Feeding Question

[Izzysdad]

He's around 35lbs so a bit on the smaller side. I'm feeding him Wellness Complete Health. Feeding instructions say 1.25-2 cups per day for dogs 25-45 lbs. This seems like a really low amount for an active dog like him.

 

Thoughts on this? Thanks!

 

Tim

[Sue R]

Those recommendations cover a large size range and sound pretty reasonable to me, as long as the dog is doing well on the recommended amount for his/her size.

 

My bitch is 35# at a good weight, and she only gets one cup of quality kibble a day (plus a bit of raw meat and a raw egg). Celt, at 42#, stays trim at 2 cups of kibble and about twice the raw meat Megan gets and a raw egg. Dan, the pup, eats two cups of kibble, plus the meat and an egg.

 

Some dogs are easy keepers, some are more or less active, and some are hard keepers - all of which contribute to how much an individual needs to eat.

 

Feed your dog a set amount, check his condition often, cut back if he's putting on fat, feed more if he's losing condition, and be the judge of what's best for him by hands-on inspection. Check for fat over the ribs, a well-defined waist (both from above and the side), fat on the belly, and a good, glossy coat and bright eyes.

[juliepoudrier]

None of my dogs eats more than 2 cups a day of a good-quality kibble. One of my main working dogs (i.e., very active) eats 1-1.5 cups a day.

 

Sue's right: start feeding a set amount and then see how *your* dog does on that amount. Adjust up or down as needed. Although I say none of my dogs eats more than 2 cups a day, I have upped one of them to as much as 2.5 cups when he started to get thin (he's back to 2 cups now) and have dropped others from 1.5 c to 1 c when I felt that the fat layer over the ribs was getting a bit, um, thick. Feeding is a dynamic process; don't expect to set a particular amount and use it always....

 

J.

[Jedismom]

Like everyone's said, it depends on your dog. Jedi is about 42 lbs, very lean and lots of muscle. He gets 3 cups of high quality kibble per day.

[Izzysdad]

Thanks all! Tobey is my first adult dog as an adult and when I was a kid I had a Golden that ate more than that, but I'm sure it was probably crap food as that was over 15 years ago. He's in good shape now so I'm gonna go with 1.5 cups to start as Izzy is keeping him busy running around the yard

 

Tim

[Sue R]

You have to feed more junk food to get some nutrition, most dog foods (the less responsible ones, anyway) recommend overfeeeding (they are selling dog food - duh!), and most folks overfeed anyway. Dry foods are concentrated compared to meats and so on those components have all the natural water content, so it can be misleading and you think you are not feeding enough when you could be overfeeding.

 

Best wishes!

[BustopherJones]

Annie hovers around 35 pounds of solid muscle, no fat. She gets 1 cup of kibble and 1/4 can of moist, mixed with a little watered-down low sodium beef or chicken broth, twice per day; her total intake is therefore 2 cups of kibble and 1/2 can of moist per day. (Both the kibble and the moist are Royal Canin.) Sometimes the moist is replaced or supplemented by something else (chicken, steak, etc.), but the kibble is a constant.

[Izzysdad]

He likes yogurt and cottage cheese and I've been mixing in a bit of that because the farm said he can be a picky eater and that will get him to eat. He'll get boiled chicken a couple times a week as well. I don't to overfeed obviously and that is my main concern. Izzy on the other hand could certainly use more food and I've started adjusting her diet a bit.

 

Tim