New Puppy - How Much to Feed - Spoiled Maltese - the largest maltese dog forum and website

**TStang** · 07-01-2009, 10:33 AM

Hi Everyone!

I found this site to learn about Maltese and found it very helpful and informative. Last night we brought home two little boys for our two boys who wanted a Maltese very badly for some time now. They are soooo excited!

The owner said she has fed the pups "a handful" of moistened Eukanuba puppy kibbles twice daily due to a work schedule. I would like to be more exact in measurements so that everyone in our family follows the same feeding pattern. We are home all day and think it best to go to 3 feedings a day until they are older.

I have looked for charts but can not find one. How much do you suggest in each feeding for 8 week old males that weigh approx 1 lb 12 oz?

Thanks so much!

camfan · 07-01-2009, 10:38 AM

QUOTE (TStang @ Jul 1 2009, 09:33 AM)

Quote:

Hi Everyone!

I found this site to learn about Maltese and found it very helpful and informative. Last night we brought home two little boys for our two boys who wanted a Maltese very badly for some time now. They are soooo excited!

The owner said she has fed the pups "a handful" of moistened Eukanuba puppy kibbles twice daily due to a work schedule. I would like to be more exact in measurements so that everyone in our family follows the same feeding pattern. We are home all day and think it best to go to 3 feedings a day until they are older.

I have looked for charts but can not find one. How much do you suggest in each feeding for 8 week old males that weigh approx 1 lb 12 oz?

Thanks so much![/B]

Wow--those are young/small babies...personally I don't know guidelines for babies that young/small so I will default to those that know a lot more on the forum....

**LJSquishy** · 07-01-2009, 10:54 AM

The recommended age for a Maltese puppy to leave it's mother is 12 weeks of age. Since you got your two babies so soon, they will need special care. First you will want to take them both to a vet for a complete check-up and blood test.

As far as how much food to feed, they should eat at least 3 meals per day. I choose to free-feed my dogs, meaning food is down all of the time. This does not work for all dogs, as some will overeat. Puppies need LOTS of food and nutrition as they grow, so I would allow them EACH 1/2 cup per meal, 3x per day...or better yet, offer them more food than you know they can eat.

You will also want to purchase a tube of Nutri-Cal if you don't already have that. It is used to help prevent Hypoglycemia in young puppies. You will want to monitor them closely as they are very young and it can happen in an instant.

Eukanuba is a very low quality food to feed, so I would recommend switching their food in a few weeks -- they are too young right now to handle a food switch well. Many of us feed Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison or their Potato & Duck formula (dry kibble, not canned) and there are a number of other quality foods out there. You can visit http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com and click on "Reviews" to search for a new food for your two babies. Any food rated 4-stars or higher is considered a high quality food. Many of the 5-6 star foods we have found are too high in protein for Maltese to properly digest and it leads to runny poo and/or upset tummies. That's why many of us opt for the 4-star Natural Balance food -- it has a much lower protein content.

Please let us know if there is any other help we can offer! Welcome to Spoiled Maltese.

**Starsmom** · 07-01-2009, 11:30 AM

QUOTE (TStang @ Jul 1 2009, 06:33 AM)

Quote:

Hi Everyone!

I found this site to learn about Maltese and found it very helpful and informative. Last night we brought home two little boys for our two boys who wanted a Maltese very badly for some time now. They are soooo excited!

The owner said she has fed the pups "a handful" of moistened Eukanuba puppy kibbles twice daily due to a work schedule. I would like to be more exact in measurements so that everyone in our family follows the same feeding pattern. We are home all day and think it best to go to 3 feedings a day until they are older.

I have looked for charts but can not find one. How much do you suggest in each feeding for 8 week old males that weigh approx 1 lb 12 oz?

Thanks so much![/B]

I too cannot give you an answer to your measurement question, but I'm sure one of the real breeders here will. However, I suspect you purchased your pups from a BYB since they are so young.

