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  1. #1
    Puppy
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    Eating schedule and internal clock

    Does anybody else have their Labs telling them it's time to eat like clockwork everyday?

    I am amazed at their internal doggy clock, they are usually off by 30 minutes, but we try and feed them at the same time everyday.
    this morning with daylight savings time, they are driving me nuts, but I love them so much
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  2. #2
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    Oh yeah. Breakfast time isn't a big deal since they get up when I come downstairs, go outside, then eat every morning. Dinner time is supposed to be between 5 and 5:30 but they start bugging me about an hour earlier. If I ignore them long enough, they'll go do something else but no later than 5:02 pm, they're back checking pretty insistently to make sure I'm on the job. Turning the clocks back will be good for now and they'll be better about waiting for dinner until spring rolls around again.

  3. #3
    Senior Dog
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    Quote Originally Posted by smartrock View Post
    Oh yeah. Breakfast time isn't a big deal since they get up when I come downstairs, go outside, then eat every morning. Dinner time is supposed to be between 5 and 5:30 but they start bugging me about an hour earlier. If I ignore them long enough, they'll go do something else but no later than 5:02 pm, they're back checking pretty insistently to make sure I'm on the job. Turning the clocks back will be good for now and they'll be better about waiting for dinner until spring rolls around again.
    Same with us - breakfast is less regimented so they know it won’t happen until we are up. Dinner is about 6 pm every night, so for about 30 minutes or so before hand they get kind of annoying. Sometimes they will give up and go do something else, but they like to start playing loudly right next to me until I get annoyed and feed them to shut them up, LOL.
    Annette

    Cookie (HIT HC Jamrah's Legally Blonde, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015
    Sassy (HIT Jamrah's Blonde Ambition, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015

    Chloe (HIT HC OTCH Windsong's Femme Fatale, UDX4, OM6, RE) 6/7/2009

    And remembering:

    Scully (HC Coventry's Truth Is Out There, UD, TD, RN) 4/14/1996 - 6/30/2011
    Mulder (Coventry's I Want To Believe, UD, RN, WC) 5/26/1999 - 4/22/2015

    And our foster Jolie (Windsong's Genuine Risk, CDX) 5/26/1999 - 3/16/2014

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  4. #4
    Senior Dog MightyThor's Avatar
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    Yep! I call it the 5 o'clock staredown. I even posted a video of it on instagram the other day. I'm usually still working at my desk and he works his way in a little crescent circle around my chair. I've timed the pattern, it looks like this:

    Sit and stare for 8 seconds.
    Huff and snuffle and shift butt 3 inches to the right (in case I forgot he was there)
    Sit and stare for 8 seconds
    Huff and snuffle and shift butt 3 inches to the right

    Continue until full semi-circle is made around desk chair, then reverse direction.

    He starts about 45 minutes before dinner.
    Mighty Thor, "So Much Dog", born 1/6/2014
    And baby Barley, born 3/9/2018

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  5. #5
    Senior Dog
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    Breakfast was OK...it's when I come downstairs.

    The second breakfast is around 10 or 11....when I get finished doing what I have to do after our walk (or, at least some of what I have to do...toward this time change, it's so late that I defer some things till after the meal). I'll aim for closer to 10 this morning since they'll be thinking it's 11 already.

    They get a very small snack around 4 which I'll maybe give them a wee bit earlier...this snack prevents empty tummy sickness prior to dinner and I have to "catch" it on time.

    Dinner is normally 6 - 6:15 and I'll aim for 6.

    Tomorrow I'll just go by the clock.

    Some years I've worked up to a time change but I don't really think it was necessary to amend anything for more than the first day after.

    It's easier when the change is to DST....then they're just surprised by getting fed an hour before their tummies' alarms go off.

    Ah....I just realized that the reference to the time change was smartrocks and not the OP. Oh well....

  6. #6
    Senior Dog Shelley's Avatar
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    Due to our working schedules, their mealtimes vary. The older girls like to sleep anyways, and the youngsters are crated, and everyone is quiet until one of us gets up. Then its potty time and we wait at least a 1/2 hour to feed them breakfast sometime between 6:30 am and 9:30 am, dinner is between 6:30 and 9:00 or we'll feed them early if we are going out. They get treats after i get off work, and night time bed cookies, so they never go too long with out eating, they just never know when they will get fed so they don't beg for it.

    Side note, when I have young babies, or puppies, I do stick to a better feeding schedule at least for them!

  7. #7
    coppercleaner
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    -My girl had a bad tummy yesterday, so I am fasting her for 24 hours to get things back in balance. But, I found myself eating a rubin sandwich at 10:30 am.

  8. #8
    Senior Dog
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    Quote Originally Posted by coppercleaner View Post
    -My girl had a bad tummy yesterday, so I am fasting her for 24 hours to get things back in balance. But, I found myself eating a rubin sandwich at 10:30 am.
    I like the way you think.

  9. #9
    coppercleaner
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    Quote Originally Posted by SunDance View Post
    I like the way you think.
    Thanks, but truth be told, sadly I'm a slave to my stomach.

  10. #10
    House Broken kaialeena's Avatar
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    Yep, same thing here. She isn't in a hurry for breakfast as I have to convince her it is time to wake up in the morning and she takes her time yawning, stretching, and then asking for a belly rub before she is ready to go downstairs to get the day started. Dinner is usually around 6pm or 6:30, so on the weekends when I am not at work, she will start the stare down at 5:30. She will go away for a bit if I ignore her, but she comes back in about 10 minutes.

 



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