[shinigamigirl428]

I am trying to get some info for a family member who has a 5 yr. old, 90lb female bloodhound that is eating 4+ cups of food a day. She’s reasonably active, and according to the food calculator on here should eat between 4.09 to 4.65 cups per day(split into 2 feedings) for the food she is on ( Earthborn: Coastal Catch, switched from pedigree about 4 months ago). She is constantly howling and barking that she wants food, and has recently been chewing things around the house.

I suggested: A higher protein food (such as Orijen), but was told it’s too expensive.
adding veggies to food. She just spits them out onto the floor.

I am at my wit’s end trying to figure out what to give this dog. Any suggestions would be extremely helpful!

Thank you!

[Shawna]

Have them check the pups body condition if they aren’t already. If she’s losing weight then they need to feed her more than what is suggested — it’s just a guideline. I have a 5 pound Pom and a 5 pound Chihuahua. The Chihuahua eats over twice as much food as the Pom or she starts to lose weight. The Pom starts to gain on any more.

If she’s not losing weight and still ravenous, I’d have her checked by a vet for any illnesses that can cause that as a symptom — diabetes, cushings etc. Certain meds can cause it too if she’s on any meds.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Shinigamigirl428 –

I have three bloodhounds myself.

My first question is, is the dog underweight? If the dog is not underweight ignore this behavior. This is typical for a bloodhound and your family member shouldn’t feel bad or like the dog is being deprived. Bloodhounds are chowhounds and their number one focus in life is food – their entire day revolves around mealtime and when their next meal will be. They have no appetite regulation and will eat until they burst. They’re also noted for eating anything and everything, especially when puppies. They can be a danger to themselves when not supervised, they can get into poisonous things or items that will cause intestinal obstruction. My older female (now 2) ate an ENTIRE 5 pound bag of birdseed when she was a puppy – it was left out and she ripped into it. She was pooping out sunflower seeds all day. This is the type of thing you deal with when you own a bloodhound.

Earthborn isn’t a bad food by any means. I do feel Orijen is slightly better, but if Earthborn is what your family member can afford there’s no reason to feel bad about feeding it. It’s a quality food. I feed my three homemade raw and they do seem to be a little more satisfied on this than when they weren’t fed raw. You can try adding in some pumpkin or other veggies to the food to make her feel more satisfied but I can almost assure you that it won’t stop the behavior. This is normal behavior for a bloodhound and nothing to be alarmed about.

[Jackie B]

You can soak the kibble in water or broth (I make a homemade one so it doesn’t have extra salt, just boil a chicken carcass in water), it will plump it up and the dog will feel more full.

[Shawna]

HDM ~~ If my nose worked as well as a Bloodhounds, I’d probably be a chowhound too :)…

I have three that are very very very naughty.. They will search out and eat anything that smells good to them irregardless of being hungry or not. Mimi opened an entire bottle (360 pills) of whole food vitamin Bs (primary ingredient — liver).. She vomitted off and on for several hours but otherwise was okay. Kippee or Chleo (not sure which?) got a packet of premix and ate it the other day — enough to mix with one pound of meat.. Been watching both in case a vet visit is in order but so far seem to be okay.

The rest of my pups LOVE food but they know and respect the house rules.. 🙂

[Hound Dog Mom]

All three of mine are very naughty! Gus is super super sneaky…he’s the stealthy food thief, he can’t get punished because he never gets caught. Gertie used to be horrible (when she was a puppy during a birthday party she actually ran into the kitchen and while I was standing at the counter the cake was one, jumped up took a huge bite out of the cake and ran). She’s with me all the time, so I’ve been working on her manners. Yesterday I put her in stay and set a pb&j on my desk, walked out of the room for 1 minute (timed) and when I came back she was still in position with the sandwich not touched – she’s learning! 🙂 Mabel….ugh she’s just horrible, typical bloodhound puppy that hasn’t learned their manners yet. She can’t even be in the room with someone that’s eating..

[Shawna]

OMG LOL!! Mimi (my once obese Papillon) used to steal food right out of your hand. Several bathtub time outs and she quit but recently got caught stealing food right from the babies mouth.. Baby Buzz was mad as h–l and Mimi KNEW she had done wrong so went high tailing 🙂 it out of the room knocking something over on the way. This got everyone barking — baby crying, multiple dogs barking and pure chaois… She got away and hid somewhere (likely downstairs) before I could get her so she got away with it but she knew what she was doing and obviously knew there would be consequences.. Anyone who says “dogs are dumb” obviously haven’t been around too many dogs.. 🙂

That is pretty impressive of Gertie!!

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