Why Your Dog is Hungry Like a Wolf

In the past I have written about my dog. We consider her a member of the family. Her name is Minnie Pearl, Pearl for short. My husband and I adopted her from a wonderful rescue in Middletown, New York called Pets Alive. Pearl is your pretty typical dog. However, she has a very strict routine she want us to adhere to when it come to food and treats.

Daily, we feed her breakfast and dinner, plus she has a bone she gets a treat in usually twice a day and then there are the two or three biscuits that are randomly hand out throughout the day. All in all she eats just fine for a dog her size unless we have a stretch of cold weather like we have been experiencing then she becomes a bottomless pit.

Have you noticed that your dog seems to have an increased appetite? Does it seem every time your in the kitchen they are on your heals? If this his happening with your dog there is no need to worry I looked up what I thought was going on with Pearl on the internet and discovered I was kind of right.

According to True Carnivores your dog maybe eating more to stay warm. But they also suggest that it could go back to their canine roots. Dogs maybe channeling their inner Wolf. Wolves hunt and eat more in the winter so that they can maintain a layer of fat to stay warm. They eat when food is available knowing that food can be scare in the colder months. Your dog may instinctually doing the same thing.

True Carnivores also mentions that a hormone could also be playing a part in this as well.  They shared that as the days get shorter your dog may be getting hormonal signals that alter their metabolism which then triggers them to eat more. You dog also needs extra food to make up for the body heat they lose shivering. True Carnivores mention a study that shows that dogs in colder climates actually need 2 - 3 times more food than a dog in a moderate climate.

So stock up on the Milk Bones we have about another month of our dogs over snacking if the ground hog got it right.