Foster Always Hungry

[Diane4114]

.... to fill him up without adding a lot of weight,

 

TK Zee Zee Top ; "T" isn't my foster, but his foster home says he's always hungry.

Very clever as well. He figured out how to open the louver doors where the dog food is kept and had quite a feast. Followed by a bout of the "Big D".

 

She's feeding him 3 times a day with rice. I suggested apples which he will eat. He wasn't a fan of sweet potatoes.

 

Anyone have any suggestions on what might keep the hunger pains away?

[krissy]

Are there actually hunger pains? I think that's the first thing to determine.

 

My dogs will eat anything, anytime, anyhow. But they're not hungry. They're just chow hounds. We keep food stored securely or they'd be into it. We feed them 2 meals a day, and they get treats for training. But that's it. If I tried to "fill them up" I'd never stop feeding them.

[Hubcitypam]

Canned low sodium or cooked frozen green beans.

If he is a true rescue and not an adoptable from a good owner/farm it'll even out over time once he knows the food is always coming. Been through that dozens and dozens of times.

Edited July 7, 2016 by Hubcitypam

[Diane4114]

She just said he's always hungry.

It may be that it's been a while since she's had a young dog. Her own GH is in his early teens and the last couple of fosters she had were older returns.

I've had a couple that I had to get out the handy mans secret weapon and tape the top down on the food bin... for a while.

He came off the track @ 1 month ago. So I would say he's used to regular meals.

[smurfette]

Dried lung has next to no calories and is a nice snack.

[GeorgeofNE]

I've never met a dog that wouldn't ACT hungry all the time.

 

The dog should be fed an appropriate amount at a normal time and not fed on HIS schedule.

 

He didn't get fed all day long at the track, he doesn't need to get fed all day long in the home!

 

My 2 cents.

[Guest normaandburrell]

My Iceman always acts hungry. Plus, when we first got him, he would eat anything, including mulch, sticks, paper towels, used kleenex, and plastic bags. We had to switch to latching trash bags, not just in the kitchen, but everywhere. If I am cooking, he will still go crazy, acting like he is starved. if we fed him what he wanted, he would be obese. That said, it is possible that, if the foster home has had only older dogs, they don't know how much a young dog eats. Recommend to them an appropriate amount of feed, and have them monitor the pup's weight closely, to see that it remains stable.

[Diane4114]

She had been feeding him twice a day when she feeds her own dog.

After his episode getting into the dog food and the resulting "D", per the vets recomendation she fed him 3 smaller meals and some metronidazole.

I will pass along the suggestions.

[Guest xengab]

I think she is being played by the dog. He knows if he acts a certain way he'll now get food:) Smart boy.. 3 meals is fine if the amount is what he needs to keep a good weight. He needs to work for treats just basic manners, eye contact, coming when called.

 

I've yet to meet a dog that hasn't wanted to empty his bag of food if left to his own devices. Mine just scored cat food because I looked away for 2 minutes trying to find the cat! He'd just had his food like minutes ago.

[Hubcitypam]

I've yet to meet a dog that hasn't wanted to empty his bag of food if left to his own devices.

I successfully free fed a ton of dogs before Poodle became diabetic and I had to make sure he ate with his shots. I feed these two kibble with a spoonful of canned twice a day. They ate at 10 and there is still some kibble in both their bowls. They will snack on it later.

Edited July 7, 2016 by Hubcitypam

[Sundrop]

Most of my newly adopted hounds (we've had 6) have all been pretty voracious eaters when we first brought them home. Our current two attacked their bowls like wild, starving animals - we bought some gobble-stoppers to get them to slow down. They would snatch treats from our hands and be general pests when food was out, lol. Over time, they both settled down. We recently took the gobble stopper out of our boy's dish (we've had him a little over a year) because he's slowed down a lot with eating meals. He is also a perfect gentleman with treats (I used to have to throw them at him because he would bite my fingers & hand).

 

My point is, anyone looking at this behavior would surmise they were "always hungry" - but I think it was just the environment they came from. They ate really fast and they didn't get treats; home-living was an adjustment for them.

 

I think this foster is just very food-motivated and wants to eat, probably not "hungrier" than any other dog. Just needs to learn how to be a pet and have some manners about it - that'll come with time.

[Burpdog]

Most animals eat, unlike us, when they are hungry! Also, I bet he was overjoyed to find the food in the cabinet If he's just off the track, he might be missing the meat if she is only feeding kibble. She can add boiled meat to the kibble and see if that helps.

[PatricksMom]

Some dogs (Henry) do seem always hungry, others not--Leo is currently back on a semi-starvation strike. Cooked frozen green beans have worked well here when Henry needed to be on a diet, I just cook 3 days or so at once and put them in the fridge, assuming medical issues have been ruled out and the amount of calories offered is appropriate, she might try that.

[Guest goofydog]

Oh yeah, if Morrie got what he thinks he needs I'd have a very tall black lab! Since we're not very active he gets 1 1/4 cup AM & PM. I'm embarrassed by the amount of treats he gets LOL. Though he is still at race weight with a few ribs and hip points visible.

Oh yeah, if Morrie got what he thinks he needs I'd have a very tall black lab! Since we're not very active he gets 1 1/4 cup AM & PM. I'm embarrassed by the amount of treats he gets LOL. Though he is still at race weight with a few ribs and hip points visible.

 

ETA: he's been home over 2 years.

[Guest LikeJamaica]

We brought our hound home in June, went through the process of choosing and dialing in his food, and have been content for about 6 weeks. Recently, though, he's been getting antsy after his 2-cup dinner, to the point of whining and pacing. He gets breakfast and lunch, spread out because the wife and I work, but it's gotten to the point where he won't settle for the night without a snack. He had lost some weight at first, what with adaptation being a thing, but he's been in good shape since July. I figured this would be a good post to ask on. Any enlightening thoughts??

[PatricksMom]

We brought our hound home in June, went through the process of choosing and dialing in his food, and have been content for about 6 weeks. Recently, though, he's been getting antsy after his 2-cup dinner, to the point of whining and pacing. He gets breakfast and lunch, spread out because the wife and I work, but it's gotten to the point where he won't settle for the night without a snack. He had lost some weight at first, what with adaptation being a thing, but he's been in good shape since July. I figured this would be a good post to ask on. Any enlightening thoughts??

Are you letting him outside / walking him after dinner. Around here, that's a sign they need to poop, which eating seems to trigger.

[GreytTerp]

I'll say the same thing about probably needing to poop shortly after eating, as that's the case with our guy.

 

Some dogs do need a treat or a small meal before bed, but others don't. Gurgling sounds throughout the night or first thing the morning could mean that your hound needs a bedtime snack. Our guy does not need to have anything before bed, but he sure isn't going to his own bed or settling down until the bedtime biscuit is achieved. We keep it random now with the bedtime snacks, and this has helped greatly with the behavior of refusing to settle for bed without a treat or two. Little bugger used to run up the stairs at 7 o'clock, thinking that he would pretend that it was time for bed and get a snack...