Lab puppy not that bothered about food

[colderandeatsmincepiesalot]

Our pup is now 5 months and never really has been that food orientated. I sit with her sometimes to encourage her to eat, she is putting on weight nicely and has no signs of S&D. Is a low appetite like this normal? Has other lab owners known this? She is quite a chilled pup anyway and she has always been like this but I just want to make sure I am not missing anything......

Aw what a cute wee face! Labs are usually greedy monsters aren’t they? Is she due a checkup at the vet?

I suppose dogs are like people - some more interested in food than others.

If she is thriving, energetic, growing, and alert I would not worry.

What food is she on and how much and how many meals a day is she having?

She's gorgeous, I have to say I've never come across a non food orientated lab, maybe she's saving it for the teen years...

She is on kibble and wet meat - I throw in a sardine to try to get her to eat! The breeder had her on AVA from Pets at home - we are going to move her to a 80/40 meat based kibble to see if that will encourage her. She will even turn her nose up at treats when training at times - I have given her turkey and chicken which she will eat, but tentatively - I suppose I expected a lab to constantly want food! Yes toffeebutterpopcorn a vet check up is due. I will check with them.

Any more photos? Just so we can get a full idea of the issue at hand...

Pollyroulson I struggle to give her 3 meals. 80g kibble each time and a spoon of wet meat....

We had a lab. He was not at all fussed about food. Not at all motivated by it. Show him a puddle however and it was a different story.

Some dogs (not usually labs - yours is clearly broken!) are just not that bothered about food.

I have a young dog - coming up to a year old - who is just not bothered about food. She has been known to spit out treats and walk away from an almost-full bowl.

If you want to get a bit more down her, you could try adding sardines or tripe mince to her kibble (I'm assuming you feed her kibble - my fussy bugger is on a high-protein, high-fat one to get some weight onto her). She's also very keen on full-fat plain yoghurt and anything that has been on a human plate (so all the dodgy gristly bits stripped from a chicken carcass, plus the leftover gravy, are very welcome).

I'm sure there is a genetic component to not caring about food: apparently my dog's father is just the same.

Are you sure she's a lab 🤣🤣? Lucky you. I have a completely food obsessed retriever and it is a pain because she has to go back on the lead the second there is a human, in case they have food......!

PS Fussy bugger is also partial to uncooked chicken wings. I'd feed her raw, which I suspect she would eat, but that's not going to work here with multiple dogs to feed.

Not all labs are food orientated or maybe she hasn't found her "food of the gods" yet

It's obviously faulty. Can you get your money back?

Mine wasnt food obsessed til he got to about 6 months. Now he will do anything for food - although he is still very well mannered and doesn't take without permission which is a real blessing as he doesn't counter surf etc.

Thank you for all the replies. I am glad that someone else has had a non foody lab! Everyone seems so suprised when I say she's not that bothered by food. The guy in the pet shop asked if I was sure it was a Lab! Yes, maybe she is broken!! I dont think she is underweight, I suppose I just wanted some reassurance that it might be normal (for her). Pic of her this morning...

Maybe bowl feeding is boring for her
My pup was the same he would just look at his food in a bowl eat a bit and go off to do something else.

Change it up, kong? You can put his kibble and meat it, with primula or peanut butter then freeze
Use his food to train, lots of really fun games
Licky mat
Scatter feed
Obstacle course - we put food into car board boxes etc and he has to find it all
I just weigh it out for the day and share it between all that he eats it all. Cant remember using a bowl.

Food of gods for our boy
Liver
Liver paste used only for recall
We use sprats for training too
Stinky things though

So you are giving her 240g a day of kibble plus wet food plus sardines?

That is quite a lot of food so I would not worry that she is not eating it all.

It does depend on the food but about 350 grams per day is fine for a 6 month lab you are easily feeding as much as that if not more.

We have just lost our 16 year old yellow lab - your beautiful puppy has made my day. Enjoy every minute with her

She’s very cute - my boy is a retriever

@Crappyfridays7 I have some sprats - mmm she tends to lick it a bit and look at it and then maybe eat it!! However liver paste might work! Do you make it?? What type do you use? And yes I think you are right about her working for it. She loves sniffing things out - I hide kibble in the lawn and she loves that. So maybe bowl feeding is just not her thing! I will try more of your suggestions - I do think she like to be 'busy'

she's absolutely beautiful @colderandeatsmincepiesalot and your retriever is gorgeous @Crappyfridays7

thank you @PollyRoulson yes that seems enough then! I find the guide lines on amounts to feed so confusing and differing. Feeling better now! So sorry to hear about your loss, 16 seems a great age but god, how heartbreaking. We love our pup so much already i just can't imagine her not here.
@toffeebutterpopcorn what a lovely boy! Beautiful colour

you might find she changes as she gets older - my spaniel didn't care about food at that age but a few months later, any packet rustling and you turn around to find a dog sat at your feet

Yeah my Lab was like this and some days now just isn't that bothered. She was on AVA too and I weaned her onto Acana as she seemed so disinterested. That change got her enthusiasm back for a while but she's not overly greedy. Don't get me wrong, she'll eat as many treats and scraps as possible, but with her own food she won't wolf it down. She'll usually nowadays eat her breakfast in one go, but some days she will wait after about half, have her morning nap then finish for brunch today I wanted her to get it done in one go so had to stir in a bit of Greek yoghurt. However she's now ravenous for tea and trying everything to tell me she's ready for her tea haha. When you switch to 2 meals a day yours might be more interested.

Oh yes , my current Lab is like this . My other ones ate like horses , but this one will take a whole day to eat her food . Bin food is different though that is fair game .
You learn to look for other signs of illness like not barking at post , or no excitement of walks . It's just the way she is .

It may be she just doesn't like the food. A lot of dogs don't like eating plain kibble as it's quite boring and hard on their teeth.

Have you tried adding warm water to her biscuits to make them softer and to make a sort of gravy? Another option is to reduce the biscuits and up the wet food - we feed more wet food than biscuits as he's just totally uninterested in biscuits unless they're really well mixed in with the meat.

So when you are in another room and open a chocolate biscuit... she doesn’t come???