I've always heard labs are voracious eaters, but my one year old chocolate male has a poor appetite. Occasionally we give him treats such as chicken or a hard boiled egg and he wolfs that down, but he just won't eat dry dog food until he absolutely has to. Somedays he doesn't touch his food at all. I don't think we give him treats often enough that he's holding out for them. He seems pretty healthy, has good energy and gets exercise daily. He's had all his vaccinations and takes his monthly heartworm/parasite pills. He's fairly muscular, but his ribs show. Do I need to find a food he likes, or do some dogs just not have big appetites? Not sure if it has anything to do with it, but he's not neutered.
Re: One year old lab with poor appetite All my labs have been HUGE eaters, so I honestly can't advise. Just wondering, have you discussed this with your vet or weighed him recently? Also, have you tried some of the frozen kong recipes posted on this site?
Re: One year old lab with poor appetite Welcome Andrew from me Helen, Hattie 7 years and Charlie 3 years. I don't have any problems with healthy appetites here. You should be able to feel your dogs ribs but they should not be visible. What dried food and quantities do you feed him? I wouldn't have thought the fact that his is intact has anything to do with it. Have you spoken to your vet about your concerns?
Re: One year old lab with poor appetite I don't have a voracious eater by any stretch and I would say the following.... Check there isn't an underlying medical issue with your vet such as damaged teeth Pick up his kibble if he doesn't eat it (I've just recently had to go through a few days of this : ) Pop some warm water on his kibble so that it smells yummy! Not sure if any of that will help but it's worth a go. A healthy dog won't starve itself
Re: One year old lab with poor appetite Hi and welcome Harley (just turned 1 a few weeks ago) isn't a big eater either. We have ended up giving her 80% wet food and 20% dry mixed in. Hers stems from being really poorly and since then will not eat dry food by itself. We give her Bob and Lush as the dry and wet complements each other dietary wise. Worth finding a good blend.
Re: One year old lab with poor appetite I was wondering...has your dog always had a poor appetite? Just a thought as our 10 month old puppy has always has had huge appetite from day 1, this has led to the occasional second breakfast by hubby who has been convinced by Benson's expression that he was half starved!
Re: One year old lab with poor appetite Have you tried giving him raw food? What does he do if you give him one or two chicken wings instead of a meal of kibble, for instance?
Re: One year old lab with poor appetite Elsie is the quickest eater we have ever had so no help from her but we also have a Chihuahua (our second) and picky little devils they are, we find feeding a little dry with a little canned (arden grange or chappie she loves) works quite well. If she refuses completely then we put it in a kong and make a game of it or I hand feed a little at a time. We are only talking the tiniest of meals though compared with Elsie !!
Re: One year old lab with poor appetite [quote author=charlie link=topic=7522.msg104958#msg104958 date=1409087379] Welcome Andrew from me Helen, Hattie 7 years and Charlie 3 years. I don't have any problems with healthy appetites here. You should be able to feel your dogs ribs but they should not be visible. What dried food and quantities do you feed him? I wouldn't have thought the fact that his is intact has anything to do with it. Have you spoken to your vet about your concerns? [/quote] He's currently being fed Blue Buffalo Wilderness, before that Nutro Natural Large Breed Puppy. I offer him the recommended amounts, but he doesn't usually finish it. He just doesn't seem to like kibble. I haven't spoken to the vet about it yet. He's always been a light eater, but his ribs didn't start to show until recently. He's a pretty good size, 25 inches at the shoulder and 70 lbs, but isn't as big as his parents.
Re: One year old lab with poor appetite [quote author=Karen link=topic=7522.msg105076#msg105076 date=1409135062] Have you tried giving him raw food? What does he do if you give him one or two chicken wings instead of a meal of kibble, for instance? [/quote] I sometimes give him cooked chicken, and he loves it. I'll have to look into a raw diet. Kibble is just so cheap and convenient.
Re: One year old lab with poor appetite Andrew, I have found this really good raw food called nutriment, different minces with added goodies, really convenient to use, and you dont have to feed much, so works out quite cheap. I was feeding the manufacturers recommended amounts which was to much. Really nourishing food, look at there website , Maggie x
Re: One year old lab with poor appetite Do you feed him dry food only? Perhaps he just doesn't like it? Maybe try mixing in a bit of wet food to make it more appetising. Do you leave the food down all day so he can pick at it as he wants? This isn't necessarily the best thing to do. Try removing any unbeaten food after 20minutes and give him nothing until the next meal - repeat every meal time. After a couple of days you may start to see an improvement, coupled with adding a bit of wet food to the kibble. Some labs are naturally lean and thin, however if you can see the ribs this is a little too thin.