The recommended age is 12 weeks before pups are sent to their forever homes by all reputable breeders here in the USA. Also a dedicated breeder doesn't let a work schedule interfere with the pups - the pups are a real breeders priority. What method did you use to find these pups? Did you inquire about DNA testing, and the bloodlines of these pups BEFORE you committed to the purchase of two? What kind of health guarantee did you receive with the pups? A vet trip is essential ASAP. Also what are the ages of your boys? Usually breeders aren't inclined to adopt out their pups to homes with very small children b/c the pups are so small, and can easily get injured by being squeezed, or being fallen on.

Good luck with them, you're going to be kept very busy!

**08chrissy08** · 07-01-2009, 12:15 PM

I have to say I'm quite shocked to hear that it was recommended that you only feed them twice a day at that age. I didn't drop down to only two meals a day until my two were 6 months old! Growing puppies, especially dogs that are so prone to hypoglycemia, really need more frequent feedings then that. Hopefully someone else with more knowledge can chime in.

**TStang** · 07-01-2009, 12:46 PM

Yes, because I found the great info on this site, we bought the NutriCal on the way to pick them up. Do you give them a set schedule of Nutrical for a certain period of time?

We will also be switching to a different recommended food soon and understand the gradual change method since we already have an adopted lab mix that is 4 yrs old. Can you get the Natural Balance from Petsmart or Petco?

And yes, after doing alot of research after we decided Maltese, I was disappointed to learn how many brokers for puppy mills are out there as well as byb's. We can afford to buy whatever puppy we would like, but it is much more a matter of agreement between us as parents. One of us understood the cost of well bred puppies but still could not agree on paying that much since they did not grow up with dogs as a loved part of the family. Rather than have several arguments and force the issue, I decided to find the best puppy that I could within the budget.

Sooooo, I set out to find a great quality puppy that was very close to breed standards from someone I trusted. I found a local ad (North Atlanta) for 4 beautiful puppies. I spoke personally with the owner, a nursing school student, who has a 3 yr old female Maltese from a trusted breeder (paid $1500). Her mother has a 2 yr old male Maltese that was also purchased from a known trusted breeder. Well, guess what happened when they weren't looking?

So she had 4 puppies for a very reasonable price in my range. Both parents were on site, human and Maltese, and I had absolutely no reason to suspect anything other than the story as they portrayed it.

I had previously visited another person last weekend and I firmly believe that he, www.familymaltese.com, is a broker for a puppy mill - only pics of parents that are in SC (??), nice but definitely had his pitch down from experience. Found out more about him from a member of this site. Thanks for the call, you know who you are!

I had also spoken personally with two separate ladies nearby with cute little puppies for sale. After researching I determined that one is already listed in a couple of forums as a puppy mill, and the other had puppies for a discount that were "outside in a building", and others a little higher that are from "her house dogs" that were born and being raised "inside" with the family.

So we kept looking........and found the two that we brought home. I had learned that 12 mos was preferable but felt that these were the best option for us with the understanding that greater care and attention were needed.

Both of us parents are home as we have a home office for work, and our two mature, well behaved boys just turned 12 and 16. We have had discussions about handling the young pups as well as avoiding "small dog behavior symptons". We are a very disciplined family when it comes to this kind of thing, and everyone is already engaged fully to make our two boys, Champ and Cash, welcome and well adjusted.

In the end, I felt that taking these two did not contribute in any way to perpetuating puppy mills or byb's, but gave a very loving home to two wonderful little brothers. We got my wish for the first picks of the litter, and each of my boys love them so much already.

Sorry for the long story, but wanted to introduce our story a little more and thank you all for the answers so far.

I think it's almost time for some Nutrical. How often and how much?

Thanks again!

**Starsmom** · 07-01-2009, 01:13 PM

"And yes, after doing alot of research after we decided Maltese, I was disappointed to learn how many brokers for puppy mills are out there as well as byb's. We can afford to buy whatever puppy we would like, but it is much more a matter of agreement between us as parents. One of us understood the cost of well bred puppies but still could not agree on paying that much since they did not grow up with dogs as a loved part of the family. Rather than have several arguments and force the issue, I decided to find the best puppy that I could within the budget.

Sooooo, I set out to find a great quality puppy that was very close to breed standards from someone I trusted. I found a local ad (North Atlanta) for 4 beautiful puppies. I spoke personally with the owner, a nursing school student, who has a 3 yr old female Maltese from a trusted breeder (paid $1500). Her mother has a 2 yr old male Maltese that was also purchased from a known trusted breeder. Well, guess what happened when they weren't looking?

