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Obesity gene found in Labrador 's


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That's really interesting asal, I was concerned that the poor dogs felt awful hunger between meals but this problem seems to be avoided if there is frequent tiny (hidden) meals.

Thanks for posting the link

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Posted (edited)

Did'nt read it , They could of saved heaps of money and just asked what i' and millions of other older  dog lovers already knew , Labs are greedy buggers who  will eat till they gorge , I can also tell them for nothing . so will my little bitza dog  ,   and feed him the recomended amount once a day say night time , next morning he's looking for food and throwing up white bile , , so he has to have 2 meals   a day  to stop that , lately because were home   more in the colder weather its   split into 3 meals ,  6am 100 grams ----12-1 pm 100 gms  ------ then around 7 pm the last 100 grams  ,   heh presto , no bile , , he's never looking for food anymore  ,  and happy and healthy ,

 

There ya go  and that info did'nt even have to be  funded , ,,  can't help but wonder how much it cost for them to state the obvious , labs are a greedy dog   I'm basing that on  owning a few , plus  being brought up with my grandfathers labs , cannot ever remember him not having one ,  every single one of them called prince has well LOL

Edited by coneye
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In my experience well over 25% of Labbies are gutsers.  I've seen other studies finding the same gene in flatties.

My hunch is the ancestral working dogs for Labs, who swam for fish that slipped the hook in the Bay of Fundy (brrr!) needed blubber much as marine mammals do.

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On 05/06/2024 at 1:35 AM, asal said:

HELLO THERE,

That's really interesting! I read about the study too. It turns out that around a quarter of all Labradors have a genetic mutation that makes them more prone to obesity. It's amazing how genetics can influence a dog's weight. Thanks for sharing the link!

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On 05/06/2024 at 11:32 AM, coneye said:

Did'nt read it , They could of saved heaps of money and just asked what i' and millions of other older  dog lovers already knew , Labs are greedy buggers who  will eat till they gorge , I can also tell them for nothing . so will my little bitza dog  ,   and feed him the recomended amount once a day say night time , next morning he's looking for food and throwing up white bile , , so he has to have 2 meals   a day  to stop that , lately because were home   more in the colder weather its   split into 3 meals ,  6am 100 grams ----12-1 pm 100 gms  ------ then around 7 pm the last 100 grams  ,   heh presto , no bile , , he's never looking for food anymore  ,  and happy and healthy ,

 

There ya go  and that info did'nt even have to be  funded , ,,  can't help but wonder how much it cost for them to state the obvious , labs are a greedy dog   I'm basing that on  owning a few , plus  being brought up with my grandfathers labs , cannot ever remember him not having one ,  every single one of them called prince has well LOL

The research justification comes from wanting to understand obesity in humans.  Labs seem a good potential model.  I don't think they have the full story yet.  They found 2/3 of flatcoats have the gene, and I don't associate flatties with obesity...but I've only know a couple of them.

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I once had a friend tell me that my Lab Trouble couldn't be a Labrador because she wasn't fat... and I reminded said friend that the Labrador wasn't the one preparing her own meals...

 

Regardless having a gene that seems to make them want to eat all the time, it's an owner's responsibility as to what, when, and how much a dog is fed, yes?

 

@coneyemany smaller dogs seem to have faster metabolisms, which means that they should be fed more smaller meals over time to stop them getting sick, Probably what was your little dog's issue making it throw up when it went too long without food. It could have been worse if your little dog had gone into hypoglycaemic shock and started having seizures, which can also happen.

 

T.

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3 hours ago, tdierikx said:

and I reminded said friend that the Labrador wasn't the one preparing her own meals...

Yes- when I was working at Guide Dogs - we had to keep the dogs in good condition - they were working dogs - and often it was suggested they were not the right shape for a lab :) (ie: coffee table) 

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I knew a boarding kennel owner who gave up trying to explain that the dog was now in better condition (having not been overfed and having a friend to play with) than when it arrived, because the owner's response was "she's a bag of bones".

For overweight dogs of people I don't know well: "he's been living the good life". For people I know a bit more: "prepares his own meals does he?".

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Remember Stan the greyhound? He definitely had the "hungry" gene... lol! The stories about him chewing through the side of the chest freezer or fridge door to get to the contents were legendary...

 

I currently have a staffy mumma dog here who was quite underweight when she was collected as a stray - with a tummy full of babies she weighed only 19kg. Pups are now 4.5 weeks old and mumma is a much healthier 20kgs, but she'd be more if I let her - she has a real love of food of any kind, and has managed to feed herself a couple of times, so now all her food is safely stashed behind closed doors, which she hasn't worked out how to open yet... *grin*

 

That said, I've seen myriad fat staffies around, so maybe they are similarly affected genetically? I doubt anyone will do a study on them though.

 

T.

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