How much to feed a 10 week puppy

[Alchemist]

Mine eat TOTW, too. Good idea to steer clear of Iams and Science Diet. You can do much better for your dog, and for less. The site that John linked (dogfoodproject.com) is an excellent source to learn from, I highly recommend it.

 

And ditto whoever said not to go just by what the bag says. They're just a range, anyway, I usually stay at the lower end. You want slow steady growth, not a roly poly puppy.

 

I second (third?) the dogfoodproject website. Very educational.

 

As far as what the bag says... I spent a lot of time in the feed store (where I was buying the brand of kibble recommended by Duncan's breeder, not available locally) guessing how much he'd need until he reached the age where she recommended switching over to adult food. (In retrospect I'd do the switchover earlier for my next pup). I started with his weight at 8 weeks, guessing how much he'd weigh at intervals, based on his parents' weights and typical puppy growth progressions. (A good exercise for my math skills). Worked out that I'd need two biggish bags of kibble. We ended up using only one, gave the other away to a shelter.

 

So, for a pup on the large-ish end of things (he's 40 pounds now), the rule of thumb worked out to "feed half what it recommends on the bag". YMMV - different pups will need different amounts of food, but Liz and Paula are absolutely right: keep them thin, not roly-poly.

[Jedismom]

You probably already know this but just in case...The TOW is a very different food than the one you've been feeding, so I suggest transitioning to the new food slowly. 25% TOW for 3 days, 50% for 3 days, 75% for 3 days...walla. Some people would recommend going cold turkey and I do sometimes, but not if the food is very different, like going from grain to grain-free. Good luck! Your pup is so adorable by the way.

[flyingcircleg]

Pulling up a old post, but was looking at the different TOTW foods. Depending on which "flavor" you feed the protien and fat levels vary big time from 32grams down to 25 grams, higher protien has less fats it looks like and lower protien flavors have higher fats. Any thoughts on which you feed, pup is still youg and not super active and working *yet*...

[madrose124]

didn't realize this was so old....but oh well

 

When feeding, it's always best to feed grain free for dogs--long term health benefits are worth it. All to often dog food is basically made up of all the leftovers from commercial producers and packaged to make it look like you are feeding good stuff. When in fact, it's probably better for chickens than it is for dogs.

 

Avoid anything with corn, soy, and wheat. I also like to avoid chicken as most dogs will develop an allergy to chicken.

 

Avoid foods that have "by product meal" --that's basically chicken beaks.

 

I always told my clients to look specifically at the first three ingredients, the first should be a meat protein you recognize in the form of either whole or "meal" (i.e. salmon, salmon meal). The next ingredient should be a food item your recognize, such as sweet potato. Same as the third.

 

Don't by a food that has mostly corn, soy or rice, with "chicken flavor" down the line.

 

Don't just look at the label and packaging. Marketing is deceiving, no matter how many vegetables, leaves, or chicken drumsticks they feature on the bag, it' doesn't guarantee healthy.

 

I personally feed Nature's Domain which is found at Costco. Best darn bang for your buck. $33 for 35# of grain free good dog food. Might not be THE best dog you could buy, but it's the best hands down on a budget. Comparables are Taste of the Wild & Earthborn, which is generally $48 for 30#. Occassionally I will buy one of those bags in Bison or something unique to change up the protein source, but so far Nature's domain offers turkey, salmon, beef and possibly now chicken.

 

You also feed considerably less for those feeds than you do the crappier stuff. Even the generic Eukanuba is more costly than buying ND when you consider price, for how much you end up having to feed.

These foods are also "all life stages" and will have the proper food feeding schedule on the back. I prefer to free feed my puppies until a certain age, unless they binge unto the point of rolly polly oblivion.

 

My ridgeback for example eats about 4.5 cups per day of the stuff and he is 85lbs. My Aussie is 30lbs and eats about 2-2.5 plus what ever meat scraps i give them etc.

 

Great stuff. I pretty much loathe and despise all those crappy brands like Pedigree, Eukanuba, Iams---they really do pull one over on the public! It's all just the same old same old crap.