So she had 4 puppies for a very reasonable price in my range. Both parents were on site, human and Maltese, and I had absolutely no reason to suspect anything other than the story as they portrayed it.

I had previously visited another person last weekend and I firmly believe that he, www.familymaltese.com, is a broker for a puppy mill - only pics of parents that are in SC (??), nice but definitely had his pitch down from experience. Found out more about him from a member of this site. Thanks for the call, you know who you are!

I had also spoken personally with two separate ladies nearby with cute little puppies for sale. After researching I determined that one is already listed in a couple of forums as a puppy mill, and the other had puppies for a discount that were "outside in a building", and others a little higher that are from "her house dogs" that were born and being raised "inside" with the family.

So we kept looking........and found the two that we brought home. I had learned that 12 mos was preferable but felt that these were the best option for us with the understanding that greater care and attention were needed.

Both of us parents are home as we have a home office for work, and our two mature, well behaved boys just turned 12 and 16. We have had discussions about handling the young pups as well as avoiding "small dog behavior symptons". We are a very disciplined family when it comes to this kind of thing, and everyone is already engaged fully to make our two boys, Champ and Cash, welcome and well adjusted.

In the end, I felt that taking these two did not contribute in any way to perpetuating puppy mills or byb's, but gave a very loving home to two wonderful little brothers. We got my wish for the first picks of the litter, and each of my boys love them so much already."

Do these trusted people show their dogs? I truly believe you purchased from a slick BYB. You must have missed this recent post - please read. MALTESE BREEDERS - How to find and evaulate

**LJSquishy** · 07-01-2009, 01:18 PM

I would give your babies a little dab of Nutri-Cal on your finger probably 3-4 times per day. I like to scrape it on the roof of their mouths, as my babies have never liked the taste of it (although some dogs do! lol). Just a tiny dab should do it.

Natural Balance can be purchased at most Petco stores. Petco carries a few really high quality brands, but they also carry the lower quality stuff, too. Petsmart doesn't carry any of the really good brands unfortunately. At my Petco, the price of the Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison went up...$37.99 for a 15lb bag, and $57.99 for the 28lb bag (I think that was the price of the 28lb bag). It went up about $5-$7 since the last time I bought it. lol I thought I would mention that just so you have an idea of what you will be paying.

Also, if you visit the Natural Balance food website and sign up for their emails, you will occasionally receive coupons in your email.

**TStang** · 07-01-2009, 01:53 PM

QUOTE (LJSquishy @ Jul 1 2009, 12:18 PM)

Quote:

I would give your babies a little dab of Nutri-Cal on your finger probably 3-4 times per day. I like to scrape it on the roof of their mouths, as my babies have never liked the taste of it (although some dogs do! lol). Just a tiny dab should do it.

Natural Balance can be purchased at most Petco stores. Petco carries a few really high quality brands, but they also carry the lower quality stuff, too. Petsmart doesn't carry any of the really good brands unfortunately. At my Petco, the price of the Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison went up...$37.99 for a 15lb bag, and $57.99 for the 28lb bag (I think that was the price of the 28lb bag). It went up about $5-$7 since the last time I bought it. lol I thought I would mention that just so you have an idea of what you will be paying.

Also, if you visit the Natural Balance food website and sign up for their emails, you will occasionally receive coupons in your email.

[/B]

Thanks, they are about to get their first dose right now.

