[jvee86]

Well my lab is around 7 months old. I am feeding him Nutrisource Large breed puppy food. The bag suggests 4-5 cups per day for my 7month lab at this weight. I've been giving him upwards of 7-8CUPS Daily PLUS some healthy table scraps. He has had his poop checked for worms and yet he doesn't seem to be gaining weight. He is not overly skinny. But very slim. Should I be worried or just keep feeding him like a horse? Or cut back to the recommended 4 cups per the Bags requirements

 

[Gally]

I wouldn't cut back, he looks lean on the amount you are giving him. It may be a combination of fast metabolism and going through a growth spurt. You might consider getting him on a more calorie dense food so you don't need to feed as much, it would probably save you money in the long run if you are feeding this much.

How are his poops?

 

[jvee86]

He poops normally....ALot of big stinkin loads of poop. But no diarrhea or runniness ect. Crazy how he acts as if he could eat at least a few more cups but I dont want to overfeed (gorge sp?) him

 

[PatchworkRobot]

I wouldn't cut back, he looks lean on the amount you are giving him. It may be a combination of fast metabolism and going through a growth spurt. You might consider getting him on a more calorie dense food so you don't need to feed as much, it would probably save you money in the long run if you are feeding this much.

I completely agree with Gally here.
He looks alright.

My doberman (19 months) gets about two cups of food a day (very high quality and grain free food). When he was a puppy during his "growth spurt" he got 6-7 cups a day. Just watch your pup and if it looks like he's starting to put on weight cut back on the food.

 

[DaViking]

He poops normally....ALot of big stinkin loads of poop. But no diarrhea or runniness ect. Crazy how he acts as if he could eat at least a few more cups but I dont want to overfeed (gorge sp?) him

Growing intact males are hard to evaluate. There is so much going on. "A lot of big stinkin loads of poop" doesn't sound too good though. He should still have good digestion despite his age. He looks like a typical active and growing lab puppy in the picture but you shouldn't have to feed 8 cups plus table scraps to maintain that. You could try a more energy rich formula from for example Native, Dr Tim's or Horizon.

 

[mashlee08]

Could you switch foods?
In my old practice we used to have clients come in saying they had trouble with their dogs weight and that they were feeding them 8 cups a day even though everything else was normal. It could also be an issue of malabsorption in the GI tract. http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/23313.htm more info here.
E.g a client came in who was feeding his dog eukanuba (yeah i know crap food) and 8-9 cups a day and he was thin. We switched foods to nutro, another not so great food, and whammo, didnt need as much and he gained weight.

Truth is, some dogs just don't do well on certain foods and all it takes is a simple switch.

 

[TinyTails]

If you like feeding the Nutrisource you can try switching to one of the grain free formulas to see if that helps. Looks like the one you are feeding is 400 kcal per cup. For example I'm currently feeding the Grain Free Lamb which is 506 kcal per cup.

 

[hanksimon]

In the Lab's mind, you're not feeding him enough... He wants at least 1/2 a bag Also, with a healthy adolescent, "A lot of big stinkin loads of poop" is normal... it'll be less in a few months. I recommend keeping him at this size for now. He could probably add 5 pounds with no problems... but he could also add 20 pounds, looking solid, but that would be too much.

I don't see a problem with feeding a Lab lower calorie food with adequate nutrition, b/c I think that Labs are happier when they have more 'stuff' to chew on.

I have only a partially facetious observation: I notice that your Lab is muddy... is this b/c he's still hungry and stalking fish as a supplement? I imagine that muddy is a normal state (it was for mine). When my Lab was younger, he was eating food with a higher fat content, his coat was shinier, and mud would dry then just fall off his coat... He was seldom 'dirty' after he dried out.

 

[Jordan S]

He looks perfect to me.

 

[Best Doggone Diet]

He looks good to me.
Dog food companies use different formulas and some vary greatly in the amount of calories they recommend so you should ALWAYS regard them as just guidelines. How your dog looks and feels is key.
Also, intact males tend to require more calories than fixed males, about 20% more.
If his poops are very large and there is not a lot of fibre in the diet then you may want to consider the possibility that he has a food intolerance to one of the ingredients.
If he eats his poop, or even more significant, if others eat his poop he may have pancreatic insufficiency.
I just had a 1 year old dog that we diagnosed with this. The owner had tried many foods with different ingredients and the dog was always thin.
Blood tests confirmed that he had pancreatic insufficiency and adding digestive enzymes to his food has made a world of difference.
Hard to tell with just one picture and not being able to run my hands over his ribs, but as I said, your dog does not look too thin.
Then again, this dog I was mentioning might look OK in a picture because his coat hid the true extend of his thinness, but when you felt him you could feel his ribs with very little cover.

Good luck.