need Help with Lab not eating

My guess is you are over feeding. If you start giving salmon, whatever else, all you do is create a picky eater.

drunkenpoacher said:

My guess is you are over feeding. If you start giving salmon, whatever else, all you do is create a picky eater.

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she gets a little under 2 cups am and pm, weight has been fine.

italiarmo said:

she gets a little under 2 cups am and pm, weight has been fine.

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4c if she’s basically done growing may be a tad too much. Try cutting her down to 3 cups and up the exercise. Also dogs may eat less with it getting warmer. When in doubt, taking her for a vet check is always a good idea but what’s happening is not uncommon.

I have a very picky eater lab! He has always been picky but when I had multiple labs, he ate better due to competition, now he is the only lab and has been back to his picky ways for a few years. While I would not recommend free feeding for 99.9% of labs, I found he will eat when he is hungry, so I leave the food down for an hour or so and if he doesn't eat, I pick it up and he gets it again at second feeding. He is now 15 years old, and I have had about three months of on and off diahrrea....I had started giving him, fortiflora per vet recommendation after a course of Metrodiazonole. His stool seemed better after that but I have discontinued the forti-flora because his stool recently became soft again. I tried to research the forti-flora and soft stool but could not find anything. For about a week he has been off the forti-flora and stools are better, most of the time. But he is an old dog, not young like yours. Maybe check with your vet.

ErinsEdge said:

4c if she’s basically done growing may be a tad too much. Try cutting her down to 3 cups and up the exercise. Also dogs may eat less with it getting warmer. When in doubt, taking her for a vet check is always a good idea but what’s happening is not uncommon.

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i'll reduce to 3 cups/day. She gets a 2+ mile walk in woods daily and almost daily training...working on handling and blinds now. Vet told me to try a gastrointestinal diet with Hills id or Purina EN. But IDK if thats the right diet for a gundog? Protein wise. This is what happens with a rookie dog trainer.

4 cups PPP is excessive for a normal size female Labrador

My dog isn't super food motivated but he does love his water. Have you ever tried floating your food? I float 3 cups in the morning and now that it's warmer he's starting to leave a little bit of food even though we're exercising a lot but the water definitely helps with him eating because he doesn't really care for dry food.

He's 55-59 pounds depending on the time of the year and 3 cups is just about right for him on PPP

The salmon adds calories so you should feed less kibble on the days you are feeding it. Too much food often leads to runny stools - overfeeding may be the cause of your dog's loose stools.

A moderate amount of canned wild salmon would seem like a good way to add omega 3s to your dog's diet, but read the label to see if it actually still contains the fat and that the fish are eating a natural diet. A lot of the fish they put in cans has had the fat removed. Farmed fish typically has a different fatty acid profile than wild fish - depends on what they feed the fish.

Stopped feeding the salmon a week ago, 1.5 cups 2x/day, adding fortiflora to dry PPlan. Still not finishing meals....sometimes will with coaxing. Yet we can see she is still hungry hunting around for food. Thinking of switching to a different food...could just be she doesnt like the pro plan? if all else fails, maybe the Hillman method with canned salmon is ok?

italiarmo said:

Stopped feeding the salmon a week ago, 1.5 cups 2x/day, adding fortiflora to dry PPlan. Still not finishing meals....sometimes will with coaxing. Yet we can see she is still hungry hunting around for food. Thinking of switching to a different food...could just be she doesnt like the pro plan? if all else fails, maybe the Hillman method with canned salmon is ok?

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Feed your dog whatever you want and as much as you want.
Hungry dogs do not need to be coaxed into eating and they don't leave their food in search of different food.

Where and how are you storing your dogs food? Do you store it in the bag it came in or do you put in another container? If you are putting it in another container, oils from the food will coat the inside of the other container and after a while turn rancid.