Ok here it goes....Harley is an 10 week old Male Yellow Lab. I've had him since he was 6 weeks old. I purchased him from a private breeder (whom let me mention has MANY beautiful labs and they are cared for Top of the Line) Anyhow, the first few weeks were good he was eating 1 bowl approx. 1 1/2 cups of food between 6am-6pm. When we went in to Vet last week eating pattern was same and I was told he was lil bit thin, I thought he was too but after all he did just get huge in in like last 3 weeks...lol. Well Originally Harley was eating Purina Puppy Chow Large Breed Formula, than Vet gave me small bag of Science Diet Large Breed Puppy Food that in my opinion gave him way too many bowel movements in 1 day. So I put him on IAMS Large breed puppy food (dry). He like it no doubt...but I've heard so many different brands I should use and don't give stuff with any type of CORN in ingredients, well I've looked at tons of dog food I haven't seen any without some kind of corn in it. Than there's the chicken BY PRODUCT WHAT THE HECK IS THAT? If that's like unused parts of a chicken I don't want my dog to eat that, that doesn't sound good for him at all. Than there's the issue of him woofing his food, that just started last week or so I don't think he even chews than he makes hurling noises cause he just vaccumed it all in at once? I've even split meals up 1 in morning than rest around 2-3 because I feel like he's going hungry all day after he inhales 6am meal. Last but NOT least, potty training is good SOMEDAYS, rarely poops in house does still pee he's crated at night and does well with that just lil mistakes here and there but haven't introduced him to other rooms in house so he's still on enclosed sun porch now and outside due to behaviors (chewing furniture, oh geesh let's just leave it at that) Anyway I do let him hang out in kitchen when I'm in there since it's lanolium but I took him to living room once and he pee'd and pooped the place up, ripped up everything in his path and just was out of control....I know he was excited but gee whiz! He's even opened cupboards in kitchen and tore out sugar and strung all over place....Anyhow I won't go on any further but if anyone has any ideas I'd greatly appreciate them before i go crazy! :ibow My main concern is the eating too fast issue, he's parasite free and has shots up to date etc Vet handling all that so what else could've got him started?

Then I switched to Eukanuba Maintenance at 6 months at the recommendation of my pro trainer. The Pro Plan Puppy Large Breed was recommended by our Vet.

Scott

I'm going to let the puppy experts talk, but if you want to get away from heavily corn based foods, you should probably look into buying food from pet stores, most of the grocery store brands (I think we all agree?) are pretty much the bottom of the barrel.

I myself like to see a meat named by source (like chicken) as the first ingredient, and I don't like unnamed sources of anything ("animal fat" "animal digest").

Good luck!

I think the first thing you need to do is pick one type of food and stick with it. 3 types of kibble in 4 weeks for a young pup is not good. His system hasn't had time to get used to any one food so you can't even know what the effects of one particular food are.

Also, how often are you feeding? Shouldn't a 10 week old puppy still be getting 3 meals a day? You could put a (clean) rock in the dish so the pup has to eat around it (that should slow him down).

And to address the potty training/house training issues. A 10 week old pup should never be left alone outside their crate! My lab was over a year before I trusted him for very short periods of time in the house without chewing on stuff. And potty training is an ongoing issue... even at older ages when you think that they are completely trained pups can have accidents.

"My main concern is the eating too fast issue"

This should be your LAST concern. Mine's 5 months and inhales the food, no big deal, if he's not throwing up afterwards, don't worry about it. If it bothers you, leave the room for the 2 minutes it take him to eat.

As for what food, I read, I picked Innova, she eats it, so I'm done.

As for chewing, I have about 10 toys laying around, if she wants to chew, which is all the time, a toy is available, always!!!

I use the crate, you didn't mention if you did. You might want to think about it if you don't.

6 weeks is pretty young to be seperated from litter mates, but that's water under the bridge.

1 1/2 cups of food once per day is not enough food! A 10 week old puppy should be eating 3 meals per day. Labs tend to inhale their food, but I think yours is just starving... Innova, California Natural, Wellness, Solid Gold and Wysong are some good premium brands that you may want to try. Pick one and stick with it for a few weeks before you make a decision.

NEVER leave him unsupervised, NEVER. He will need to go to the bathroom about every 30 to 60 minutes. Bring him outside to the same place every time... It is great that you are crating him at night. Use the crate during the day when you can't watch him. NEVER leave him outside by himself! Do not take him off your property and keep him away from animal poop until he has all of his shots. I recommend buying a book about Labrador Retrievers and reading up on the life stages and care of them. The Complete Idiots Guide to Labrador Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers for Dummies and All About Labrador Retrievers are some good basic info books to have around.

Congratulations on your puppy and welcome to the board!

One last thing... NEVER leave him unsupervised!:)

You miss the opportunity to teach him what is right and what is wrong. If you don't teach now, in 6 months you'll end up lookong for ways to "set him up" to teach him what not to do...

Good LucK!