To wolf it down is a saying people with pets know all too well.

There are certain dogs that will eat… and keep eating anything that you put in front of them, until they seemingly would burst.

If you’ve got one of these dogs that do you might wonder why they are so hungry and if there is anything that you can do to help.

Today’s post is going to reveal some of the key findings about why this happens and what you can do about it.

Why Do Dogs Want To Eat All The Time?

The truth is there are multiple different theories to why some dogs may always be hungry. 

Animal behaviourists have one answer, nutritionists another, and evolutionary biologist one more. The real answer probably comes somewhere in the middle of all three.

The history of the relationship began when humans started feeding wolves. It started by least aggressive wolves coming into human camps to eat up any leftovers of the tribe. These dogs typically were not the alpha wolves of the pack so they had a certain predisposition to eat as much as they could when the going was good and not be so aggressive in doing it. When you leave food out on your plate, or put food in the bin. Many dogs have an intuition that tell them that’s the food that’s meant for them and the result is a dog that is always sniffing after food. However where this theory falls short is that it’s been many years since we were sat around the campfire with these furry friends and that those behaviours should have been watered down by now.

Now when dogs realise they can do certain behaviours and that they will get rewarded with a piece of their favourite foods for doing so – they tend to repeat that behaviour until the foods stops coming.

When Overeating Becomes A Problem

If your dog has recently started demanding food all the time it could be a sign of a more serious problem like diabetes, tumors, gastrointestinal issues (that lead to poor absorption of nutrients) or cushing’s disease. In these cases it’s recommended to get them checked out with your vet.

Like humans when dog overeat they can put on weight which results in obesity. This causes excessive stress on internal organs. This cycle reinforces itself as a dogs day becomes more and more focused on food.

Handling A Hungry Dog

There are a few simple steps that you can take to help your dog 

1. Give your dog a organised schedule of good nutrition. By creating a regular feeding schedule of good nutritious foods and sticking with it you help them to know when it’s time to eat. Dogs like rituals and routines and the more stability you can provide around food the less often they will continually bug you for food.
2. Keep consistent with not handing out scraps or feeding them food from human plates. If dogs expect to be fed every time you eat or pull out a snack it can put them in a mindset to expect food.
3. When you start with a feeding schedule, leave the food out until they walk away. If they decide to eat a little bit of food, or a lot, take it away once they have left the bowl. This help reinforce the idea that when food is out then that is the time to eat.

A Pet Parent’s Role

Being the leader of your dogs modern day wolf pack you set a tone for how behaviour around eating should go. As revealed if your dog all of a sudden starts overeating way more than they usually do, then medical intervention might be necessary. However if it’s just a natural inclination to overeat, you need to be a leader to control how much they eat and how often.

It can be so hard to resist feeding them when they look at you with their cute faces. But if there is no medical cause for the insatiable appetite it’s you responsibility to take charge of the letting them know when to stop as you are helping them out in the longer term.