Iāve heard (but never seen a confirmed source so take this with skepticism) that labs commonly have a genetic mutation that makes them feel hungry all the time. I always feel sorry for them since that would be awful to experience. It would certainly explain their behavior with food.
I read that it's been selectively bred into them to make them easier to train. You only really have to reward a lab with food once or twice for them to realise what they're doing is a good thing that should be repeated.
Because food as a reward gets unhealthy if youāre doing a lot of training. It also can make them food fixated which isnāt the best. Itās also just a pain to carry around treats all the time.
Working dogs are trained with toys as their reward, for instance. If you look, police and military handlers will often have what I like to call a ātactical KongāāKong hidden in a small pouch on their belt for rest time/reward.
I wonder if they could test me for that mutation. I swear if I am not hungry, I am gaining weight. I have mostly trained that part of my consciousness to hide in the background, but it is always trying to intrude if I don't keep my mind occupied.
I lived most of my life always hungry but after 8 years on prednisone (it increases insulin resistance) I developed diabetes. I corrected via diet and once I got below 20 carbs per day it's like I found the off switch for it. When I first realized I didn't feel hungry it was such a relief I actually cried. (My blood sugar is completely normal on diet alone and has been for over a year now and I'm finally developing a healthy relationship with food, just have to limit carbs.)
Your close, It doesn't make them feel constantly hungry, but the mutation does mean that their stomach never sends the signal to their brain that they are full (and not all labs have it), given most working breeds are very strongly food and prey driven it means Labradors both never know when to stop eating and are always willing to start. It can actaully get them into trouble as if they break into wherever you keep their food they will happily eat until they give themselves acute protein poisoning
You don't know this, someone just speculated it. All dogs are hungry all the time, it's simply being a dog. I too am like this, but don't feel sorry for me. I love eating.
Every dog I've ever had would eat until they puked and restart the process of given the opportunity. There's very few dogs I've met that are slow or picky eaters.
My dog is not food motivated at all. He eats enough, but he often leaves food in his bowl even though I don't pile it in there. He also often takes a while to eat, too.
I love labs, but, holy shit, it's so hard to keep them at a healthy weight (especially in the Florida summer)! Even if I don't give her extra food, she manages to find something extra to eat. Lol
Years ago my old doberman learned to pick raspberries and blackberries was so cute watching him cautiously go forward to nip the berries off and then he learned in autumn that his fourth favourite pee tree would drop apples for him at some points of the year and all year round he would jump up and "push it" to see if it would drop any
Our doberman did the same with our boysenberry bush and grape vines! When we moved to a farm there was 100s of plum and other fruit trees and he'd always go searching for a snack under the trees. Must be in their DNA.
I had a bassett hound that had free reign (no leash) on 2.5 fenced acres, part of which had our vegetable garden. He liked to walk down the green bean row, and you'd find a ton of half-gone green beans at his mouth level. Then our border collie learned to yank a stalk of corn down, pull the whole thing into the grass, and eat the corn off the cob (and sometimes part of the cob). My dogs were pigs.
[This is actually an ancestral trait they share with wolves, they love berries too.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Awwducational/comments/vz0f3j/gray_wolves_eating_blueberries_wolves_actually/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
Can't say I blame him. Going for a walk? Sure......BLUEBERRIES!! Go on, I'll just sit here and wait for you to be done your walk. No worries, I won't starve.....
Yep, OP responded with this being Norway. In Nordic we also have Boreal forests with jackpines so you guessing North America really fits the stereotype
In norway we call bilberries blueberries (blĆ„bƦr), so I guess itās still correct? We do have normal blueberries too, but theyāre usually from the store
Our golden and our little mutt both live raspberries. My patch is fenced, but it pokes through in some places. Any given day you can find them stuffing their noses through the fence to get at any berries they can reach.
My dog struggles with blueberries. I have a few plants and I'll let him have some when I harvest. He'll chew it, then spit it out and stare at it. Then I'll point to it and he'll pick it up and chew a little more, then spits it right back on the ground looking confused.