 

And no, Science Diet isn't all that great either. I'd say it's the best of the crap foods at least. Not my favorite.

 

If you have a dog with allergies, find it a limited ingredient feed--many come with sweet potato and duck only for example.

[madrose124]

Pulling up a old post, but was looking at the different TOTW foods. Depending on which "flavor" you feed the protien and fat levels vary big time from 32grams down to 25 grams, higher protien has less fats it looks like and lower protien flavors have higher fats. Any thoughts on which you feed, pup is still youg and not super active and working *yet*...

I would free feed the lower protein. Too much protein will have them grow far to fast IMO

[simba]

I dunno, I don't see why grain is particularly bad for dogs. They've evolved to eat it, they produce the necessary things to break it down, I've yet to see any good research saying grain-fed dogs lead shorter lives. Could be influenced in this by Terrierman, the cynoanarchist, skeptvet and the people at Science Based Medicine, but I see no reason to adopt a different position to them.

[madrose124]

Wheat, corn & soy are bad for HUMANS. I'm not sure how it could be any better for a carnivore. I'm not saying you should never ever ever let them eat the stuff (my dog treats aren't usually grain free) but I will never feed a dog food with grains like that in them. Especially since most of those foods, it is the primary ingredients.

 

I've read studies that show otherwise. But I don't feel like searching for them now. Nobody even used commercial dog food up until after WW2, it's just a way of getting money for the "extras" left over.

[GentleLake]

I dunno, I don't see why grain is particularly bad for dogs.

 

Many dogs are allergic to some or all grains.

 

And while dogs can digest carbs (and all commercial dry dog foods contain carbs), non-grain carbs are a better choice for many dogs.

[Smalahundur]

Nobody even used commercial dog food up until after WW2, it's just a way of getting money for the "extras" left over.

You should read the section about feeding dogs in John Holmes "the farmdog".

[Smalahundur]

Many dogs are allergic to some or all grains.

Funnily, more dogs are allergic to one or more kinds of animal protein.

Not really a reason to stop feeding them any kind of meat now is it?

[Gideon's girl]

If you are talking about a true allergy then that's true, but when it comes to adverse food reactions, those are becoming more and more common and often vets don't even recognize them for what they are. The owners have to work out what does and doesn't work for their dog. In fact, many dogs who have "grain allergies" are actually reacting to storage mites, but the end result is that you still have to avoid all grain.

 

Unfortunately, I do come across people that want to go vegan with their dogs because of food intolerances and allergies. What they don't get is the reaction is to proteins in the food and there are proteins in almost all foods, so avoiding all meat is not the answer. Figuring out the exact ingredients that cause problems is. My dog can't do chicken, many grains, and tomato.

[GentleLake]

Do you have food allergies, Smalaundur? I do, as well as other environmental allergies, and they're no fun. I try to identify the culprits and avoid them.

 

It's a quality of life thing.

 

So, yeah, if my dog were allergic to a meat protein, I wouldn't feed that meat to my dog, the same as I'd avoid feeding onions or grapes or exposing him other to dogs infected with communicable diseases.

 

Why would I deliberately make my dog sick?

[flyingcircleg]

Can somebody explain crude fat vs protien.

[mum24dog]

I dunno, I don't see why grain is particularly bad for dogs. They've evolved to eat it, they produce the necessary things to break it down, I've yet to see any good research saying grain-fed dogs lead shorter lives. Could be influenced in this by Terrierman, the cynoanarchist, skeptvet and the people at Science Based Medicine, but I see no reason to adopt a different position to them.

 

 

Thank you for those links. it's worrying that ill informed opinion can force companies to make changes when there is no evidence to do so.

[Smalahundur]

Do you have food allergies, Smalaundur? I do, as well as other environmental allergies, and they're no fun. I try to identify the culprits and avoid them.

 

It's a quality of life thing.

 

So, yeah, if my dog were allergic to a meat protein, I wouldn't feed that meat to my dog, the same as I'd avoid feeding onions or grapes or exposing him other to dogs infected with communicable diseases.

 

Why would I deliberately make my dog sick?

That is a pretty strange interpretation of what I wrote...

