How much do you feed your lab?

[WilburIsSomePig]

My boy is 18 months, been castrated and I think putting on weight. He's a chunky boy anyway but I don't want him to be fat and unhealthy. Gets loads of walks and few treats. He is fed morning and night (12% protein kibble) and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Advice much appreciated please.

I think most labs put on weight after castration if food intake doesn't change. Just cut down amount of food, by about a third as a rough guide, and reduce or cut out treats.
My lab was done at 2.5 yrs and I was shocked at how quickly the weight went on even though he carried on being as active as usual.
Luckily it all came off when I cut down on his food - he's raw fed and used to have 600g a day pre castration + a few treats. Now he has 400g and no treats at all.
I haven't noticed him being hungrier than usual because he's a typical greedy lab and would act as if he was starving even if he was fed 4 times as much.

Thanks for the advice. I know what you mean about being a typical lab, I swear mine would rustle himself up a sandwich if he could, he's so greedy.

I feed my year old bitch between 400 - 500g of raw per day. She also has a bowl of good quality kibble out at all times. I fill bowl around every 4-5 days I guess and even then it's not empty. She's a nice weight at the moment possibly a bit on the skinny side!

fjalladis - what breed is your dog? Am amazed you can just leave kibble out, my lab would empty the bowl the instant it was put down even if he'd just been fed.

Leave kibble out?
My Lab would make himself sick!

If she is raw fed, then im not surprised kibble is left for days! Why eat that shit when there is good stuff!

Not quite sure why you are feeding raw and kibble tho

She's a lab! I did it from day one so not sure if she's just a rare not bothered about food lab or because she's learnt that the food never runs out so doesn't need to bolt it. I did it on advice of a friend who does the same with all her dogs two of which are lab crosses and none of them are particularly food orientated.
I feed both as my supply of raw can be a bit problematic at times due to my living situation and also my work hours can vary so she gets fed raw mornings and evenings but that could vary by hours as to when it comes. (I work shifts and although I'm not gone for more. Than few hours my life is pretty busy and we are often out for long periods of time (with the dog) and dive back in the door for few mins and then go again. so I like the fact that if she's hungry when I come in the door she can go and eat and I don't have to add feeding her to the long list of things I have to do in a very short space of time! It might sound like lazy dog ownership and maybe it is but it works for us!

Is kibble crap then? I want to do the best for him so open to suggestions if anyone can give me a bit more information on raw feeding please? What do you give and how much? How do I go about changing gradually? Should it help keep excess weight at bay? Thanks!

OP - some people think all kibble is crap but its just their opinion. Same with feeding children and weaning, people tend to think their way of doing things is the best.
I raw feed my dogs because first dog used to produce large amounts of soft, hard to pick up poo when he was on kibble, raw feeding sorted that out so I just carried on with it when I got second dog.
My raw fed lab put on weight after castration, easily sorted by reducing the amount of food, which you can do just as easily with kibble.
Best do the research and make up your own mind. Loads of info on the web, also there's a good raw feeding Facebook group.

It is best not to mix raw with kibble, they are digested at different rates, so best to stick with one or the other.
I think it is okay if you feed as completely separate meals, but not in conjunction. I raw feed mine, he has had kibble as training treats, so obviously very few.
I honestly cannot remember where I read about mixing raw and kibble, but got most of my info from here www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-and-nutrition/111437-raw-feeding-everything-you-need-know.html

Too old on afraid that's absolute rubbish it's a myth thrown around as fact by the raw feeding purests. Different digestion rates does not cause the dogs any harm at all. It's like saying to us we shouldn't eat meat and grains in the same meal cos we digest them differently! It's true dogs don't digest grains well which is why you have to feed so much kibble (cos most of it goes straight through them) and that it's the grains that cause the nastyness of dog mess but feeding together will do no harm.

My lab gets fed 1 and a half cups of dry food in a morning and the same at night (12 hrs apart). Not usually any treats inbetween we just use the odd bit of kibble for training purposes and the odd apple core if she's lucky!

And she is extremely healthy, with a very shiny coat before anyone tells me kibble is poison!

Is Kibble crap? - some kibble is crap and others not, you usually need to pay for a really good kibble, but need to do your homework as the most expensive isn't always the best (Skinners rice/turkey at £26 is better than Royal Canin which has masses of maize and £50+).

Allaboutdogfood.com helps by letting you see most brands and recipes. Be aware, they don't include all available recipes (not sure if this is because the manufacturer didn't pay), but if you can get the recipe list you can copy/paste it into their result generator to see the results.

The amount to feed a lab varies depending on food, dog and its lifestyle. We feed our neutered 18 month old lab ~280grams of Millies Wolfheart each day split over 2 meals, then some more kibble ~20grams as training treats and a natural chew each day. He's nice and lean, and we keep a visual eye on his weight and increase/decrease his amount as required.

Most dogs seem to do very well on kibble as long as they're not overfed. The manufacturers recommendations for amounts tend to be over generous though.
There's a gorgeous black lab I see on walks, lovely shiny coat, full of energy. He's 14 years old. I asked the owner what he fed him and he said he's always given him PAH own brand kibble and never any treats.

This is really helpful thank you.

Fjal, I stand corrected, it was just something that stuck in my head from when I was researching raw feeding a year ago now.
I have read this article www.pabbyspetpantry.com/forms/rawandkibble.pdf which totally agrees with everything you say.

Apologies[ smile] things move very quickly in the dog food world!

fjalladis, my year old lab bitch is also not that fussed about food!

And I also mix raw and kibble. Part of the reason I mix is because she has a tendency to carry her raw food around in her mouth for a while before deciding to eat it, so I have to watch her eating to make sure it doesn't end up being dropped on the floor/hidden in her bed/bone crumbs get scattered around. If I don't have the time to watch her eat, she gets kibble instead and will graze at it over the course of the day.

Raw days - she gets 6 chicken wings spread over 2 meals, plus a handful of veg.
Kibble days - she gets 200g (1.5 scoops) in the morning, and the same again in the evening if she has had her breakfast, but often she won't have eaten it