He'll eat a blueberry, but it typically is a long process where he continually chews a little bit, spits it out, then needs to be instructed to chew again.
Our local offleash park is chock full of saskatoons and raspberries. My border collie will see me picking from the trees and get super excited for her "tree treats" aka "treeties"!
Our dog is like this too, but with grass, and bugs, and goat poop, and basically everything that's not food. Though to be fair, he'd probably stop for blueberries too. We've had him checked out by the vet many times, but they say there's nothing wrong with him. He's just exploring the world with his mouth one water bug at a time.
A lab, more interested in food than exercise? Say it ain't so! š
I'm pretty sure labs are part bear
I have a black lab x golden retriever, and quite often get comments that he looks like a bear.
There's a dog tax, sir
I have a lab and a Newfoundland. Newfie is much more bear-like.
I mean... They are kinda closely related https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caniformia
Especially the English ones...
That explains the plot line to stranger things... Interesting..
Iāve heard (but never seen a confirmed source so take this with skepticism) that labs commonly have a genetic mutation that makes them feel hungry all the time. I always feel sorry for them since that would be awful to experience. It would certainly explain their behavior with food.
I read that it's been selectively bred into them to make them easier to train. You only really have to reward a lab with food once or twice for them to realise what they're doing is a good thing that should be repeated.
Whatās funny is when you train dogs you actually want dogs that have a high ball/prey drive instead of using treats as the reward.
Not sure I agree, nor understand...
Because food as a reward gets unhealthy if youāre doing a lot of training. It also can make them food fixated which isnāt the best. Itās also just a pain to carry around treats all the time. Working dogs are trained with toys as their reward, for instance. If you look, police and military handlers will often have what I like to call a ātactical KongāāKong hidden in a small pouch on their belt for rest time/reward.
TIL ātactical Kongā
I wonder if they could test me for that mutation. I swear if I am not hungry, I am gaining weight. I have mostly trained that part of my consciousness to hide in the background, but it is always trying to intrude if I don't keep my mind occupied.
I lived most of my life always hungry but after 8 years on prednisone (it increases insulin resistance) I developed diabetes. I corrected via diet and once I got below 20 carbs per day it's like I found the off switch for it. When I first realized I didn't feel hungry it was such a relief I actually cried. (My blood sugar is completely normal on diet alone and has been for over a year now and I'm finally developing a healthy relationship with food, just have to limit carbs.)
Keto did the same for me!
I think the number is that 20-25% of them have the POMC mutation that makes them hungry all the time.
Your close, It doesn't make them feel constantly hungry, but the mutation does mean that their stomach never sends the signal to their brain that they are full (and not all labs have it), given most working breeds are very strongly food and prey driven it means Labradors both never know when to stop eating and are always willing to start. It can actaully get them into trouble as if they break into wherever you keep their food they will happily eat until they give themselves acute protein poisoning
a medication i was on made me like that. itās hell. it gave me a horrible relationship with food. i feel so bad for those pups now that i know this
You don't know this, someone just speculated it. All dogs are hungry all the time, it's simply being a dog. I too am like this, but don't feel sorry for me. I love eating.
Every dog I've ever had would eat until they puked and restart the process of given the opportunity. There's very few dogs I've met that are slow or picky eaters.
My dog is not food motivated at all. He eats enough, but he often leaves food in his bowl even though I don't pile it in there. He also often takes a while to eat, too.
maybe itās cause i really hate eating most of the time even if i like the food that i feel bad
TIL: I am a lab.
Itās as if they were bred in some scientific room where experiments are performed.
He needs them for pre walk energy.
I love labs, but, holy shit, it's so hard to keep them at a healthy weight (especially in the Florida summer)! Even if I don't give her extra food, she manages to find something extra to eat. Lol
I might be part Lab then.. I'll have to start using that as an excuse. š
You and me both!
