How much to feed?

Hali · 03-13-2010, 01:51 AM

My Bowie is a rescue dog. He is a lab/pitbull/JRT mix. He is approximately 40 lbs, although he is about 5 lbs (?) underweight due to his neglected puppyhood. (his ribs show a little when he inhales)

When we adopted him from his foster home they provided us with his bag of Kirkland dog food. I've since been slowly switching him over to Acana Pacifica.

I currently feed him 1 cup of Kirkland + 1/2 cup of Acana daily. I also intend to supplement with the occasional raw egg, chicken breast pieces, yogurt and raw veggies (mainly carrots and peas) a couple times a week.

I'll be increasing his Acana by 1/4 cup a week and decreasing the Kirkland.

Once the I'm feeding the Acana completely, I intend to feed him 1 cup per day of the Acana.

He is not a high energy dog and is fairly inactive indoors (loves to snooze and cuddle). He gets an hour/1.5 hour walk every day (30 mins in the morning, 30/45 mins in the evening).

Am I feeding him enough? I would like to see his ribs covered a little bit more.

Any advice?

Mikey · 03-13-2010, 02:03 AM

My dog was 40lbs when we got him (Also underweight) feeding 2 cups a day. So I'd say 1.5 is WAY under what he should be fed.

I'd double at least-over a week or two double that feed.

I'd lose the kirklands right away if you can. Also the Acana isn't what I'd recommend. Do you have 'taste of the wild' or 'orijen' availabe? I'd really recommend those.

Anyways-definitely feed more. Have you tried 'free feeding' ? I find thats easiest and simplest and ensures not only that they have enough but that they dont go batty over food-they eat when they feel like it

Hali · 03-13-2010, 10:49 AM

Thanks! I'll certainly feed him more, starting today!

We do have Orijen & Taste of the Wild (PetPlanet!) here... which one (flavors too) do you recommend the most or are they all good?

I will finish the Acana bag (it was expensive!) but will start switching him over once I get near the end of the bag...

**kmes** · 03-13-2010, 03:50 PM

Any flavor would be great!

I feed Taste of the Wild and rotate the flavors. I know that people also do the same with Orijen. So really it would be up to you and/or your dog's preference!

**kmes** · 03-13-2010, 04:09 PM

Oh! By the way, I just looked at my bag of TOTW (Praire-Roasted Bison and Venison flavor) and it suggested 2 1/3 -3 cups daily for a 40-60 lbs adult dog. Orijen would probably be similar.

Personally I would start off feeding 3 cups a day to help gain weight and then lower the amount slowly so that you know the amount needed for your dog to maintain a healthy body weight.

Free feeding, like Mikey said, would be great! It often works really well if there is only 1 dog in the house. But alas, I have 4, so measured meals are the way to go in my house.

Mikey · 03-19-2010, 04:33 PM

I feed orijen and we rotate flavors-we are feeding the fish formula right now and I think we will do the wild game next

AdoJrts · 03-19-2010, 04:59 PM

You can use the back of a bag as a guideline, but I recommend that everyday you look and feel your dog. I make tiny adjustments to my dogs meals all the time, instead of waiting until they are over/under weight and then having to make larger adjustments.
A good source is the Canine Weight Chart from Purina, it is a very good visual chart.

tankstar · 03-23-2010, 05:22 PM

I think 1.5 cups for a 40lbs dog is a good amount.

My dog at 60lbs is lucky if he gets a full 2 cups a day.

Offcourse you might have a hard keeper, so you will need to add in more. or she may be a easier keeper and need less. All depends on the dog.

Meeka · 04-28-2010, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hali

My Bowie is a rescue dog. He is a lab/pitbull/JRT mix. He is approximately 40 lbs, although he is about 5 lbs (?) underweight due to his neglected puppyhood. (his ribs show a little when he inhales)

When we adopted him from his foster home they provided us with his bag of Kirkland dog food. I've since been slowly switching him over to Acana Pacifica.

I currently feed him 1 cup of Kirkland + 1/2 cup of Acana daily. I also intend to supplement with the occasional raw egg, chicken breast pieces, yogurt and raw veggies (mainly carrots and peas) a couple times a week.

I'll be increasing his Acana by 1/4 cup a week and decreasing the Kirkland.

Once the I'm feeding the Acana completely, I intend to feed him 1 cup per day of the Acana.

He is not a high energy dog and is fairly inactive indoors (loves to snooze and cuddle). He gets an hour/1.5 hour walk every day (30 mins in the morning, 30/45 mins in the evening).

Am I feeding him enough? I would like to see his ribs covered a little bit more.

Any advice?

I would suggest looking at the side of the food container.It should have the right quantity for the right sized dog on there.Normally I just feed my dog what I think is right...for her body weight.

She is about 5kg?

Dawnben · 05-02-2010, 07:05 PM

[quote=Mikey;47746]My dog was 40lbs when we got him (Also underweight) feeding 2 cups a day. So I'd say 1.5 is WAY under what he should be fed.

I'd double at least-over a week or two double that feed.

I'd lose the kirklands right away if you can. Also the Acana isn't what I'd recommend. Do you have 'taste of the wild' or 'orijen' availabe? I'd really recommend those.

Did you know that Kirkland and Taste of the wild are both made by Diamond dog food