07-01-2009, 10:54 AM	#3 (permalink)
LJSquishy Maltese Guru Name: Lisa Dog's Name: London (12/20/07) & Preston (03/25/09) Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Washington Posts: 3,193	The recommended age for a Maltese puppy to leave it's mother is 12 weeks of age. Since you got your two babies so soon, they will need special care. First you will want to take them both to a vet for a complete check-up and blood test. As far as how much food to feed, they should eat at least 3 meals per day. I choose to free-feed my dogs, meaning food is down all of the time. This does not work for all dogs, as some will overeat. Puppies need LOTS of food and nutrition as they grow, so I would allow them EACH 1/2 cup per meal, 3x per day...or better yet, offer them more food than you know they can eat. You will also want to purchase a tube of Nutri-Cal if you don't already have that. It is used to help prevent Hypoglycemia in young puppies. You will want to monitor them closely as they are very young and it can happen in an instant. Eukanuba is a very low quality food to feed, so I would recommend switching their food in a few weeks -- they are too young right now to handle a food switch well. Many of us feed Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison or their Potato & Duck formula (dry kibble, not canned) and there are a number of other quality foods out there. You can visit http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com and click on "Reviews" to search for a new food for your two babies. Any food rated 4-stars or higher is considered a high quality food. Many of the 5-6 star foods we have found are too high in protein for Maltese to properly digest and it leads to runny poo and/or upset tummies. That's why many of us opt for the 4-star Natural Balance food -- it has a much lower protein content. Please let us know if there is any other help we can offer! Welcome to Spoiled Maltese. __________________

07-01-2009, 12:15 PM	#5 (permalink)
08chrissy08 Maltese Guru Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: California Posts: 1,384	I have to say I'm quite shocked to hear that it was recommended that you only feed them twice a day at that age. I didn't drop down to only two meals a day until my two were 6 months old! Growing puppies, especially dogs that are so prone to hypoglycemia, really need more frequent feedings then that. Hopefully someone else with more knowledge can chime in. __________________

07-01-2009, 01:13 PM	#7 (permalink)
Starsmom Maltese Guru Name: Marsha Dog's Name: Frolicking at the Bridge are Texas Starlight (7/31/98 - 2/18/08) & Scruffy (3/88 - 8/5/98) Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 1,476	"And yes, after doing alot of research after we decided Maltese, I was disappointed to learn how many brokers for puppy mills are out there as well as byb's. We can afford to buy whatever puppy we would like, but it is much more a matter of agreement between us as parents. One of us understood the cost of well bred puppies but still could not agree on paying that much since they did not grow up with dogs as a loved part of the family. Rather than have several arguments and force the issue, I decided to find the best puppy that I could within the budget. Sooooo, I set out to find a great quality puppy that was very close to breed standards from someone I trusted. I found a local ad (North Atlanta) for 4 beautiful puppies. I spoke personally with the owner, a nursing school student, who has a 3 yr old female Maltese from a trusted breeder (paid $1500). Her mother has a 2 yr old male Maltese that was also purchased from a known trusted breeder. Well, guess what happened when they weren't looking? So she had 4 puppies for a very reasonable price in my range. Both parents were on site, human and Maltese, and I had absolutely no reason to suspect anything other than the story as they portrayed it. I had previously visited another person last weekend and I firmly believe that he, www.familymaltese.com, is a broker for a puppy mill - only pics of parents that are in SC (??), nice but definitely had his pitch down from experience. Found out more about him from a member of this site. Thanks for the call, you know who you are! I had also spoken personally with two separate ladies nearby with cute little puppies for sale. After researching I determined that one is already listed in a couple of forums as a puppy mill, and the other had puppies for a discount that were "outside in a building", and others a little higher that are from "her house dogs" that were born and being raised "inside" with the family. So we kept looking........and found the two that we brought home. I had learned that 12 mos was preferable but felt that these were the best option for us with the understanding that greater care and attention were needed. Both of us parents are home as we have a home office for work, and our two mature, well behaved boys just turned 12 and 16. We have had discussions about handling the young pups as well as avoiding "small dog behavior symptons". We are a very disciplined family when it comes to this kind of thing, and everyone is already engaged fully to make our two boys, Champ and Cash, welcome and well adjusted. In the end, I felt that taking these two did not contribute in any way to perpetuating puppy mills or byb's, but gave a very loving home to two wonderful little brothers. We got my wish for the first picks of the litter, and each of my boys love them so much already." Do these trusted people show their dogs? I truly believe you purchased from a slick BYB. You must have missed this recent post - please read. MALTESE BREEDERS - How to find and evaulate __________________ There is nothing like the love of a Maltese!!!