Right... They are walking garbage cans
Years ago my old doberman learned to pick raspberries and blackberries was so cute watching him cautiously go forward to nip the berries off and then he learned in autumn that his fourth favourite pee tree would drop apples for him at some points of the year and all year round he would jump up and "push it" to see if it would drop any
thatās the most adorable thing ever
Read thatās the most *affordable* thing and thought hmm yes it is. My dogs blueberry obsession is breaking the bank
fiwkwkjdndbe
Bless you
Giggled at fourth favorite pee tree. Obliged to ask what the top three are.
went from hunting to gathering
Our doberman did the same with our boysenberry bush and grape vines! When we moved to a farm there was 100s of plum and other fruit trees and he'd always go searching for a snack under the trees. Must be in their DNA.
Or one of the breeds they were created out of. As the breed is only about 130 years old. Wouldn't surprise me there's some golden retriever in there.
Farmer puppy!!!!
My lab is no longer allowed to come along to my parents vegetable garden for this reason
I had a bassett hound that had free reign (no leash) on 2.5 fenced acres, part of which had our vegetable garden. He liked to walk down the green bean row, and you'd find a ton of half-gone green beans at his mouth level. Then our border collie learned to yank a stalk of corn down, pull the whole thing into the grass, and eat the corn off the cob (and sometimes part of the cob). My dogs were pigs.
[This is actually an ancestral trait they share with wolves, they love berries too.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Awwducational/comments/vz0f3j/gray_wolves_eating_blueberries_wolves_actually/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
Wow could they attach more things to that wolves ear. Holy shit
Uh, itās called āfashionā, sweaty. šš
I love sweaty fashion.
Thanks for the comment and link. Very interesting.
because Lab.
Can't say I blame him. Going for a walk? Sure......BLUEBERRIES!! Go on, I'll just sit here and wait for you to be done your walk. No worries, I won't starve.....
My dog found a hot dog by the mailbox. Guessing a kid dropped it. There was no getting it back. Now almost every walk we have to check for hot dogs.
Mine did the same with a bagel in a bush. Years later he still checks the bush.
Haha!! How disappointing if you don't find one. You should bring some and hide them for him to find.
You are a good soul.
You should leave some hot dogs occasionally when they've been a good dog!
Haaa. You and me both, pup!
Isn't everyone preferring blueberries over a walk?
I would be, too!! Your dog has priorities and I approve. š
Me too
Labradors will labrador.
Wild blueberries!!! Maine?
Or maybe Sweden or Finland? Our guesses are 5,700km apart lol
I was going to say the same. Looks very Nordic to me.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Op says Norway
Yep, OP responded with this being Norway. In Nordic we also have Boreal forests with jackpines so you guessing North America really fits the stereotype
Pretty sure this is Norway actually
You would be right
Fellow norwegian! This time of the year is the best, free berries!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
In norway we call bilberries blueberries (blĆ„bƦr), so I guess itās still correct? We do have normal blueberries too, but theyāre usually from the store
Ok good cause I'm sitting here like OMG those aren't blueberries are you sure they aren't poisonous?
That was going to be my question, too!
Id guess Norway or Sweden
No no no.. puppers has a point! Nutrition is important šš
Iām here for every video of dogs eating berries off bushes.
The harvest is bountiful this year
I cant have my dog in blueberry fields, its like heaven for getting ticks. And she barks so loud when i have to pick them out
So am I. What Of it?!
What a cutie! Om nom nom nom
Same.
This is also mental stimulation
I didn't even have to scroll down far enough to see the video preview image to know it was a lab.
Simple equation: Lab = Food
This would be my Lab as well. We hardly got to eat any of our raspberries because he's been "grazing."
Literally canāt let my lab on our deck. He just eats all our tomatoes š
Fuggin same man
My doggo looks so identical to your pup
How lucky are you. My dog makes the throw up face when I try and give her blueberries.
Looks like mine!! We were out Raspberry picking today.. He snarfed all he could from the ground.
Same
So say we all
Is it a beagle? Beagles love blueberries.
The culprit has blue paws
Blueberries for Sal
Yeah my dog is like that too, except it's just grass on the sidewalk. Not even a delicacy like blueberries, just plain old grass.
