Help - labrador eaten way too much dry food

[anchovies]

One of the kids left the garage door open and he has got the lid off the food box and had a field day - has eaten probably 4+ kilos of dry food. Obviously rang the vet straight away, she said not to worry but to expect vomit/diarrhea and to let him drink as much as he wants. I am panicing anyway though, he seems ok at the moment, although lots of diarrhea/straining already. How will I know if he has bloat or if he needs to go to the vet? What do I need to look out for?

Watch out for attempted unproductive vomiting, hunching up, pale gums, panting, general unwell appearance. My puppy Mr Creosote dog is prone to stealth scoffing and he's a bloat-risk breed, so I've had some frantic moments too! And he's snoring here in rude health, so don't panic.

The vet and my experienced dog sitter both said let him have small amounts of water often, rather than one massive bowl all at once, and keep a close eye on him. Maybe measure the widest part of his stomach now, so that if it gets significantly bigger you'll be able to tell straight away instead of guessing. And if you're worried, take him to the vets - GDV can get serious very quickly.

Our brown lab ate 4.5 kilos of dry dog food and didn't have any ill-effects - to be honest, it didn't even occur to us to ring the vet. She was sick a couple of times, and did poo a fair amount of semi-digested dog food. She was rather sorry for herself too - I think she was quite uncomfortable from being so full - she was a little brown barrel on legs, and couldn't curl herself up as she usually does.

We didn't give her anything to eat for a couple of days, and then only small meals, and made sure she had water available to drink.

Wildfig's advice sounds spot on.

If it makes you feel any better, my friend's Dalmation once ate a 15KG sack of food, including the bag, after 'breaking in' to the utility room when they were out. They came back to find him laying on the floor groaning, but he was fine.

It didn't put him off his food! He has also eaten a child's toy potters wheel set, including paints, clay and paintbrushes!

Well he seems fine other than the fact he keeps hoovering up his own vomit! Thanks for the pointers I will keep an eye on him. He is busy digging up a conifer at the moment so obviously not feeling too bad.

My Mum's boxer once got into the cupboard she kept the dried dogfood in (in a big barrel). Don't know how much he ate but he came out looking pretty much like the barrel. He was fine.

Anchovies - our labrador un-gardens, too! I have resigned myself to the fact that I can only put plants in the front garden - unless I want them uprooted and towed round the lawn. I did try buying spiky plants, in the hopes that this would put madam off, but no such luck - she pulled up and shredded five raspberry canes and a gooseberry bush.

I'm glad your dog seems to be OK - it sounds like he and my hound would get on well, but might lead eachother into bad ways - lol!