My dog is always hungry.

Question
I have this dog by accident.  She was a stray that I started to feed and then I fell in love with her.  I didn't know she was pregnant at the time and she gave birth to 10 puppies.  She delivered them a little over a month ago and stopped feeding them a week ago.  And now all of a sudden it seems that she is always hungry.  I will feed her in the morning and she'll be at the back door looking for more.  I feed her in the afternoon and evening too and the minute I come out to hand feed her pups she acts as if I haven't fed her in a month of Sundays.  Even right after she's eaten.  Is this normal?  I hope you can help me.  Thank you in advance for any help you give.

Regards,

Robert

Answer
Hi Robert,

It's quite normal that a dog will be so hungry after after raising a litter of puppies. You didn't say if you had your dog on a more nutritionally dense diet during her pregnancy, and while she was nursing. Milk production is one of the most nutritionally demanding stages in a female dog's life.
If you didn't have her on a special diet, that could explain this intense hunger.

Usually after the puppies are weaned, it's time to decrease the amount of food the dog gets.   
If it were my dog, I'd have the veterinarian examine her now.

You'd rather see if giving your dog as much food as she wants solves this problem, then try "free-range" feeding at this time. That means keeping her bowl full and available at all times,  instead of having twice a day mealtimes. The big unknown here is whether or not you gave your dog the special diet while she was pregnant and nursing.

If she continues to act like she can't get enough food after a week of "free-range" feeding, then it's time for a vet exam.

Best of luck,

Patti