sarah_5707

Hello everybody! I finally get to bring home my 8 month lab next week, and i'm curious about suggestions for his diet. My parents own a butcher shop, so their labs eat 'scraps' and marrow bones, but I've noticed that they are on the chubby side. I've been sifting through previous forums, and I've read conflicting advice, about wet food to dry food ratio and what kinds of raw meat is healthy for my pup. As I said, he is around 8 months old (we think), and he is just under average weight, but the hospital he is at is slowly bringing his weight up a bit. I would ask the hospital all these questions but I think they are a bit sick of me ringing for updates and with new questions all the time(everyday!), and I think I will get just as good, if not better advice from fellow owners. I'm not sure how to write these questions so i'm just going to make a list. How much food should I be giving him daily? Should he still be drinking pet milk? Should he still be on puppy food at his age or should I ween him off? If he stays on puppy food, what age do I ween him off? Is he too young to be eating 1/2 marrow bones? If he is getting raw meat daily, does he need to be getting canned food? Is feeding him meal scraps OK for his health? I think that's all. Another partially related question, Cody apparently tips his water dish over, within minutes of it getting filled. Repeatedly. Does anyone have any ideas of how to stop this? Or water bowls that are pretty hard to tip over without getting too big? The vet suggested one of those clam pools for kids, but I'm hoping there is a smaller solution than that! Thank you!

Hi everybody, great to be a part of this site! Next week I pick up my beautiful lab, Cody, from a local pound, my first dog since leaving my parents. The vet was unsure how old he is, because he was found on the side of the road a few weeks ago un-micro chipped, but he thinks Cody is around 8 months. He is extremely energetic, he has literally an endless supply of energy, but the slight issue with that is he has had absolutely no training. Ever. I have had experience with training labs before, as my parents have always bred labs, but I've never seen a dog with as much energy as Cody. I am slightly worried that because of his 'older' age in puppy terms that it will be a huge job to train him. I study by distance so i will be home with him all the time, and i generally go for a walk/run morning and night. I live next to a beach, and I am planning on spending quite a bit of time with him there, but I am also unsure of how safe that is even though he is obsessed with water, I'm scared that he might get caught in a rip. I'm wondering whether any other members have had any experience with similar situations, or any thing that would be helpful, with both letting him in the water at the beach and training him. Thank you in advance for your suggestions!