Dog Always Seems Hungry

Hi

My dog is a 10kg YT and Westie cross. He is 16 months old.

Ive had him on Orjien dry food since September. He loves the food and it doesnt last long in his bowl...eating it hurriedly. I follow the guidelines for feeding from the bag and he is fed twice a day.

He always seems to be hungry however. Anytime we are out he pops things into his mouth,....slugs, worms, horse poo, berries, chestnuts ANYTHING that is on the ground goes in and is chewed for a while and either swallowed or spat out.

I dont feed him treats or scraps at all.

He's not lean looking and looks very well.

Is there a need to increase his food amount? Should I be giving him snacks between meals?

KingIsabella

Dunno if this applies to all dogs....but my girl will eat ANYTHING at ANYtime....whether shes just scoffed a bowl o nuts and sardines...if i have something thats going into my mouth....shell want to put it in hers....dunno if this is actual hunger or just loving anything that tastes/smells good!

strandroad

I would give him some snacks or treats just to make his life more interesting; his meals may be satisfying but it's a long time between them! This being said, my dog gets lots of treats and he would still eat anything anytime too. He's a lab though and they are known hoovers.

DBB

OP, Westies can be relied upon to bring gluttony to the equation :rolleyes:, but if your dog has a really depraved appetite, and is trying to eat non-food items, there is a chance that there is a malabsorption condition going on which is causing this problem. Westies are prone to various malabsorptive problems, but I can't speak for Yorkies as I'm not as familiar with them.
It would be worthwhile getting bloods done to see if there is an underlying medical problem, because if there is, no amount of training or behavioural modification in the world is going to stop him. Needless to say, ingesting some non-food items could be really dangerous for him, something he eats may either poison him, or cause a blockage, so I'd get him tested to put your mind at ease, before addressing this as a behavioural problem, which it might be, but you have to rule out medical first!

Tranceypoo

My older dog is very similar, he inhales his food whilst the younger dog will take about 3 times as long to eat her dinner (and she gets a bit less), he is very food orientated, now he does get treats in between, he loves a raw carrot or a bit of apple or pear, I try to keep them healthy, he is a lab staffy mix, I guess that's the lab side of him, he is fighting fit and a perfect weight and gets enough eccy so I don't worry about it too much, he also will pick and lick things off the ground if he gets the chance but so does the younger one, if they come across a bit of sheep poop or cat poop it's like christmas day, don't most dogs do that?!