New puppy grazing it's food

[Imdoingitnow]

Hi we have a new Labrador puppy of 11 weeks
Pic included.
He seems to graze his food - eating a bit then going back for more later - we noticed this is how the breeder seemed to feed the litter - leave bowls of dry food out for them.
How would we get him out of this and into eating 3/4 meals a day without starving him?

Take away any food not eaten within 10 minutes then offer it later. He's a labrador. He won't starve but might get fat if you free feed.

As long as he only has the correct amount over the day does it really matter if he doesn’t eat it all in one go?

My pup is 8 months now. He's a grazer, I just leave it out for him. As long as its the correct amount over the day I don't see the problem. If I took it away 10 mins after putting it down he just wouldn't have any food all day! Hes not particularly food motivated anyway though. I thought labs were supposed to be greedy buggers!

The problem is that he doesn't seem to eat his quota of food - i think because he could always come back and eat more - it could be that it's early days as he only been with us twos and he's a bit unsettled still after leaving him mum and everything is new for him

It's hard to know when to get him out for toileting etc if he's grazing his food. We take him into the garden every couple of hours to be on the safe side

Both my previous labs have loved their food and were motivated you food

If he’s still settling in and the breeder left food out I would just leave it, you don’t want him to be hungry, I don’t see what harm it does

I hate leaving food out for dogs.

I would give it to him in small meals. So divide the amount he needs into 8 bits.

Feed him 4 meals a day at a time you want to.

Use the other 4 bits of food during the day for training, focus and socialisation.

He will get used to eating at set times but also have the food throughout the day as he is used to.

He is stunning

Thanks - he seems very chilled out. He slept all night apart from one bout of whining in his crate which was next to our bed - he treats his crate like his den.

He's a lovely boy!

When my dog was that age, I used his daily food allowance for training. It's easy with dry food but not impossible with wet. I just substituted some of his food with chicken or other meat and some kibble when training.

I would still put a bowl out with a small amount at normal mealtimes so he got used to that routine.

Leave food down for 20 minutes then lift, won't take long to get the idea that they need to eat at meal times. Best thing is though is to use kibble for training and cut down on bowl meals completely

Our Labrador puppy did the same when he first arrived and we were also worried that he wasn’t eating enough. We put his bowl on top of his crate after about 15 minutes and now he eats all of it. He’s also starting to go to his bowl at the right time and sit and wait to be fed 😂. If you’re really struggling mix in some sardines and he’ll eat the lot!

My adult dog grazes on his kibble, and manages to maintain a healthy weight despite being basically free fed. It doesn't work for him with tinned food though - he still grazes but the weight starts to creep on. I think it's a good thing for any animal (especially humans, but also dogs!) to learn to self regulate where possible.

That said, I fully recognise that a lot of dogs would be the size of a house if fed like mine is!

I should add that my free fed dog is still motivated by treats, and it's how I train him. There's just no chance that he'll work for kibble, but lots of dogs won't - it has to be higher value foods to motivate him.

I should add that my free fed dog is still motivated by treats, and it's how I train him. There's just no chance that he'll work for kibble, but lots of dogs won't - it has to be higher value foods to motivate him.

He would do if he was hungry though, if you didn't have a bowl on the floor to help himself to and his allowance was used for training instead. Also you'd be amazed what dogs will find a treat once they are in the zone of a fun training session. Using games based training they don't even notice what the reward is,Just that they got one. It's more about the interaction. Absolute dogs 'ditch the bowl' explains it well

It's generally not recommended to free-feed dogs, especially as it can cause issues with toileting.

We did set mealtimes and if he didn't eat, the food got removed without fuss and he got nothing until his next meal. It took him about 36 hours to cotton on to what was happening and he's never ever left a single scrap of food since

My dog is 12 years old and has always been a grazer . Her weight is fine , she is just particularly food orientated . Kibble and dog treats are useless for training as she has zero interest unless it is cooked chicken or cheese cubes . It’s always bit embarrassing at Pets at Home or the vets when they give her a dog biscuit and she won’t even sniff it .

Should say isn’t particularly food orientated .

If you leave food out, it will make toilet training harder. You also have a lab who can run fat; without limiting to specific meals you may struggle with portion control. On the flip side, if the pup isn't eating it can be harder to know if he's eating their minimum nutritional needs. Leaving food out may also reduce the impact of food reward training.

You also need to consider the hygiene factor of leaving food out with insects, ants, etc.

My vet at puppy school advised 3 smaller meals up to 6 months then down to 2 meals. Food left out for twenty minutes then removed. Maybe have a chat with your vet at the next check in?

I would imagine free feeding a puppy would make it quite hard to house train.

Also feeding at certain times give structure to the day and allows you to plan walks in between feeds.

It's not a good idea to walk a dog immediately after eating or just before they eat but it's hard to control that if you've no idea when the dog last ate.

From my experience with my 10 year old dog (realise this won't apply to all dogs) it's not difficult to change a dog's eating regime.

After a long period of stomach issues I went from feeding my dog twice a day to feeding her three times a day as I felt the smaller amount, more frequently, might be gentler on her stomach.

She had absolutely no trouble adjusting to the new system and thankfully it's definitely helped with the stomach issues.

She's on wet food, but I can't imagine it makes any difference to a dog's acceptance of change.

@DeathByWalkies

I should add that my free fed dog is still motivated by treats, and it's how I train him. There's just no chance that he'll work for kibble, but lots of dogs won't - it has to be higher value foods to motivate him.

The reason he won't work for kibble is because you give him access to it 24/7.

I wouldn't go out to work for money if I had a permanent, never-ending supply in my bank account.

Sure, I know he might work for kibble if he wasn't free fed, but I don't perceive it as a problem for us.

Many dogs that aren't free fed but also aren't super food motivated won't work for kibble. I suspect he wouldn't work for kibble even if he wasn't free fed. He's reactive and we've spent a lot of time working with super high value treats for that reason, so tbh he knows there's better on offer!

To me, only putting a dog's food down for 20 mins at a time means the dog learns that any time it sees food it must eat everything quickly regardless of whether or not it's hungry. I prefer allowing the dog to pace itself, and feel confident that food will be there when it actually is hungry.

He also has excellent manners around human food and I can confidently leave my dinnerplate on the coffee table and know it'll be untouched when I return. Whether or not it's related, I don't know, but it's plausible.

I'm happy with where we are really. So much of dog ownership is trying to create a dog that suits you - likewise, some people don't want the dog on the sofa and others are fine with it - and this is just a non issue for us.

Its the hygiene side of free feeding that causes me concern.

He also has excellent manners around human food and I can confidently leave my dinnerplate on the coffee table and know it'll be untouched when I return. Whether or not it's related, I don't know, but it's plausible.

It's probably not related to the way he's fed as my dog, as I said in my pp, is fed three times a day is exactly the same around human food.

She was asleep on the sofa the other day and I was sitting next to her eating a smoked salmon sandwich. I left the room to pour myself a drink and put the plate with the sandwich on the arm of the sofa - it's a two seater so pretty close to her - when I came back she was still asleep and, of course, my sandwich hadn't been touched.

She's always been like that, I think it's just the way some dogs are.