Weight control
Some dogs are permanently ravenous. They don’t seem to have an off switch to tell them their stomachs are full and can take no more. Some medications can cause this.
The many tablets Frodo the Faller took every day to control his epilepsy had the effect of making him hungry all the time. He wasn’t as severely affected as some I heard about. One dog was so driven to eat that all food had to be securely out of his reach, or rather, he had to be contained in a room where there was no likelihood of him getting at food. Otherwise, he broke into fridges, freezers and cupboards – nothing was safe when he was in the vicinity of food.
However, some Labradors and Flat-coated Retrievers are insatiable and it is not their fault. It really is due to their genes, or rather a genetic mutation that insists they are starving and makes them liable to gain more weight than is healthy for them. A study has shown that about a quarter of Labrador retrievers and two-thirds of Flat-coated retrievers have this genetic mutation. It has not been seen in other pure-bred dogs. The affected gene is POMC (Proopiomelanocortin)
The research says: The POMC gene and the brain network it affects are similar in dogs and humans and the new findings are consistent with reports of extreme hunger in humans with POMC mutations, who tend to become obese at an early age.
The study showed that dogs with the POMC mutation burn 25% fewer calories while sleeping than dogs without it. The ancestry of Labradors and Flatties includes Newfoundland water dogs, who were used from the seventeenth century to bring in fishing nets from the icy waters . These dogs worked hard, so increasing fat reserves to allow them to work without freezing was essential.
Roxy waited so patiently until she started to drool.
It is possible that breeding from the best working dogs led eventually to the 'insatiable' gene being passed on and becoming common. One good stud dog can sire hundreds of puppies.
Our Labradors have always been interested in food and, on occasion, have joyfully 'found' an endless source of food - that is, when the dog food has not been safely stored - but they have never eaten themselves to the point of illness and any rotundity has soon dissipated.
Really interesting post. I'd never really heard that about labs before.
ReplyDeleteWe always laugh about Labradors being greedy, so it was interesting to discover the sobering truth behind it.
DeleteI'd heard of this before with regard to labradors, several family members have had Labs and have had to make sure food was securely locked away.
ReplyDeleteWe don't leave food lying around, but none of ours have eaten morbidly.
DeleteWhen I first brought Rudy my labrador baby home and took him to the vet for injections etc, the vet said the same thing as you said: "the lab is insatiable and so you have to watch for unacceptable weight gain". He was insatiable and he did gain a lot of weight :(
ReplyDeleteI had to get his weight down from 37 ks to 27 ks. Rudy never really forgave me for the rest of his life.
Ah, poor Rudy. I'm sure he was healthier for his weight loss, though.
DeleteOh, just look at those faces - those eyes. Bless them. xx
ReplyDeleteThe first rule with food-driven dogs is to resist the pleading eyes! x x x
DeleteThe study about the gene mutation common in Labradors was reported on the news this week as if it was a completely new discovery. But I distinctly remember the finding that Labradors' notorious fondness for food has a genetic basis being published in the scientific press a few years ago. It was also at the time suggested at the time that it is because Labradors are so effectively motivated by food that they are good guide dogs.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Gail.
I hadn't heard about the report before this week. There's a difference between greed and morbid over-eating.
DeleteAny food-driven dog is easier to train than one that is disinterested.
My brother (ex police) has been training an assistance Labrador that he took on after puppyhood.
DeleteEverything was going extremely well apart from the 'greed'. The dog was rejected due to pica, so not trustworthy.
Happy ending though, as he has adopted the dog and it is still slim :)
Pica would be a problem for an assistance dog. I'm glad your brother kept the dog - none better than one who understood.
DeleteAn the answer is...A Carrot..A Carrot..HeHe! The good old
ReplyDeletecarrot...! :O).
A very long interesting item on Breakfast this morning.....
Vets...Yes! Vets..and their costs/bills...An inquiry is under
way on why for example, tablets are a third to buy on line,
than what the vet would charge, and hundreds have
contacted the BBC with there stories, one lady with a British
Bulldog, has a lump on the side of it's neck, £6,000 to
remove it...she can't afford it, can't afford the insurance
either...
