Lab feedings

A pup that young should be fed 2 or 3 times per day.

Belinda said:

A pup that young should be fed 2 or 3 times per day.

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What she said! ~ Remember that he needs a lot of food for all his growing, but he doesn't have a stomach big enough to hold all he needs without distress. ~ Another way to go is to feed him ad libitum (I think that's the phrase). Keep food constantly in his bowl so that he learns that he does not have to eat everything at once, but only when he is hungry, and as he needs it.

:rybka:

We do like Belinda says... demand feeding. Although if you have only been feeding him once a day, you need to break him in slow.. like gradually increase his feedings at least 2 times a day until he does not eat everything in his bowl. Most high energy dogs need to be fed more than once a day.. ours just walks by and gets a couple of bites and goes about his day. Just our opinion from raising retrievers.

Whoops.. like JAW said...Sorry!

IMO it is wrong to led your dog "graze". Labs are known o just eat cuz it's there...and then they get fat..Pups should be fed 2-3 times a day. When they get older you can have an evening feeding.

I chose to train my dog to eat. I'd put his food down and give hime 10 or so minutes to eat it all. If he didn;t eat I would pick his food up....he'd be hungry the next time. Now, when I put his food down he eats it all and is done. It is VERY nice when traveling or anything. You also know how much your dog is eating....and if somehting is wrong with his appetite.

It depends on the dog... we have NEVER had an overweight Lab. We have however picked Alpha pups from each litter... therefore, he was always getting the food. If you get a pup that was pushed away from the chow, it probably would not work.

Now that you have some good advice on feeding your pup how about posting a pic of the little one. And what name did you give it?
By the way, if you start training it now to exercise with you it will be easier to control when it gets bigger. That comes from experience. I took 2-3 hours every night playing and exercising with my lab puppy as soon as I got it. This tired him out and he got a good nights rest before needing to be let out for a potty break. He is now about 3yrs old and I still play and exercise with him for about at least an hour everyday with his little red ball. I get tired!!!!!!!!

This is our little man Kodiak Prairie Bear Max from pup to adult.

Thanks for all the responses! I really do appreciate it! This is my first lab so any advice is good advice. I have incresed his feedings to 3 times daily and picking up the leftovers. Hes growin daily and I will get pics up as soon as I get my camera from work on Monday. Thanks again!

Woody

We have a 10 month old Golden that eats 2 cups of puppy food twice a day and then cleans up whatever the other dogs leave behind. He currently weighs 80 lbs and doesn't have any fat on him. Lots of loose skin, but no fat.

I wouldn't do demand feeding with a lab pup, but feeding him 4 to 5 cups of puppy food a day is probably about right. Just keep an eye on it as he grows. If he starts looking fat, you might cut back a bit.

The breed of pup makes no difference... all that matters is that you introduce it early and that he/she was not pushed away all the time from the teat or food bowl. Once acclimated to demand feeding you will never have weight related problems with your dog. It just has to be implemented at the pup stage... this is one thing that holds true about "an old Dog doesn't learn new tricks".