# How much to feed your puppy?



## setell (Oct 10, 2009)

I'm wondering how you guys figure out how much food to feed your little guy/girl. I'm feeding my puppy (he's 5 months old) 3/4 cup a day spread out over 3 meals. He always appears to be hungry so at times I give him 1 cup of food a day. Lately I've found that his belly seems a bit "hard" for lack of a better word to describe it and seems just really full. I am wondering if I am over feeding him and not exercising him enough too. I've been a bit busy lately so I only take him out every other day but I still run around at home chasing him to excercise him. He's a big boy at 6.3lbs 2 weeks ago. I asked the vet when I was in 2 weeks ago how much can I feed him and the tech said up to a 1 cup a day from her calculations. Now my question is, how do you make this calculation so I can do it myself?


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## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

There's usually guidelines on the bag/can on how much to feed....


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## setell (Oct 10, 2009)

QUOTE (camfan @ Nov 20 2009, 10:31 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=853234


> There's usually guidelines on the bag/can on how much to feed....[/B]


I've already looked at it already and it doesn't really give you a lot of information to really figure out how much food to feed to keep a healthy balanced weight so they don't gain a tonne of weight as I'm over feeding.


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## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

QUOTE (setell @ Nov 20 2009, 10:34 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=853235


> QUOTE (camfan @ Nov 20 2009, 10:31 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=853234





> There's usually guidelines on the bag/can on how much to feed....[/B]


I've already looked at it already and it doesn't really give you a lot of information to really figure out how much food to feed to keep a healthy balanced weight so they don't gain a tonne of weight as I'm over feeding.
[/B][/QUOTE]

What food is it? I'm assuming it's kibble but I have no idea. There's no table on the bag that lists weight/quantity to feed? I have no idea where they get their calculations other than on the bag/can because foods can vary.


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## setell (Oct 10, 2009)

QUOTE (camfan @ Nov 20 2009, 10:38 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=853236


> QUOTE (setell @ Nov 20 2009, 10:34 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=853235





> QUOTE (camfan @ Nov 20 2009, 10:31 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=853234





> There's usually guidelines on the bag/can on how much to feed....[/B]


I've already looked at it already and it doesn't really give you a lot of information to really figure out how much food to feed to keep a healthy balanced weight so they don't gain a tonne of weight as I'm over feeding.
[/B][/QUOTE]

What food is it? I'm assuming it's kibble but I have no idea. There's no table on the bag that lists weight/quantity to feed? I have no idea where they get their calculations other than on the bag/can because foods can vary.
[/B][/QUOTE]
I know they aren't the best food but he was eating these at the breeder so I continued and haven't switched him yet. I still got a big bag of the dry. I am feeding him Medi-Cal Development and Hills P/D wet. I mix them half half as he gets a bit constipated if he doesn't eat wet food at least once a day. He isn't one to drink a lot of water. I was thinking of switching him to the Wellness Core dry once my bag of Medi-Cal is done.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

If he doesn't seem to be overweight, the amount your feeding is fine although it seems like quite a bit of food. My two are 7lbs and 6lbs and they each get 1/2 cup total per day. They don't get much exercise (a short walk maybe 2x per week). A growing puppy may need more than that if they are burning off the calories during the day. Someone else can probably give you a good guideline for how much to feed.

The feeding guidelines on packages of food are usually high estimates, but when feeding a lower quality food you will need to feed them more than you would a higher quality food.


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## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

QUOTE (setell @ Nov 20 2009, 10:48 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=853237


> QUOTE (camfan @ Nov 20 2009, 10:38 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=853236





> QUOTE (setell @ Nov 20 2009, 10:34 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=853235





> QUOTE (camfan @ Nov 20 2009, 10:31 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=853234





> There's usually guidelines on the bag/can on how much to feed....[/B]


I've already looked at it already and it doesn't really give you a lot of information to really figure out how much food to feed to keep a healthy balanced weight so they don't gain a tonne of weight as I'm over feeding.
[/B][/QUOTE]

What food is it? I'm assuming it's kibble but I have no idea. There's no table on the bag that lists weight/quantity to feed? I have no idea where they get their calculations other than on the bag/can because foods can vary.
[/B][/QUOTE]
I know they aren't the best food but he was eating these at the breeder so I continued and haven't switched him yet. I still got a big bag of the dry. I am feeding him Medi-Cal Development and Hills P/D wet. I mix them half half as he gets a bit constipated if he doesn't eat wet food at least once a day. He isn't one to drink a lot of water. I was thinking of switching him to the Wellness Core dry once my bag of Medi-Cal is done.
[/B][/QUOTE]

Well, if it seems comfusing then I'd just go with what the tech said to do. I'd call and ask how she got that calculation and ask how much you can feed if you change foods, etc. They get paid to answer your questions so dont' hesitate to call


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

One big reason you have to feed so much is the quality of food you are feeding. I calculate my dog's calorie requirements and go from there. Some need less, some more. How many kcal/cup and can and how much of each are you feeding?


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## setell (Oct 10, 2009)

QUOTE (JMM @ Nov 20 2009, 02:46 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=853312


> One big reason you have to feed so much is the quality of food you are feeding. I calculate my dog's calorie requirements and go from there. Some need less, some more. How many kcal/cup and can and how much of each are you feeding?[/B]


How do you calculate their calorie requirements? I've googled things like "how much to feed your dog" "how to calcualte how much to feed your dog" and came up with very general info. I want to be informed of how much to feed him vs feed him the way I am doing now which is pratically guess!


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## Dora's Mom (Nov 7, 2009)

I'd appreciate some help on this too! I'm feeding Dora Blue Buffalo puppy food right now and I think (I'm not at home at the moment) the guidelines on the bag were something like, for 3-20 pounds, feed 1/4 to 1 cup per day. That's a pretty big range! And at Dora's last check up, she was only 2.5 pounds. We have been feeding her 1/8 cup 3 times a day. She used to not finish it but now she is cleaning her plate! I don't want to over feed her, but I do want to make sure I feed her enough to grow and stay healthy.


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## almitra (Apr 24, 2009)

At 10 mos, Pepper eats 1/2 c kibble per day only..and she's about 5 lbs. Vet says she is fully grown now and has been for a couple mos...never has eaten _ANYWHERE NEAR _ what bag recommendations have been...LOL!


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## Hunter's Mom (Dec 8, 2008)

Hunter is almost 8 (YIKES!) but he is eating Natural Balance and gets 1/4 cup in the AM and 1/4 cup in the PM and he walks at least every other day for 1 mile.


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