Enlarge image

Dog with an empty food bowl: Around a quarter of Labradors and around two thirds of Flat Coated Retrievers have the corresponding mutation

Photo: Getty Images

Dog owners are sometimes like parents; they receive training tips without being asked.

"People are often rude to the owners of fat dogs and accuse them of not paying proper attention to their dogs' diet and exercise," said scientist Eleonor Raffan.

In a study, she and her team suggest that in the case of Labrador retrievers and flat-coated retrievers, this may not be the whole truth.

A genetic mutation could cause the animals to be particularly voracious.

Around a quarter of Labradors and around two thirds of Flat Coated Retrievers have a mutation in the so-called PMOC gene, as researchers have already proven.

The study by Raffan's group from the University of Cambridge now shows how the mutation changes the animals' behavior in relation to food.

"Affected dogs tend to overeat because they get hungry more quickly between meals than dogs without this mutation," said Raffan.

The study was published in the journal “Science Advances” and was first reported by the portal “Scinexx”.

This time allowed: endless eating

87 adult dogs that were healthy or slightly overweight took part in the study.

The experiment must have started off like a paradise for the dogs: they were allowed to eat as much as they wanted.

They were given a can of dog food every 20 minutes.

Everyone ate huge amounts, there was no difference between dogs with and without the mutation, and everyone felt full with a similar amount, the group reports.

At least for a short time.

“Sausage in the box” test

On another day, participating dogs received their normal morning ration.

Three hours later, they were presented with a sausage in a transparent and sealed container - so the dogs could see the sausage inside but not eat it.

The researchers recorded the animals' behavior when they were confronted with this box.

(See in the video.)

The result: The dogs with the mutation tried significantly more vehemently to get the sausage out of the box than dogs without the mutation.

For the researchers, this is an indication that they could become more hungry more quickly.

The animals were then allowed to rest and sleep in a room where values ​​from their breathing air were measured.

According to the researchers, it was found that dogs with the mutation burn around 25 percent fewer calories than dogs without the mutation.

Double disadvantage

The researchers deduce that the POMC mutation changes a hunger signaling pathway in the brain that is related to the regulation of body weight.

The mutation triggers a hunger signal that causes the body to increase food intake and conserve energy - even though this is not actually necessary.

"Labrador and Flat Coated Retriever owners need to be careful about what they feed these highly food-motivated dogs to help them maintain a healthy weight," Raffan said.

According to her, dogs with this genetic mutation have a double disadvantage: "Not only do they want to eat more, but they also need fewer calories because they don't burn them as quickly."

In everyday life, owners could help their dogs deal with this feeling of hunger.

It could help, for example, to divide the daily food using automatic feeders so that it takes longer for your dogs to eat it.

ani