How to feed a Labrador…. it is a very important question that my friends and Labrador parents put often.
What and how often you feed your dog is very different at every stage of his or her life. Let’s start with the moment we brought a lab puppy home 🙂
First of all, as a puppy, they have special needs to grow healthy and strong:) The most important thing is when you first take it home; you have to not change the food he had before. For at least a few days you have to give him the same food as before or if you don’t really know, just ask your vet to give you the proper dry food for his age.
How many times per day and how much food?
We know puppy labs are very greedy and they will eat as much as possible:) So… what I recommend is you should divide his or her food to a few small portions daily.
For a two or three-month-old Lab, you should feed them four times per day with a three-hour break between the meals. This is important for them to digest otherwise it is possible your puppy will have diarrhea. Their last meal is good to be 2 hours before their last walk, before bedtime.
Your puppy is grown up 🙂 It is now about 12 weeks old so we can divide the food into three portions per day.
The quantity is different from brand to brand and you can see it on the packs or ask in the pet shop where you buy the food 🙂
As an adult (actually after six months) most feed their dog once a day. My opinion is that if you feed him raw food it is ok once a day but if you feed him dry (kibble) this is a good breakfast and supper. Too much dry food at one time is not good for their digestion.
To decide if you give them raw or kibbles is up to you. Even the experts can’t tell which one is the best way. But you should take into consideration that if it is a puppy or if you have a child in the family you should feed him kibbles. If your dog has a history of suffering from bloating or allergies it is better to go woth the raw food.
Should we give our dog cow milk and generally our food?
If the leftovers are suitable for his diet sometimes I do this, but ensure they do not contain things like sugar, salt, onion, cooked bones and other human foods that are toxic to them. You just have to careful the leftovers are not more than 10 percent of his dinner.
You will ask me now what is toxic and what is good to give him but is a very large subject so I will talk about it detail in a future article.
For puppies, it is not good to give them anything from our food. To be honest, I know it is difficult to resist to their sweet begging eyes, but ….you have to 🙂
Labradors are the greediest dogs, they will eat anything and very very fast too but what about when your dog is picky? My advice is to leave his bowl 10 minutes and then take it. They will learn to eat when you give to them. But don’t worry this is very rare for Labradors 🙂
What about drinking milk? It is not suitable for your puppy. You should not give it to them. Certainly for the adults…better not. It can make them uncomfortable and suffer from diarrhea.
What about the water?
As puppies and adults, they all need plenty of fresh water all the time.
If you still house train your puppy it is better to take his water bowl away one hour after the last meal and one hour before bedtime.
When you feed your dog kibble it will drink more water than if you feed him raw so don’t worry.
Advice
- How do you change your lab’s diet between brands? You have to know that it is not a good idea to change it in one day. It would be very disturbing for his stomach. You should do it gradually over a few days, mixing in on the first day a small amount from the new brand with the old one and then a little bit more the next day. In three to four days you can make the change.
- As I told you before, Labradors are very greedy and are eating their dinner in a few seconds. Is this a good thing? No, it is not good, it leads to obesity, bloating and they don’t feel the pleasure of eating a meal. But what you can do for this? One way is to give them the food in a device that makes it difficult for him to take many pieces once.
- The only liquid your Labrador needs to drink is water, not sweetened drinks or milk. Put his water in heavy bowls (ceramic for example) so this avoids your dog tipping the bowl up and to be thirsty after.
There are much more things to say about the Labrador’s diet but I will write more details as the site develops. This is a good starting point for you, new lab parents and all Labrador lovers.
I hope this information will help you and you can provide to your furry baby a healthy and happy life. If you have any questions leave me a comment. I will be back with an answer in the same day 🙂
Thanks for reading.
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Cristina.
Thank you for your post, it is very helpful for the people who wants to have a Labrador and don’t know how to take care of him. Your post is very helpful to get more knowledge about their habits and their food. Now I can also consider some time in future to have Labrador.
i hope it is helpful 🙂 i am glad that you enjoyed it :)))If you decide to take a Labrador and you need any advice, just ask .I will help you. they are really adorable dogs 🙂
Thanks for reading 🙂
Cristina
Dogs! I like dogs especially the labrador it is one of my favorite breed aside from husky, golden retriever and the pug. I’m planning to get one labrador puppy to start my 2017. And this topic gives me the ideas of how to properly feed my puppy and some tips like the no water before 1 hour to bed and after meal. Do you know how much will it cost the dog’s food gonna be? And what is your recommended brand of food? Thank you and have a nice day!
🙂 i think is a good choice 🙂 me, personal I give to my Chocolate Labrador Royal Canine, but this is personal choice. Anyway is good to choose a premium food . The cost..is about 70 euro 15 kg and last me about 2 months . is not tragic:))) With Royal i saw his fur shining and was a big difference:)
Thanks for reading my post and if you take a baby lab. if you need any help, ask me :))
Cristina
I liked your post on the Labradors as they are really beautiful dogs, I had one when I was growing up and at the time it was a much loved member of our family.
Here in Australia, they train a lot of them as guide dogs for the blind due to their excellent temperament and lovely disposition.
If I didn’t have three cats, I’d probably consider getting one and as you have said when you bring one into your home; you want to get their feeding patterns right so they have a long healthy life with you.
:)Thanks for reading and I have to tell you that when I first brought home my baby lab I had a cat kitty and they become best friends:)So it is not any problem .
yes, you are right they are excellent guide dogs and general therapy dogs because of their lovable nature,and of their willing to help, to please their human:)
than you again for your comment.
Labs are smart dogs and it doesn’t take them long to learn how to eat human food or worse, non-food objects. At the vet where I work, I have seen them eat stones, socks and plastics. It’s not like they have nothing to eat but most of the time, owners aren’t paying attention to what goes into the mouth or simply pampering them with human food which they would delightfully swallow.
Very nice breed but they just have this reputation for eating non-food stuff sometimes.
yes.when mine was small,and not because I didn’t t give atention eat a kinder egg:-)he found it in the park,was free playing and o saw it.I went to take it from his mouth but HD wanted so much that he swallowed it.ok was ok after.fortunately .but from that point I put him quard at his mouth haha. Thanks for reading.