[mum24dog]

If you are talking about a true allergy then that's true, but when it comes to adverse food reactions, those are becoming more and more common and often vets don't even recognize them for what they are.

 

If they aren't being diagnosed how do you know that they are becoming more and more common?

 

Assumptions from dog owners who don't understand the nature of cause and effect?

[Gideon's girl]

Actually, I don't know that they are becoming more common, so much as people are becoming more aware that they need to keep looking for solutions. I know that I'm being asked to help more people figure out what is wrong with their dog than ever before. The dogs have skin issues, the vets prescribe antibiotics and steroids. It fixes the problem for a couple weeks, then it's back, and the vet wants to do the same thing over again. That's treatment, not diagnosis. Eventually owners may figure out that their dog gets worse on some foods than others, or someone will suggest to them that those symptoms might be because of an adverse food reaction.

 

When I was working, our practice had probably 10-20 dogs total with these types of reactions. Same practice, many years later, my vet says she sees about 10 a week. They have learned finally to suggest a food change might be in order, which usually means recommending Hill's Z/D or some such, but they generally still treat them the same, antibiotics and steroids. That's why I think they are more common. It could be that in the past these were dogs that just sat at home and suffered.

[simba]

Had a big coherent post to this but computer ate it.

Gideon's girl- that's a really good point. Maybe it's like autism- people used to be just 'weird', dogs were 'just itchy', now we have the tools to understand what's going on?

 

Mum24dog- didn't Honest Kitchen (or something like that) bring out herbal teas for pets? I've seen dog food with glucosamine in it as well.

 

 

Many dogs are allergic to some or all grains.

 

And while dogs can digest carbs (and all commercial dry dog foods contain carbs), non-grain carbs are a better choice for many dogs.

One of the most common food allergies in dogs is to beef, and no-one's yet mentioned that new puppy owners shouldn't feed it. Just because it's allergenic doesn't mean it's a bad food.

 

I agree completely, if particular dogs don't do well on grains don't feed them grains. But there could just as well be dogs who do poorly on non-grain carbs. My point is we don't have much evidence at the moment to make overall statements about which is 'better', or long-term outcomes.

 

Wheat, corn & soy are bad for HUMANS. I'm not sure how it could be any better for a carnivore. I'm not saying you should never ever ever let them eat the stuff (my dog treats aren't usually grain free) but I will never feed a dog food with grains like that in them. Especially since most of those foods, it is the primary ingredients.

 

I've read studies that show otherwise. But I don't feel like searching for them now. Nobody even used commercial dog food up until after WW2, it's just a way of getting money for the "extras" left over.

Wheat, corn and soy being bad for humans- in all forms? In any quantities? Under what circumstances? What's your source?

 

Dogs have been fed the bits left over for longer than that. Read old books which treat of dog husbandry and look at the reccommended recipes: horse with stale oatmeal and boiled greens, porridge, chapatis and soup. Do you have evidence (like well-conducted scientific research) that shows "long term health benefits" in dogs fed commercial grain-free food compared to equivalent grain-containing food?

 

I want to feed my dogs what's best, which is why it irritates me that so often we don't know what 'best' is. So I'd be grateful for any good evidence on this (evidence grains in general are harmful to dogs' health, and that other carbs are good/better).

[madrose124]

Had a big coherent post to this but computer ate it.

Gideon's girl- that's a really good point. Maybe it's like autism- people used to be just 'weird', dogs were 'just itchy', now we have the tools to understand what's going on?

 

Mum24dog- didn't Honest Kitchen (or something like that) bring out herbal teas for pets? I've seen dog food with glucosamine in it as well.

 

 

One of the most common food allergies in dogs is to beef, and no-one's yet mentioned that new puppy owners shouldn't feed it. Just because it's allergenic doesn't mean it's a bad food.

 

I agree completely, if particular dogs don't do well on grains don't feed them grains. But there could just as well be dogs who do poorly on non-grain carbs. My point is we don't have much evidence at the moment to make overall statements about which is 'better', or long-term outcomes.

