So I'm a new dog owner, I grew up having a dog but when she was a puppy i was so young I don't remember what she was like. Well, i'm in my 20s now, married, and my husband and I got a golden retriever puppy who who is nearing 16 weeks old. All this dog wants to do is eat and hump! He can eat SO MUCH and all he wants is more! We're starting to feed him twice a day now, once in the morning and once at night, about 2cups each time. And he wolfs it down and then paces for more. He's roughly 34 lbs and so skinny and lanky, I wonder where it all goes! with the humping, he doesn't hump us (thank God) he humps a neck roll pillow that we gave him when he was littler and a giant stuffed bear. It's pretty funny actually, to watch him try his best to hump because he'll fall over, then just play with whatever it was he was trying to hump.

i guess my question to dog owners: is this normal? Is he turning into an adolescent? I'm worried we're overfeeding him (we had to change foods briefly and he didn't even notice, I read most puppies get upset stomachs), and also with the humping, by not stopping it are we giving him a bad habit? He only does it to those two things.

He gets his final shots on Thursday and then we can finally start taking him out for walks, and it's been so frustrating because he has SO MUCH ENERGY!! lol

Any advice?

I can't really offer much advice, but congrats on the puppy!

I have a Yorkie. She's 9 now but still runs around like a puppy. Best way to burn off all that energy is certainly walks, but you can even take the puppy on runs!

I run with my Yorkie sometimes and there is someone else around my neighborhood that has a TINY dog that will run with it. It's adorable

Congrats on a beautiful puppy! Golden retreivers are my favorite.
Most dog foods (puppy chow) will show on the bag how much you should be feeding your dog based on his weight/age. Or, when you take him for shots, ask how much you should be feeding him!
Are you going to get him fixed [eventually]? That might help with the humping.. good luck!

I grew up with golden retrievers and my mom compared them both to "twins on heroin" during the first two years. They just chewed up everything, humped everything, jumped everywhere, all this despite obedience school BUT they were the best dogs ever and such a huge part of our family.

I would recommend obedience school regardless, to make him understand that you and your husband are the bosses. Having him neutered once he's 6-8mos old will ease the humping, and make sure you walk him TONS to tire him out.

I wanted a golden when I moved out but I just don't have the time or the space to care for a big dog in my apartment. I got a cocker spaniel and he'll be 2 in June. It's been quite the ride, very exhausting at times, but I love him to bits!

Hang in there, it does get better eventually!

Make sure you are feeding a quality dog food. You want your pup to get the best nutrients without feeding him a bunch of fillers!

At 8 months your pup will be fully grown and most likely behave like a pup until about 3 years old. As to the humping, its normal, but I don't know how much is too much -- it isn't really a sexual thing as much as it is a dominance thing (that is what our vet said). Next time you take him to the vet, talk about it. He is probably due for some shots, yes? You should also call the vet and ask about the food. He's a larger dog and very well may require more food especially how you describe his physique. Having him neutered will also make him a tiny bit more docile and less humpy. Also, there are health benefits to neutering. Sad, but true.

i dont think you feed your puppy enough!
i have 2 shih-tzus and in the first year they ate about 4-6 small meals and non of them was obese or anything! a lot of animals (like my cat) tend to behave badly when they're hungry, because hunger does something to your brain that can make you even more active.
my advice is to feed your dog with smaller porions multiple times a day. i feed mine with a handfull of dry dog food mixed with a tablespoon of dog food (EACH!). if i'm making spaghetti, i make spaghetti with dog food for them, sometimes i give them a steak.
take your dog for a walk at least twice a day every day. by being active he'll lose the excess energy that might be associated with the "unwanted" behaviour. play with your dog on a regular basis too, because they need to be held entertained.
basically, it's like with babies or humans. feed well, exercise and entertain

I can't answer your specific questions because I know nothing about puppies, but congrats! We have 2 german shepherds and they are so nice. I LOVE running with them. If you build up and are carefull with when they are eating it's good for them. I have to pay good attention because our dogs are prone to bloat. Don't know if Golden Retrievers are?

Anyhow, have fun! Goodluck with the new responsibilities and enjoy the extra oppertunities to move around.

We are planning on getting him fixed, but he's still too young right now. Our vet recommended that we don't neuter him until he's about a year, because she said that goldens tend to have joint problems, and neutering later on can help with that.

We can't wait to start walking him, we have about 4 days until his last round of shots then we can take him out all we want!

My dog scarfs down her food too. Try putting a tennis ball in the bowl so that he will have to eat slower to work around it. My dog is too dumb to take the tennis ball out. lol

I tried that tonight. I put an upside-down glass in his bowl, and it didn't really help, lol. This dog LOVES to eat. I don't understand how a dog can eat so much and be so lanky!

I can't help with the food thing because my border collie hardly eats her dog food.

About the humping thing, I don't know if I can help, but I can commiserate. I personally think it's normal. My dog is a female and she has a old (human size)exercise ball that she likes to hump occasionally. She seems to do it when she frustrated. It's kinda hilarious.

If you want to slow down his eating, spread out his food in a cake pan or on a cookie sheet that has a rim. I have a 9 month old Doberman. She doesn't hump anything, and quite frankly, I would discourage the habit, as it's pretty rude, especially if he tries it on other dogs.

I think you are feeding him plenty, most likely, but the back of the bag will tell you for sure. My dog eats less than that and she also only eats twice a day. (Twice a day is the ideal schedule, according to my dog's trainers.)

Good luck. Dogs are wonderful.

That's a good idea about his food. He used to not eat so much, and would eat a bit, walk around, and then eat some more. Overall, it would take him 15 minutes to eat a bowl of food, and now, it's more like 3 minutes.

With the humping, it's only his pillow and his bear. He never tries to hump us. The couple of times we did we gave him a little kick and he stopped.

It's pretty hilarious because he *tries* to for the most part, and fails. If it gets bad, we'll discourage it, but for now, I feel a lot better knowing that it's fairly normal.

He has a vet appt on thursday, so we'll ask about food. Because damn, that dog just wants to eat eat eat eat!