A whole week into puppy boot camp and everyone here is still alive! Even The Dog Who Eats Everything. The dog has gained 3 pounds in one week, leading me to think we may have accidentally adopted a baby gorilla, or maybe a hippopotamus. A slightly less-than-reputable vet here gave us the slightly misguided instructions to feed her as much as she would eat, and we discovered, perhaps unsurprisingly, that baby Labradors can eat quite a lot. Also, all that food has to go somewhere. So we’ve backed off on that whole maximum feeding thing and are now feeding her as per the instructions on the dog food bag, and will continue to take all further dog-raising advice from the internet, rather than disreputable international vets.*
This is not a big pet country, which we knew, but we didn’t know the extent of it. It was a serious search to find a pet store – we had heard of one, but when we went it had closed. It turns out another vet sells some pet supplies out of his closet-sized practice in the back of a strip mall. There I managed to find Shomi a collar, leash, and a food bowl. That’s a major start, as she’s no longer eating off of people plates. (Yuck.) And we can get decent dog food here. But pretty much everything else – toys, crates, brushes, clippers … all those things that dogs actually need – those all have to be ordered online. Thank goodness once again for the Internet, and for the mail. Dogs are not cheap, incidentally.
So that’s pretty much it around here – dog-watching, lot of working, M is doing lots of studying. AND we’ve got vacation coming up in two short weeks! When some lucky person around here will be blessed with our lovely bitey baby gorilla puppy. We’ll be ready for a break.
*Just kidding. We’ve since found out that there are better vets around here.
Inevitable puppy pictures:
Whoa – feeding a lab all they’ll eat in one sitting? I think they’re actually capable of eating until their stomachs rupture.
I raised a black lab puppy from 8 weeks for Canadian guide dogs, and on one occasion he got into the jumbo bag of dog food and gained 13 pounds in an hour. He looked like a beach ball with feet.
It’s important with labs, actually, to limit their caloric intake to something close to a minimum for their activity level and size. It slows their growth a bit and really reduces the risks of hip dysplasia and other bone ailments. If you can find a large-breed-specific puppy (IAMS or Eukanuba is a good bet), then those are the best way to go – but might be hard to find in Bangladesh.
Thanks for the tip! Um yes – we’ve cut back, and I think we probably should some more. She’s a little roly-poly still, but our vet-friend (not the first vet) says she’s doing OK. And she’s still pretty young.
Anyways, for now she’s eating Iams puppy food – I don’t think we have “large breed” food here, but we might be able to order some? Didn’t know such a thing existed.
I suppose I meant “large-breed-specific puppy FOOD”.
You may want to order a higher quality dog food. The less corn in the food the better (corn is dog junk food). We have Tulip on California Natural. Better food is more expensive, but they eat less (because there is less filler in it), produce less waste, have less sugar high energy, and have shiney coats! Have fun with her! She is so cute!
What a sweet little gorilla! Would love to meet her!
For what it’s worth we have never fed any of our dogs the amount recommended by the manufacturer – their whole goal is to sell dog food after all. Our vets go by the “can you feel the ribs” test (Showmi’s probably too young for that). And if you’re using treats for training that can add up to a lot of calories too.
luvya!