# Two questions regarding 10 week old



## Luca (Oct 15, 2012)

My breeder said to leave the food bowl down at all times. What are your thoughts on this?

In addition, when Luca eats and drinks what I consider a reasonable amount (until he stops), he will very often regurgitate his food before it has even begun to be digested. I am thinking that his activity level has something to do with this. Have you run into this problem before?

He eats Purina Pro Plan for puppies. Again, this is what the breeder said to feed him. 

All input would be appreciated!


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## Snuggle's Mom (Jan 3, 2008)

Everyone has different opinions regarding how long to keep food down for a dog to eat. I for one, feed them twice a day, once in the morning and once in the early evening. Both of them eat their food at once and leave nothing left over. I do remember feeding them a third time when they were Puppies though.

As far as the choice of food, there are better quality puppy/dog foods available than what you are feeding Luca. Be sure to read the ingredients and look for the by-products that are not good for your dog.

It sounds as though Luca is eating and drinking rather quickly and therefore that might be the reason why it is coming up rather than staying down with him. I know that others will be viewing this and offer some thoughts and ideas regarding your issues as well.


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## Sylie (Apr 4, 2011)

:welcome1:I, personally, don't believe in free feeding. At this age you should feed him four times a day. If I were you, I would read up previous threads about good food. Purina is not considered a high quality food. You should select a better food and gradually over a week switch him. 

Also, I suggest that you read up on the vaccination protocol. Because your puppy's breeder let him go at only ten weeks, and because she recommends low quality food you need to do a lot of research, rather than listening to what she tells you.

For instance, it is recommended that Maltese do not get the lepto vaccine. You can find much more information that is vital to your puppy's health on this forum.

We are dedicated to helping new Malt moms do the best they can for their babies.


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## Zoe's Mom88 (Apr 25, 2011)

I never left food out either. When they are puppies and active I think feeding 3 times a day is a good idea. You can then transition to 2 times a day. I also think there are much better foods to feed than what your using. There is a good website to go to for information on dog foods called: www.dogfoodadvisor.com which can help in comparing and choosing different brands of dog food. Good luck and keep us posted.


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## .13124 (Jun 1, 2012)

My vet also told me to do "free feeding", but after doing some research I personally didn't like that so I stopped doing it after the first day. I would just feed Cici either 3 or 4 times a day, very small amounts, and a few treats in between meals. When she was 5+ months, I just did 3 meals a day, and now that she is 7 months I am still doing 3 meals a day. I think when she's one year old I will start doing 2 meals a day with a snack in between. 
I'm not sure to what extent this is true, but I heard doing free feeding or feeding large amounts of food will cause th fluff to have a bigger stomach, so he/she will always want to eat more and it would take more for him/her to get full and could cause the fluff to be larger than he/she should really be. Don't take my word for this though because I tend to have foggy memory sometimes! I do remember reading it, but I didn't do further research on it, it was just one person's opinion. 
Cici never experienced any digestion problems (aside from throwing up when I tried feeding her canned food, I think she ate it too fast), and maybe it's because I would have her eat very slowly. I would always hand feed her, giving her one piece of kibble after she was done with the one in her mouth, and her kibble wasn't that small, but it was soft, so she had to break each piece in half with her teeth, she would drop one half, swallow the other, then pick up the rest, and then all over again lol. 

I stopped hand feeding her when she was about 7 months, and maybe it turned into a habit to her because she eats quite slowly, my mom says she eats like a little princess trying to not get messy lol. 


Sent from Cici🐶 & Nora👩
❤💋


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## Grace'sMom (Feb 22, 2012)

As others have said - I'm not a fan of the "free feeding" either.... Especially for little puppies. It is so hard to figure out what they ate if their food is down all day.

For the regurgitation after eating - is it all of what he ate? Or just some of it?

If it is some of it - this is why feeding him at specific times would be helpful - you can feed him a very small amount, and if he is still looking hungry give him 1-2 kibbles more. Wait, then give him 1-2 kibbles more if he is still hungry.

He may be eating too fast, but he may be eating too much. So getting him on a routine will be helpful. Maltese eat really small amounts.

You may also want to break his kibble up (pound it or pulse it in a food processor) and add some water to it. Maybe the kibble is too hard right now. A wet version of it may stay down better.


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## bellaratamaltese (May 24, 2006)

When I have 10 week old puppies, I leave food down because I like for them to have access to food all the time (esp after experiencing acute hypoglycemia previously) Is your pup a picky eater? 

Pro plan isn't the worst food in the world but there are definitely better ones to feed.


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## dragonsdawn (Jul 23, 2012)

I just went to the vet today, with my sister ( i never miss a vet appointment with any of her dogs just in case of bad news) The vet was happy to hear we are using blue said it was her fav puppy food. Also she said she wanted to space out all of the shots not give to many at once just to make sure they dont react. If your vet wants to push a bunch on you at once maybe think twice about that vet. She wanted to space them ( and we asked to do it)so that way if there was a reaction she can have an idea of what caused it. I have free fed but i dont think i will with Zoey. Her mom free feeds but she is one of those i only eat a few pieces at a time dogs. With your little one throwing up it might be best to keep the food away and limit the amount you give him. It would prb be better to give him alot of small meals over the day (till he gets the amount he should) then letting him eat it all at once or in two feedings. I dont know as much as alot of these guys do but that is just my opinion.


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