Our friend and neighbour trains dogs for a hobby, & breeds quite a few. All our dogs have come from him, but in our hands they soon lose the desire to obey! His son's just qualified as a vet, which is rather handy (we inherited his young black lab., as he was going to be away from home a lot), & he was telling us that labs have a gene that makes them more or less insatiably hungry. A bit sad really.Our Lab is 18 months old now and she's our 3rd. Eats anything, just like the last 2. Labrador's are a stomach on legs.
he was telling us that labs have a gene that makes them more or less insatiably hungry.
I’ve heard that too, Tony.Our friend and neighbour trains dogs for a hobby, & breeds quite a few. All our dogs have come from him, but in our hands they soon lose the desire to obey! His son's just qualified as a vet, which is rather handy (we inherited his young black lab., as he was going to be away from home a lot), & he was telling us that labs have a gene that makes them more or less insatiably hungry. A bit sad really.
Our Lab is 18 months old now and she's our 3rd. Eats anything, just like the last 2. Labrador's are a stomach on legs.
I’ve noticed significant food behavioural differences to show labs.
Luckily, we feed our dogs on a diet of raw (real) food so it’s not too difficult keeping them looking slim and in good health.
Our girl's also a trained gun dog, but that hasn't stood in her way from gobbling down anything remotely edible (and stuff that really isn't) she happens to come across! It's interesting, though, that the trained dogs we've inherited from our friend (they're only used as gun dogs for three years or so, then they start to get more easily distracted from the task in hand) don't enjoy playing, other than fetching things, which of course they're superb at. Throw a ball into the cornfield without them seeing where it goes & they'll keep searching until they find it. Here's our lab. at three years' old -Our black lab loves raw carrots and green beans. However, she’s not greedy at all. I can leave an open bag of treats next to her bed overnight and she won’t touch them. She’s a working lab, I’ve noticed significant food behavioural differences to show labs.
Our girl's also a trained gun dog, but that hasn't stood in her way from gobbling down anything remotely edible (and stuff that really isn't) she happens to come across! It's interesting, though, that the trained dogs we've inherited from our friend (they're only used as gun dogs for three years or so, then they start to get more easily distracted from the task in hand) don't enjoy playing, other than fetching things, which of course they're superb at. Throw a ball into the cornfield without them seeing where it goes & they'll keep searching until they find it. Here's our lab. at three years' old -
Our girl's also a trained gun dog, but that hasn't stood in her way from gobbling down anything remotely edible (and stuff that really isn't) she happens to come across! It's interesting, though, that the trained dogs we've inherited from our friend (they're only used as gun dogs for three years or so, then they start to get more easily distracted from the task in hand) don't enjoy playing, other than fetching things, which of course they're superb at. Throw a ball into the cornfield without them seeing where it goes & they'll keep searching until they find it. Here's our lab. at three years' old -
Probably genetics as show and trial lines have been largely separate for a long time. The major difference that I notice between trial and show is the lack of initiative (some would say brains) in trial dogs - bred to be blindly obedient to the nth degree. A friend bought two and found out the hard way how un-Lad-like they are when you are used to show stock.
Logic? Raw protein is more digestible than cooked (as opposed to carb's, which are more digestible when cooked).
Absolutely. I've got espalier apple trees in the garden, and our boy would eat the fruit off the trees. He also broke into the fruit cage and stripped two cordon cherries together with a bed full of asparagus. He was also partial to curry, and would follow me round the kitchen on my return from the take away.Our Lab is 18 months old now and she's our 3rd. Eats anything, just like the last 2. Labrador's are a stomach on legs.
Ah, come on - now you are just trying to wind up Mike. And everyone know’s that’s like shooting fish in a barrel.Labrador's are a stomach on legs.
My lab will eat just about anything and so far I think it's only mushrooms and cucumber that we've found he won't eat.