# 6 month old lab wakes up starving..



## Kim1979 (Sep 15, 2011)

I have a 6 1/2 month old yellow lab named Cody. He has always been very food motivated. He is being fed Fromm Gold Large Breed Puppy and is doing well on it. However, he has been waking up at 4am whining and we tell him to go back to sleep and he does. When we get up a 5:30am and let him out to do his business, he quickly pees and runs full speed back in to eat. Normally he would go pee and poop and then come in. We've also noticed that when he does poop, there has been less of it. We feed him 1+3/8 cups twice a day for a total of 2+2/3c. The bag says:

5-7 months
Large Breed 2-1/2 to 2-3/4

Being that a lab isn't really a large breed we try not to exceed the guidelines. Cody is 26weeks and weighs 39.5lbs, looks healthy and is neutured. 

The question is..is he actually hungry? He really doesn't seem to ever get full, we feed him carrots and green beans as treats to try and fill him up. The vet thinks he looks great, but he is acting like he is starving, he never use to wake up in the night. This also started after we go him neutered 2weeks ago.

What are your thought?


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## Javadoo (May 23, 2011)

You have a lab....otherwise known as a bottomless pit. 
Labs will eat until they kill themselves...literally.
2 of my brother's labs ate a 40 lb bag of kibble..they had to be rushed to the vet and induced to vomit outside in the parking lot before their stomachs exploded. 

My girls(both 2 year old chocolate labs) are up at 4:30 am, ready to eat!!!
It's normal for a lab to always be hungry. 

2 2/3 cup of food seems a *little* low for a growing 6 month old puppy. 
Fromm is a good food, I rotate the Surf & Turf and Beef Frittata with my girls.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

If thats him in the picture in your post, he certainly isn't starving. It's hard to tell from the position he is in in the picture but he may be a little pudgy. You should be able to see the back couple of ribs and should see a definate waist line behind his rib cage when viewed from above. Soooooo .... don't worry about him starving. :smile:


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

I have two female labs chocolate and yellow.They are 8years and 8months the other is 6 years and 4 months. Mine right now are 72 lbs. and 84 lbs. Labs are great great eaters. My labs constantly go up to the treat jar I have (charlie bear 3 calorie) and sit there looking at the jar haha! But as for male labs they are bigger than the female breed. I am feeding orijen and wellness core right now to my adult dogs. Give some RMB's to chew, offer some treats like the 3 calorie ones gee even cut hot dog pieces, chicken pieces, a nice frozen filled kong with peanut butter( this one lasts for a little while), as rewards for new accomplished tricks learned! Heck you can even give him peices of his kibble for treats (ya, kinda boring but you can!) He looks fine htough from the picture. Maybe take another photo of him so we can actually see him standing. When they are sitting they all look a bit pudgy haha!


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

In my experience, dog food labels tell you on average to feed close to twice what dogs actually need. Is it so they can sell more kibble for you to buy so they make more money? Possibly. 

All I know is a LOT of people come into vet clinics with overweight animals, I ask them how much they feed...low and behold, they tell me they follow the guidelines on the bag! OR they tell me they followed the guidelines on the bag, their dog got fat so they switched their dog conveniently to the "diet" food offered by the same company? 

Bottom line, don't ever follow the guidelines on the bag. Dogs are individuals with very different caloric needs. Feed your dog the amount of food that will keep him at a healthy, lean weight.


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## Kim1979 (Sep 15, 2011)

Hi sorry if that pic didn't give you a good idea of his build. I thought it was a cut pic though  Here is one I just snapped of him.


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## cprcheetah (Jul 14, 2010)

He is borderline pudgy (he's starting to lose his tuckup), I would cut back what he's feeding, and yep welcome to the world of bottomless will eat anything pits lol. I have had 3 labs in the past and all 3 of them were never satisfied. When my Golden Retriever was a puppy her previous owners fed her way too much and she got obese by at 6 months, she was going to have to have surgery. I rescued her and put her on a diet (pretty sad for a 6 month old) and when she was eating kibble at 70# she only need 1 & 1/2 cups per day to keep her figure where it should be. While the food I was feeding was recommending 3-4 cups per day....no wonder so many pets are overweight.


