graze throughout the day. It results in really abysmal food motivation, and obese dogs which are also untrainable. How would you feel about chocolate if you worked in a chocolate factory and were allowed to help yourself to chocolate off the conveyor belt any time you felt like it? You'd want it a lot less than someone who allows themselves a chocolate bar a week.... It sounds to me like you are feeding way too much. You want a dog to ravenously eat their food and then want more. That doesn't mean they need more. Even better - train with your puppy's meals, don't just put them down on the floor for free in a bowl.... There is so much to teach a puppy and that's just a waste of food which you could be using to achieve training with. I highly recommend you follow this protocol to get your puppy eating properly and valuing food like he should: http://www.sue-eh.ca/page24/page39/
Hi Jay, I feel like the above post comes across as overly critical and we all know how hard the first few months are. I’m sure you’re doing a super job just like the rest of us! Our dog is also about 4 months and we feed roughly what it says on the guidelines, keeping an eye on his weight as we go. Just like you’ve, we’ve dropped to 3 meals and upped it very slightly when he got to 4 months. If you feel he’s getting overweight just lower it slightly. We use some of his food for training as well as putting some in kongs if we need to leave him for short periods (along with other occasional treats). If he’s not eating as much, try decreasing it slightly and pick up his bowl straightaway. He’ll soon learn! Keep up the good work, it’s a learning curve for all of us
Oh, and on this very website, the recommendation for 3 month labs is 250g to 300g a day. Therefore 100-120g a meal is prob about right for 4 month pups - maybe keep it closer to 100g a meal and make sure you split this between Kong balls/rings etc. Just keep an eye on it if he IS becoming a bit rounded though.