 

Wheat, corn and soy being bad for humans- in all forms? In any quantities? Under what circumstances? What's your source?

 

Dogs have been fed the bits left over for longer than that. Read old books which treat of dog husbandry and look at the reccommended recipes: horse with stale oatmeal and boiled greens, porridge, chapatis and soup. Do you have evidence (like well-conducted scientific research) that shows "long term health benefits" in dogs fed commercial grain-free food compared to equivalent grain-containing food?

 

I want to feed my dogs what's best, which is why it irritates me that so often we don't know what 'best' is. So I'd be grateful for any good evidence on this (evidence grains in general are harmful to dogs' health, and that other carbs are good/better).

4 years ago I did extensive research on the matter (history degree, with far too many how to research classes behind my belt) and came to the conclusion that I would feed grain free. For me, it's the quality of protein and nutrition that my dogs get in a grain free food.

 

There will always be different opinions on the matter, but the way I see it, I want their primary food source to be a grain free food. Otherwise you are wasting much of the food as their bodies do not process it quite as well. For this reason I also do not feed any chicken based dog food. Yes, dogs can have grain or protein allergies---more commonly corn, soy, and chicken. I know some stores that carry kangaroo meat based food for dogs with allergies!

 

I have a wheat allergy, specifically durum wheat. It reaks havoc on my stomach. If I so much as mix a spoon in the wrong pasta pot, I will be down for hours. When I did research to first find out was going on (I had chronic rashes and toe infections during this time) I found how our human bodies are not designed to process as much grain as we eat in the american diet. A majority of people have underlying sensitivies to wheat, grain, and soy. It manifests in inflamation for one. They believe it may be one reason why cancer is so prevalent. As for corn...it's yummy to eat but check you poo the next time you eat it, our bodies pull very little nutrient from corn.

 

I don't really have the time right now to go refind all the research and studies and modes of thought on the subject, but that was my determination.

 

Now, do I think my dog will get cancer and die because she ate the bread off the floor? No. I still eat snickers even though I am fairly certain it's 99% fake food. Moderation is key, and for those that feed primarily commercial dog food, feeding anything but grain free will not be feeding grain "in moderation".

[simba]

Corn will be better digested depending on how it's cooked or processed, the same as any other food. Ground and then cooked, it's digestible for dogs. It's possible that perhaps the quality of the nutrition from that won't be as good as from ground processed potato, but to argue that you'd have to explain how we know that it's the case, and then why it is.

 

 

I mentioned beef because beef, dairy, and then wheat and chicken seem to be the most common allergens for dogs, much more common than corn, not just because dogs can have allergies to plant or animal sources. That was why I was

wondering about why beef doesn't get mentioned. Meat proteins as an group tend to cause more allergies in dogs than plant proteins. I'd be interested to see the study or source that found corn, soy, and chicken to be the most common allergens.

 

Have you any evidence that sweet potato is less allergenic, or easier to digest/better processed than corn? You'd expect to see fewer sweet potato allergies in the average dog because the average dog isn't fed sweet potato, so you'd have to look at dogs fed it routinely or exposed to it. Otherwise it's not sensible to make the argument that one should feed sweet potato instead of grains because grains can cause allergies.

 

Allergenic doesn't equal 'bad' per se: my friend's life-threatening pollen allergy is not evidence that trees and flowers are 'bad for humans'. It would make sense that people have allergies to grains, because they're exposed to a lot of them (though shellfish, peanuts, nuts, and milk are some of the most common allergens). I have sympathy for your experiences, I have allergies too.

 

No-one has suggested feeding a dog anything it's allergic to, and it seems most dogs aren't allergic to grains.

 

Asserting that one group of carbohydrate sources should not be fed ("avoid anything with.."), and another is better ("long term health benefits"), is not arguing moderation per se- why moderation in one carb source but not another?

 

You could just as easily reframe the argument and say 'well, non-grain carbs are probably not going to kill anyone, but why not feed them in moderation?' It wouldn't make sense unless you provided evidence both that they did harm and the alternative was better.

 

Side-track: came across more old dog diets, from the 1930's. Brown bread, milk, and barley-beef-vegetable soup.