07-01-2009, 01:18 PM	#8 (permalink)
LJSquishy Maltese Guru Name: Lisa Dog's Name: London (12/20/07) & Preston (03/25/09) Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Washington Posts: 3,193	I would give your babies a little dab of Nutri-Cal on your finger probably 3-4 times per day. I like to scrape it on the roof of their mouths, as my babies have never liked the taste of it (although some dogs do! lol). Just a tiny dab should do it. Natural Balance can be purchased at most Petco stores. Petco carries a few really high quality brands, but they also carry the lower quality stuff, too. Petsmart doesn't carry any of the really good brands unfortunately. At my Petco, the price of the Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison went up...$37.99 for a 15lb bag, and $57.99 for the 28lb bag (I think that was the price of the 28lb bag). It went up about $5-$7 since the last time I bought it. lol I thought I would mention that just so you have an idea of what you will be paying. Also, if you visit the Natural Balance food website and sign up for their emails, you will occasionally receive coupons in your email. __________________

07-01-2009, 10:33 AM	#1 (permalink)
TStang Newbie Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 4	Hi Everyone! I found this site to learn about Maltese and found it very helpful and informative. Last night we brought home two little boys for our two boys who wanted a Maltese very badly for some time now. They are soooo excited! The owner said she has fed the pups "a handful" of moistened Eukanuba puppy kibbles twice daily due to a work schedule. I would like to be more exact in measurements so that everyone in our family follows the same feeding pattern. We are home all day and think it best to go to 3 feedings a day until they are older. I have looked for charts but can not find one. How much do you suggest in each feeding for 8 week old males that weigh approx 1 lb 12 oz? Thanks so much!

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07-01-2009, 12:46 PM	#6 (permalink)
TStang Newbie Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 4	Yes, because I found the great info on this site, we bought the NutriCal on the way to pick them up. Do you give them a set schedule of Nutrical for a certain period of time? We will also be switching to a different recommended food soon and understand the gradual change method since we already have an adopted lab mix that is 4 yrs old. Can you get the Natural Balance from Petsmart or Petco? And yes, after doing alot of research after we decided Maltese, I was disappointed to learn how many brokers for puppy mills are out there as well as byb's. We can afford to buy whatever puppy we would like, but it is much more a matter of agreement between us as parents. One of us understood the cost of well bred puppies but still could not agree on paying that much since they did not grow up with dogs as a loved part of the family. Rather than have several arguments and force the issue, I decided to find the best puppy that I could within the budget. Sooooo, I set out to find a great quality puppy that was very close to breed standards from someone I trusted. I found a local ad (North Atlanta) for 4 beautiful puppies. I spoke personally with the owner, a nursing school student, who has a 3 yr old female Maltese from a trusted breeder (paid $1500). Her mother has a 2 yr old male Maltese that was also purchased from a known trusted breeder. Well, guess what happened when they weren't looking? So she had 4 puppies for a very reasonable price in my range. Both parents were on site, human and Maltese, and I had absolutely no reason to suspect anything other than the story as they portrayed it. I had previously visited another person last weekend and I firmly believe that he, www.familymaltese.com, is a broker for a puppy mill - only pics of parents that are in SC (??), nice but definitely had his pitch down from experience. Found out more about him from a member of this site. Thanks for the call, you know who you are! I had also spoken personally with two separate ladies nearby with cute little puppies for sale. After researching I determined that one is already listed in a couple of forums as a puppy mill, and the other had puppies for a discount that were "outside in a building", and others a little higher that are from "her house dogs" that were born and being raised "inside" with the family. So we kept looking........and found the two that we brought home. I had learned that 12 mos was preferable but felt that these were the best option for us with the understanding that greater care and attention were needed. Both of us parents are home as we have a home office for work, and our two mature, well behaved boys just turned 12 and 16. We have had discussions about handling the young pups as well as avoiding "small dog behavior symptons". We are a very disciplined family when it comes to this kind of thing, and everyone is already engaged fully to make our two boys, Champ and Cash, welcome and well adjusted. In the end, I felt that taking these two did not contribute in any way to perpetuating puppy mills or byb's, but gave a very loving home to two wonderful little brothers. We got my wish for the first picks of the litter, and each of my boys love them so much already. Sorry for the long story, but wanted to introduce our story a little more and thank you all for the answers so far. I think it's almost time for some Nutrical. How often and how much? Thanks again!