# Food Quantity Question



## stampin4fun (Jun 24, 2009)

Hello! Like others I am in the search of good quality food that my boys will enjoy. They do not like natural balance. I have tired duck/potato and Sweet Potato/Venison. They do like Halo. Spots Stew Wild Alaskan Salmon and Kibble. The only problem with this is that they do not eat anywhere close to the suggested amount on the bag for their age and weight. They are not big eaters. They are very active and I want to make sure they eat enough and get the proper nutrients, etc. I was looking at Fromms and it is suggested they eat 1/2 cup a day. If they like the food, I know I can get them to eat that much in a day. Not at once because I think this will be too rich. Should I switch them from Halo and let them eat what they want or should I keep trying to find the right one?

Thank you.


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## Rocky's Mom (Apr 10, 2010)

I'm really no help because I have the same problem.
I tried Natural Balance dry food with Fish and Sweet Potato and he will sometimes eat it. I can't find a food he loves. And I want to feed him something healthy for him. He can go hours and hours without eating. I do give him supplement every morning. He seems to only want what we are having for dinner, which is healthy food but I don't know if it is healthy enough for him. We usually eat salmon, talapia, lean flank steak, chicken. I put string beans in for him and he throws them out of his bowl and picks through what he wants. I'm wondering if the food I've seen suggested here can only be ordered online because I've looked for it in Petco and couldn't find it. Where do you get Halo and Spots Stew? He will eat anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 cup a day and I don't know if that's enough.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

Usually the feeding guidelines on bags of food are a little higher than what you should be feeding them. Each food has a different amount of calories, etc which requires adjustment in the portion size you feed.

My two are on Orijen 6 Fresh Fish and they eat approximately 1/2 cup each per day, but there are many days where they only eat half that amount.


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## Johita (Jul 10, 2009)

Aolani was on Wellness Puppy and eating a 1/2 cup a day of that in 2 sittings. I'm now swirtiching him to FROMMS but still keeping it at 1/2 cup (combo Wellness and FROMM). Eventually he'll just be eating FROMMS alone and will continue to feed him 1/2 cup a day. I used to think it wasn't enoguh for him as he would alwasy linger around the bowl and lick it after he was done, but he's just a hungry little eater and has now gotten used to eating just the half cup a day.


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## almitra (Apr 24, 2009)

Ppper eats about 1/2 c daily as a free feeder. Some days less.


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## stampin4fun (Jun 24, 2009)

Rocky's Mom said:


> I'm really no help because I have the same problem.
> I tried Natural Balance dry food with Fish and Sweet Potato and he will sometimes eat it. I can't find a food he loves. And I want to feed him something healthy for him. He can go hours and hours without eating. I do give him supplement every morning. He seems to only want what we are having for dinner, which is healthy food but I don't know if it is healthy enough for him. We usually eat salmon, talapia, lean flank steak, chicken. I put string beans in for him and he throws them out of his bowl and picks through what he wants. I'm wondering if the food I've seen suggested here can only be ordered online because I've looked for it in Petco and couldn't find it. Where do you get Halo and Spots Stew? He will eat anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 cup a day and I don't know if that's enough.


Hi. I get Halo from Petco. Spot stew is from Halo as well. They are the canned versions of the dry food. You can order it from Petco if it's not at your store. Check out your petco again. If you sign up for the Halo newsletter they will email you a printable coupon for two free 5oz cans. You can see if your little one likes it.


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## Rocky's Mom (Apr 10, 2010)

stampin4fun said:


> Hi. I get Halo from Petco. Spot stew is from Halo as well. They are the canned versions of the dry food. You can order it from Petco if it's not at your store. Check out your petco again. If you sign up for the Halo newsletter they will email you a printable coupon for two free 5oz cans. You can see if your little one likes it.


Thanks so much...but curious as to why you are looking for other food if they like the Halo?


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## stampin4fun (Jun 24, 2009)

Rocky's Mom said:


> Thanks so much...but curious as to why you are looking for other food if they like the Halo?


Because they are not eating the suggested amount. Actually not even close to the suggested amount. It is like 1 1/4 cup kibble. They eat about 1/2 cup.


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## MandyMc65 (Jun 14, 2007)

Most dog food suggested amounts are way higher than your dogs really need. The companies do not care if your dog is overweight and unhealthy - they just want you to buy more of their food.

If your dog is at an ideal weight and is not gaining or losing it really does not matter what the suggested amount is.


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

MandyMc65 said:


> If your dog is at an ideal weight and is not gaining or losing it really does not matter what the suggested amount is.


Mandy is correct.....Hunter eats less than the recommended amount but he is weighed regularly at the vets office who says that his weight is where it should be. Therefore, I don't worry about what the bag says. Its really important simply to monitor the weight of your dog. Our vet lets us bring Hunter in for weigh-ins for free; we usually go about once every 6 weeks when we pick up his heart medication.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

My dogs would be obese if they ate the recommended amount. I agree with Mandy - if their weight is good, then the amount is fine.


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## stampin4fun (Jun 24, 2009)

Thanks! I will stick with the food and keep an eye on their weight.


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

We tried to feed Dora the suggested amount of Natural Balance and after a few days she just wasn't interested at feeding time any more...not hungry. We cut down and now she's excited about meal time again. I'm not sure she likes it as much as her previous food but she likes it well enough so that she still works for it and we can use it as a training treat, so I think it's fine. 

It's hard to know the right amount to feed though....if Dora didn't regulate her own food intake like she did, we would have kept feeding her the recommended amount and she might have gotten overweight before we realized it was too much food. It sucks that the guidelines are misleading.


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## Rocky's Mom (Apr 10, 2010)

MandyMc65 said:


> Most dog food suggested amounts are way higher than your dogs really need. The companies do not care if your dog is overweight and unhealthy - they just want you to buy more of their food.
> 
> If your dog is at an ideal weight and is not gaining or losing it really does not matter what the suggested amount is.


Thank you Mandy...so you mean I can relax, LOL
I try to get him to eat 1/2 cup a day.


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

Relax, unless they are sick, they will eat the amount that they want to eat. Better that they eat less than more.


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## Rocky's Mom (Apr 10, 2010)

jmm said:


> My dogs would be obese if they ate the recommended amount. I agree with Mandy - if their weight is good, then the amount is fine.





Dora's Mom said:


> We tried to feed Dora the suggested amount of Natural Balance and after a few days she just wasn't interested at feeding time any more...not hungry. We cut down and now she's excited about meal time again. I'm not sure she likes it as much as her previous food but she likes it well enough so that she still works for it and we can use it as a training treat, so I think it's fine.
> 
> It's hard to know the right amount to feed though....if Dora didn't regulate her own food intake like she did, we would have kept feeding her the recommended amount and she might have gotten overweight before we realized it was too much food. It sucks that the guidelines are misleading.





Nikki's Mom said:


> Relax, unless they are sick, they will eat the amount that they want to eat. Better that they eat less than more.


:thumbsup:Thanks!


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