my 8 year old female labrador always seems to be hungry?

Question

i feed her the correct amount and ive now started adding cooked vegetables which she loves ,at night she sits and cries and looks at the food cupboard i know she cant possibly be hungry , any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks

Answer 1

Labs are ALWAYS hungry.

They will eat and eat.

It is important to restrict a labs diet to their dietry needs or they will easily become overweight.

Sounds like she is just trying her luck with you. ^^

Answer 2

Labradors would eat until they pop given half a chance. I have a chocolate lab and once when staying with a friend my lab managed to find the dog food for her dog and ate and ate. When we caught him his stomach was huge i've never seen anything like it. We took him to the vets because it was so bad and we had to be careful how much he drank as there could have been problems of the food swelling in his stomach.
Given half the chance he would do that everyday.

Check that your dog doesn't have worms as that can affect their appetite.
Avoid the temptation to feed you dog more as an over weight dog is far worse than having your dog whine at the cupboards

Get the vets to check that there is no underlying problems and then you will know if you dog is trying it on and is just being greedy.

Answer 3

pretty much only round worms are covered by the over the counter pills and liquids. Tape worms are not, so if you have wormed her with over the counter stuff, she may have Tapes. A trip to the vet will take care of that. Make sure you ARE feeding her enough tho. If she is a very active dog she may require more food than you are offering. Maybe increase it by half a cup and see if it helps. If she is still begging then she may just be a pig.(as labs are) I have a yellow and a chocolate.....My yellow sits in the kitchen and leans on the cabinets and stares at the cookie jar where i keep the dog bones. Try petting, walks and play... throw something for her in place of food or treats when she begs.... P.S. Females really tend to "fudge out" after they have been spayed too, so watch it. and all labs tend to develope this high pitched whine in their old age. My old black one did it (no longer with us) MY chocolate does it, and the yellow is starting.... and it is not a learned thing, because the black one never met the choc. or Yellow... i had her way before i got these 2..... i think it's just a lab. thing.

Answer 4

Don't leave treats out for her or free freed...always a bad thing to do. First off have a vet check her. But most likely she's bored. Most of us eat when we are bored. Try giving her something to chew on, take her for a walk, play with her or being that she wants food use this in moderation and give her a good training session.

Depending on the amount of veggies as per regular food she may be hungry. Look at it this way....if you eat a salad you are hungry in an hour....if you eat a hamburger your hungry in four. Try adding more regular food than veggies and see what happens. If the problem still exists...she's just bored.

Answer 5

I would take her to the vet and have her checked for worms. You might want to run a thyroid test on her too, just to be on the safe side.

Dogs are very individual, just like humans, so the "correct" amount for one dog might not be enough for another. After you have checked her out at the vet's, I would switch to free feeding. She will gobble all the food she can for a few days, but once she finds it is always available, she will regulate her own intake.

I had Labs for many years, until I switched over to Danes, and I've been very pleased with the free feeding, since they all eat different amounts. It's hard to know just how much to give each one, and the free feeding solves that. BTW, the veggies are very good for her.

Answer 6

She has conditioned you to give her the veggies. Try to break up her meals so she is getting 2 or 3 a day and use the veggies as a snack or treat. If she is very active she may need more to eat than the bag says. I use the bag as a starting point only and feed according to what my dogs needs and they are all at a healthy weight.

Answer 7

Mature labs are VERY resistant to worms. She's bored and she's not tired because she sleeps all day. Tire her out good during the day and leave a bowl of dry food out all the time. She'll be happy and healthy. Dogs eat out of boredom just like people do.

Answer 8

Labradors tend to go crazy for food! You probably feed twice a day at a regular time, this is why I free feed. She is probably sure that you are never going to give her any more food unless she cries because you take her bowl up everyday and she sees that as you taking food (even if it's just the bowl) and hoarding it and not wanting her to have any. Also because you use this method, she probably eats everything you give her because she's not sure if/when she will get more food. This isn't a bad method of feeding, especially since you are feeding the right amounts. This is just probably what's going through her mind. Also, don't feed her treats and things between meals when she begs.
Bring it up to your vet next time you see him/her. They will probably say the same thing but you can't be too careful. Good luck! :-)

Answer 9

Labs love to eat and are very prone to weight issues and other health problems. You may want to consider taking her to the vet and have a complete check up to ensure it is not a health problem, especially at her age. At least then you rule out health and you know she is playing you. My Lab will eat and eat and eat and will act like he is completely famished. Trust he is 120lbs and it is from Thyroid. So he is constantly on a diet, special foods and meds.

Answer 10

i have a black labrador and is the same as yours. they historically have a ravenous hungar. I don't think it is down to starvation, it is just being greedy and trying it on. Only worry about your pooch if it stops eating.Your dog seems to be in perfect health.

Answer 11

Female canines have the ability to stretch their stomachs to several times their original size. They inherited this trait from their wolf ancestry. Back when they were wolfs, the wolfs would go hunting in packs and leave their pups behind with a wolf to guard them. After they make their kill the females gorge themselves and go back to their pups and regurgitate some of the kill for the pups.

This is why she always seems to have a bottomless pit.