Another lady, was charged £600 for the vet to look at a
thorn in her dogs eye...just to look...then quoted £3,000
to have it removed...
There will be some sort of decision made by Thursday....
Something has to be done, it was bad enough when l had
all my pussy~cats...everyone loves there animals/pets,
so you do pay, the best you can, though animal shelters
are over run with people returning pets, because they can't
afford to keep them..! Shame...! :O(
🌷🌸🌷 🌷🌸🌷 🌷🌸🌷 🌷🌸🌷 🌷🌸🌷 🌷🌸🌷
I only heard bits of this as the radio kept cutting out in the car. We have a lot of experience of vets and always buy prescription medication online from approved sources. We tend to judge veterinary bills by the NHS. If we had to pay the full cost of our medical treatment, we would not be so surprised at the veterinary bills.
DeleteOne of our dogs was a hoover it up eater and the other liked to eat slowly. She ate food like I do. I have to eat and so do so, but it seems such a waste of time. I am awaiting a missive from Gilbert about you feeding Roxy his meal and how perplexed he was.
ReplyDeleteAll our dogs have been interested in food, some more obviously than others - usually the bitches, strangely.
DeleteI think I had a dog with that gene! She would break into cabinets, so we had to put baby locks on the doors. The final straw was the day she ate an entire bag of flour. She had flour crusted to her muzzle like Al Pacino in the final scenes of Scarface.
ReplyDeleteThat's a wonderful image. Bless her:-)
DeleteRoxy and Gilbert look lean (un)mean (un)fighting machines, lol. And Roxy's strawberry on her face does look shrinking down too.
ReplyDeleteYes, we think the wart, or whatever it is, has shrunk a little.
DeleteInteresting! I have a 5 1/2 pound dog that IS interested in food, but not to an extreme extent. (It is always worrisome if a dog isn't! I've gone through that with two who are no longer with me.) Once he has eaten, he is fine and will wait for the next meal; but he DOES like to 'do tricks' for treats though!
ReplyDeleteDogs are not daft and know how to turn affairs to their own advantage:-)
DeleteGeorge, our retriever, was a terror for food. (Much like his mum i have to admit!)
ReplyDeleteWell, you know what they say - owners and dogs come to resemble each other. You DO have long golden locks, don't you?;-)
DeleteWe have two terriers and our dear lab girl , all three love their food to the point of being greedy but like you I often use raw veggies as treats so that helps. One worry is dropping things accidentally........especially if we have a visitor and they are taking tablets ( often nattering away at the same time 😉😏) our youngest terrier would think nothing of champing down anything that dropped to the floor.......so now if that's happening I put the dogs in another room, visitors think I'm a little fussy/odd but it's just not worth risking.
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
I think you're absolutely right to be very careful. Dogs can be so quick to snaffle something.
DeleteBless! Waiting for a carrot! I had one dog who managed to get the fridge open while I was at work and ate some home made pate, butter, veg, broke some eggs and then sicked up all over the kitchen floor!
ReplyDeleteThat was a nice surprise for you when you got home. We have locks on our fridge and freezer . . .
DeleteGreat pictures here.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Thank you:-)
DeleteI feel sorry for people AND dogs with this problem. It must be terrible to always feel ravenous and not feel satisfied. I am certainly no expert but it seems dog breeding has resulted in too many anomalies that increase dog suffering.
ReplyDeleteI think you're absolutely right about dog breeding. Some breeds have terrible problems and all for the 'right' look!
DeleteHe's a good boy for not snaffling up the carrot - but carrot can't make him 'fat' can it?
ReplyDeleteNo, but he'd still eat more than his fill, given the opportunity.
DeleteI had no idea a genetic mutation like this existed. I'm glad to hear your Labradors' weight can be kept under control, though. I'm sure a carrot doesn't do any harm though :-) xxx
ReplyDeleteI suppose it depends on the number of carrots, but I think you're right! x x x
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