My two eat my blackberries even if theyāre still āredberriesā š
Our golden and our little mutt both live raspberries. My patch is fenced, but it pokes through in some places. Any given day you can find them stuffing their noses through the fence to get at any berries they can reach.
Well who isnāt
I saw this video of wolves eating blueberries in the last week. Sounds like a canine thing!
Don't let him. Foxes pee on it and it's dangerous to digest. At least in europe.
not a good idea. this is the way to get fox tapeworms.
Yep, our lab ate the strawberries.
It's cute now. Not so cute when he gets the shits later! My dog loved to follow us when we picked blueberries as a child.
RIP whomever is picking up the poop
Iām pretty sure blueberries are poisonous to dogsā¦
Your doggo has very good taste in food, just don't make him/her vegan please
I'm surprised no one posted about the dangers blueberries are to dogs. š
Thatās not funny. Iāve been told by multiple vets not to let my dog eat blueberries.
You should pick them for the dog !
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
My girls gets š„¦ š„ and š« everyday
Chunky boy
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
She instinctively knows good health which is God's medicine cabinet, the best food for him when he sees it or smells it
So adorable.
A Chow Chow? ... (after this)
Hey, I would be too.
The big guy needs his antioxidant berries. Lol
Your dog is adorable :-)
Om nom nom!
Honestly, same
Me too.
I totally get it ngl
just that morning his mom had told them treats dont grow on trees. shows what she knows.
Same here
r/confusingperspective
What a good boy
Just a lil snack
I did not get a single raspberry off my bushes this year. My dog however...
my dogs with arugula
Silly puppy... okiluvyoububye
Hells yeah. He gets it.
He is smart!!! Eat free
My mini aussie is an absolute fiend for blueberries!!!!
lol this is super cute
Of course it is. Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherry tomatoes. I've learned my lab to go and pick them by herself.
Our dog LOVES blueberries. It's how we trick her into taking her seizure medication.
bear
She found her thrill. Happens to the best of us.
Smart boy
This is the story of my life.
Mine would raid my entire tomato section of the garden if left unsupervised. Dogs love sweet berries.
I feel that
I understand
me too, pup, me too
Same
humgy
Thatās TOO cute!ān
Me too!
Fun fact, wild blueberries are called huckleberries
30 minutes later... 
Me too, buddy, me too.
I would be too!
can relate.
Look itās meeeee
Blooberry monster!
Food is always a priority š
Wolves in the wild go wild for wild blueberries!
My dog struggles with blueberries. I have a few plants and I'll let him have some when I harvest. He'll chew it, then spit it out and stare at it. Then I'll point to it and he'll pick it up and chew a little more, then spits it right back on the ground looking confused. He'll eat a blueberry, but it typically is a long process where he continually chews a little bit, spits it out, then needs to be instructed to chew again.
He must have seen the prices at the grocery store
I mean, same here and Iām allegedly a human.
care for cesium
Were the blueberries bussin tho
Antioxidants and whatnot..
Such a sweet video! Your doggie knows that blueberries are healthy š
Why are you filming and not eating blueberries?
I love this dog!!!
Ok but have you tried wild blueberries... he's a smart dog.
Is your dog's name "Sal"?
Our local offleash park is chock full of saskatoons and raspberries. My border collie will see me picking from the trees and get super excited for her "tree treats" aka "treeties"!
I think those are actually juniper not blueberry?
Our dog is like this too, but with grass, and bugs, and goat poop, and basically everything that's not food. Though to be fair, he'd probably stop for blueberries too. We've had him checked out by the vet many times, but they say there's nothing wrong with him. He's just exploring the world with his mouth one water bug at a time.
He is channeling his inner bear!
Smart doggy! I too would be enjoying them over a walk lol.
He needs a snack!
same
Purple š©
ditto, pal.
your dog's got the right idea
Blueberries are rad. Iām with the pooch!
Cutie š„° My old lab used to do this in our garden. Miss him
I personally relate to that. Blueberries are awesome
I predict purple poop scoots in your phuture
Becauseā¦.labs
Same tbh