Constantly Hungry

[macoduck]

My italian greyhound, Charlie, is constantly hungry. And overweight. He was a normal weight when he came to us earlier this year.

Exercise is limited to running in the backyard and playing in the house. Too many loose dogs out to walk in our neighborhood.

Compounding the problem, he wants to eat Mazy's poop. To combat that most times we scoop immediately. I added a Forbid-like product and that appears to be helping.

We also took him off the kibble he had originally been on. Now he eats what Mazy eats and he has no desire to eat his own poop.

We reduced the amount of kibble he gets and added a lot of green beans. I limit cookies. DH does not.

He had a complete thyroid panel done. Normal.

He had a fecal. Normal.

What else could we give him to make him feel full but not add lots of calories?

[Guest sireltonsmom]

Hi Ducky,

 

Would one of the gluten free kibbles make him feel fuller? Or give him a bit of peanut butter in his kibble that will slow him down but make him feel full. Since DH can't deny him treats, the treats could be very small like one Bil-Jac or maybe tiny baby carrots - which also would take a lot of chewing which might make him feel fuller? Good luck.

[Feisty49]

A question: How can you tell he's constantly hungry? I assume it's because he begs a lot or gets "that look." If so, do you think he's begging because when he does, he gets something to eat, e.g. a treat? He may not really be hungry. He may have trained you to feed him when he makes you think he's hungry.

 

Annie puts on weight easily. We walk a lot but she never runs in the large, fenced backyard. Any dog treats she gets, with one exception, are mini in size, meant for small dogs. I always have Old Mother Hubbard mini treats on hand. The mini ones have 8 to 10 calories a piece. I even break them in half if she's having a day where I think she's looking like a chunky monkey (that is, only 1 rib instead of 2 showing). Dogs don't care so much about the size of the treat as long as they're getting something. She also gets one large Milk Bone a day: half after our morning walk and half following the afternoon walk. She almost never gets people food fed directly to her so she never begs. Sometimes I'll toss a tablespoon of people food in her supper. As a very very special treat, she gets a couple of marshmallows but since they give her soft serve the next day on her first poo, I don't give them often.

Edited November 24, 2014 by Feisty49

[macoduck]

Feisty49, he'll give us "that look" all day long. I don't cave in though. When we eat, he begs. Doesn't get anything from me but DH will give him a wee bit.

The only cookies he gets are the mini Milkbones that are about an inch long.

 

I've already determined that DH is a big part of the problem.

 

I may try sireltonsmom suggestion about the baby carrots.

[greysmom]

You could try adding fiber in some form - metamucil wafers or powder in his food, the newest fad of Olewo carrots, beet fiber, more vegetables.

 

I second not having large treats in the house. My DH is the same way and will give out a whole big treat when a half or quarter will do just as well. I solved part of that by switching the treats to tiny ones.

 

Also agree with the fact that he may just be playing you and your DH. He's probably not really hungry, just used to getting lots of treats.

 

Though you want to investigate his food absorption, since some people feel copraphagia indicates some sort of dietary lack. This hasn't been proven, as far as I know.

[NeedlenoseJake]

They sell Pup corn at Petsmart and Walmart. I think it is very low-calorie. Mostly air, but they're getting something.

[dbullwinkel]

My Ig, Flex would eat all day if I let him..begged and gave me the look. I think the behavior is common among the breed. There is a group like this one for IGs..IGwhispers.com ..may have more advice!

[3greytjoys]

Another option is placing part of Charlie's healthy kibble ration into a separate "treat container". I've had dogs that were just as excited over bites of kibble when their special treat container was shaken with fun excitement, then pieces happily hand-delivered.

 

This also works with a small bag of a different type of healthy kibble, if you want variety.

 

Probably not in Charlie's case, but sometimes offering too many doggie treats inadvertently teaches dogs to hold out for treats rather than eating regular meals (i.e., dessert without dinner). Glad you're able to notice his weight change before it affects his health.

[GeorgeofNE]

Ducky, I know you're an experienced dog owner--but every dog I've ever had would eat any time, night or day. Last night I was eating some cheesecake from the company party, and the CAT was so determined to get it I had to lock him in the bedroom. Meanwhile, Buck was on the other side, and he most certainly did look as if he would die if he did not get to eat cheesecake too.

 

Maybe he's just a food lover, and not actually hungry? You indicate he's overweight. How many times do we (people) eat when we have the chance, hungry or not?

[macoduck]

You have a good point, Susan.

I feel like Charlie would eat until he pops. Between 1pm and 3pm today he had at least 8 of the small raw carrots (about 2" long). Mikey and Mazy got cookies. Charlie got carrots. By the 9th carrot he figured out what we were doing and he refused the 9th carrot. He ate his dinner at 4pm just fine.