Ravenous puppy help!!

[Lilyloo]

Our 5 mth old puppy is food mad. He is beyond excited when his meal goes down (hills science plan) which is weighed out 3 times a day. We are trying to work on sit but there is no chance he will wait. He eats it all in less than 10 seconds.
He then spends the rest of his time following us into the kitchen, waiting under the table. We have never fed him from the table due to this.
But he has now started snatching food out of the dc hands.
Should we be feeding him more?

[gymmummy64]

My dog does all this and he is 2 years old.

You've missed a couple out though... I would add drooling on the floor whenever food is around (very annoying if you've not seen it and are wearing socks) and counter/table surfing of course - any chance whatsoever and Gymdog is onto it. He excelled himself last month on an extended family holiday when he ate my father's birthday cake.

I don't know much about puppies, but if you're following the feeding guidelines on the Science Plan I suspect he's doing nothing unusual at all.

[needastrongone]

What breed is he?

The suggested amounts on the food labels are a guide really. I tend to look at our puppy now as a better indication. He's pretty lean (after a growth spurt where the vet nurse suggested he was fat), his ribs feel like they are covered with a thinish blanket. He has a lovely form when standing. Slim but not thin.

I add in a few chopped carrots bits or veggies to his bowl as he also empties his very quickly and coming with soulful eyes looking for more within a minute of him having a full bowl! He got half a tin of sardines today too and some salmon skin yesterday but he's looking a touch lean.

Have also started giving him a small chicken wing or two for tea rather than kibble. We are seriously considering a raw diet anyway. These take ages to eat, especially if still frozen, the meal just seems more satisfying from the dogs point of view too. More peace for us as a meal can last 15 minutes or more!

Giving them a whole egg can be quite a brain challenge too, haven't tried that yet but just reasons a raw feeding book with this tip in. How about a bone to chew on?

[needastrongone]

Phone typos, should fire up the laptop instead on being lazy!

[daisydotandgertie]

Try feeding him more and see if it changes. He sounds starving hungry.

Food quantities on packets are guidelines and may need tweaking a bit. Has he been wormed recently?

[Lilyloo]

We get him wormed via vets so he is fine on that front.
No idea on his breed tbh we rescued him from animal shelter, mum was a terrier cross and they thought there was husky in him (from dad) when we picked him up.
I not sure whether he is hungry or completely food orientated. On a positive note he is doing well at puppy class due to the food orientation.

[Lilyloo]

Needs he is quite lean, I can see his ribs but not protruding iyswim. He does like carrot which we use in way of treat and have started freezing it to last a bit longer.

[KateDWales]

Try feeding him 4 small meals a day instead of 3. It may be a bit too big of a gap for him between meals. Also hills science plan is a great diet, you shouldn't need to add anything to it as he will be getting everything he needs. If you are working him via your vet then fab, you know you are using a product that works. If his weight and body score is fine then he Obviously isn't starving he just enjoys his food you can also get those feeder bowls that make it harder for them to get the food so they can't wolf it down.

[Floralnomad]

If its a biscuit based food get him one of those balls where they roll it about and little bits dropout . I feed mine like this a couple of times a week just to entertain him ,but he'd have it at every meal its such fun !

[daisydotandgertie]

Really - increase the quantity of food he is given. Yes, puppies working for food is good, but if he's that hungry, it will make life far more frustrating for him.

[needastrongone]

Lily - agree, maybe just increase the volume for a couple of days and see if that helps? That length of time wouldn't cause any problems in terms of gaining weight but might allow you to see if he does need a little more.

[thegriffon]

My lab was the same as a puppy, inhaled his kibble in 10 seconds, didn't chew it at all then had loose poos which were a pain to pick up. Can't be good for digestion eating so quickly. We changed to raw feeding when he was a year old which sorted everything out.

[Lilyloo]

Day 2 of increased food. He doesn't seem as snatchy (word? ) but still inhaling the food. I have tried putting a ball in his dish and that does help a little bit but he still has hiccups every time he eats.
I will look out for one of those balls, we are at the vets again on Mon for our next 4 week worming tablet so will check in with her re his weight.
His poos are fine. However he has been more settled tonight, not sure if that is because it is weekend though and we have been in all day or he is more full.

[daisydotandgertie]

Sounds promising to me. I do tend to feed by eye rather than weight when they're growing so fast. Some dogs just need more food than others; I have 4 of the same breed and they need vastly different amounts of food each day. As long as you keep an eye on him and cut down his food if he starts to look too stout there's no harm to be done.

It's also worth noting that over feeding often shows itself with runny poo - a handy indicator that there's too much food for the digestion to cope with.

[Lilyloo]

At the vets today he was weighed and has doubled his body weight in 4 weeks since we were last there. He seems much calmer with the extra amount of food so will keep monitoring (and checking his poo) thanks for the advice everyone.

[needastrongone]

Good stuff Lilyloo, glad to see that a little extra food seems to be working.

[daisydotandgertie]

Oh bless him. My lab pups tend to put on about a kg a week when they are in full growth mode if that helps anticipate his future growth rate! Glad he's getting a bit less frantic though.

[daisydotandgertie]

Oh bless him. My lab pups tend to put on about a kg a week when they are in full growth mode if that helps anticipate his future growth rate! Glad he's getting a bit less frantic though.

[daisydotandgertie]

Sorry - double post.