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## Javadoo (May 23, 2011)

cprcheetah said:


> He is borderline pudgy (he's starting to lose his tuckup),


Labs are not supposed to have tuck ups.
He is not pudgy AT ALL.


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## Javadoo (May 23, 2011)

Kim1979 said:


> Hi sorry if that pic didn't give you a good idea of his build. I thought it was a cut pic though  Here is one I just snapped of him.
> View attachment 4102


He does not look pudgy to me in the least.
The guidelines on the bag are just that-guidelines. Young, growing labs need more food during this time, then when they hit about 9 months old you usually cut back again. 
He looks great to me-I would just continue with the amount you are feeding now-if he starts looking a little thin, add 1/4 cup of food. If he starts looking a little heavy, cut back 1/4 cup of food.

For comparison....
Here is my little girl Moka. She is 2 years old, 17" tall, 50 lbs, bench bred (show) lab:



















And here is Java-2 1/2 years old, show lab, 20 1/2" tall, 60 lbs:


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## cprcheetah (Jul 14, 2010)

Javadoo said:


> Labs are not supposed to have tuck ups.
> He is not pudgy AT ALL.


 Actually that is 'show' labs that don't have tuckups....'pet' and normal labs should....I have a friend who raises/shows labradors. But for whatever reason they like the show labs to have the 'pudge' of no tuckup. In the pictures above, Moka indeed has a tuckup....basically meaning they have a waist.


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## jenv101 (Oct 13, 2010)

One more thing that came to my mind was that he is getting to that age (adolescence) where he might start testing his boundaries and seeing what he can get away with. Like, oh if I whine at 4am I get to go outside, or I get my food sooner! or what have you. So, don't give in - he will not starve to death! :smile:


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## Javadoo (May 23, 2011)

cprcheetah said:


> Actually that is 'show' labs that don't have tuckups....'pet' and normal labs should....I have a friend who raises/shows labradors. But for whatever reason they like the show labs to have the 'pudge' of no tuckup. In the pictures above, Moka indeed has a tuckup....basically meaning they have a waist.


Moka has a waist but she does not have a tuck up. A waist is not the same as a tuck. A tuck has more to do with the rib cage size/placement in a dog than it's weight.
My girls are from show lines. They do not/are not supposed to have tuck ups. 
"Pet" and "normal" labs that are from show breeders do not/should not have tuck ups.
Tuck ups are VERY dinstinct...greyhounds have them, labs do not. Well, I should say that most labs do not/should not have tuck ups. Many field labs do, but they are different in structure than show labs. 
My girls are slim, but they do not have what is considered a true tuck up. Both of my girls are built to carry more weight than they do on their frames-they are show labs, short and stocky, but I keep them too slim to conform to the look that runs in their lines. So it may look as though they have tuck ups, but trust me, they do not and they should not. 
Pointing out a tuck up or lack of a tuck up in a Lab is not an appropriate way to judge their weight or their condition.


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## Love my lab (Dec 9, 2010)

I think your lab pup is beautiful and looks good  I will agree w/ the other posts.............welcome to the world of never having enough food to eat and Labs. haha. My girl will eat and I swear after she eats she acts more hungry then before she eats...not sure why other then the fact I think she is having a love affair w/ her food and just wants more....but seriously she would eat any time of the day if I let her. Javadoo......I know nothing about "show vs field" labs, but will say your dogs are beautiful too


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## Chocx2 (Nov 16, 2009)

they are great looking dogs, but I'm partial to chocolate, I guess you could tell by my name lol, but mine are field bred dogs so they are leggy


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## Kim1979 (Sep 15, 2011)

*Thank You*

Thanks everyone for all your input. I believe that he is just being a bottomless pit lab LOL. We ended up keeping his food amount the same and simple gave a bit less in the morning and added it to his evening meal. That has made things much better! He is now sleeping in until 5:30 again which is great. Thanks for all your responses


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