Puppy Feeding

[amazincc]

Since it's been a while that I had a puppy... got a question.

Sepp weighs about 45 pounds, will be six months old on Monday. 2% of his body weight comes out to almost a pound... (14. 4 oz. -right???).

He eats/inhales a pound of RAW in the morning, and I feed him Innova Puppy food at night. The recommended daily amount for his age/weight is almost three cups, which he inhales as well.
He hasn't gained any weight for a while now, but he shot up in height. He's very lanky and skinny... all legs, very noticeable waist (nice hourglass figure and all). All his blood work came back okay, no worms, etc.
He's a very active puppy.

Should I be feeding him more??? He always seems to be hungry, even after having eaten every little scrap in his bowl.

[SisMorphine]

Keep an eye on his stool. Puppies go through some weird lanky stages and we as owners will feed them a good deal more to try to bulk them back up. But that food will just produce itself in bigger poops (since the body can't use it). So if you up the food and his stool volume also increases noticably I would back off a bit. It's a bit of a game when it comes to puppy feeding. I prefer to keep puppies a little chubby (what most people would consider pet weight I guess) up until 12 - 18 months because if they get sick their bodies are less forgiving and I like to have that little bit of extra just in case. But some puppies (like damn Teeny Beans) just go through crazy awkward puppy stages where no matter what you do they still look thin.

I don't even know if I answered a question in amongst that. I just sort of rambled. I like grape juice.

[amazincc]

VERY little pooping, actually.
That's why I'm wondering if I should feed him more... and how much more???

Damn puppies.

[SisMorphine]

I say play with it. Every puppy is different through every growth stage. 2% is normally the adult body weight for raw, I want to say it's somewhere between 3 and 5% for puppies but I can't remember. So I'd say it's worth upping it for a while just to see what happens.

[amazincc]

I want to say it's somewhere between 3 and 5% for puppies but I can't remember.

I did not know that.
I'm going to up his food and see what happens... thanks, Alyssa.

[BullyLady]

When Shelby was still growing I fed her 10% of her body weight as that's what I was told you are supposed to feed puppies. I just kept doing that until she started to get chubby, and then knocked her down to 5%, and then when she was still chubby I took her down to about 2%.

[amazincc]

When Shelby was still growing I fed her 10% of her body weight as that's what I was told you are supposed to feed puppies.

So, I'm actually under-feeding the little monster??? Even though I feed him the puppy kibble at the recommended daily amount AND a pound of RAW on top of it???

I'm such a bad owner.

[BullyLady]

When Shelby was still growing I fed her 10% of her body weight as that's what I was told you are supposed to feed puppies.

So, I'm actually under-feeding the little monster??? Even though I feed him the puppy kibble at the recommended daily amount AND a pound of RAW on top of it???

I'm such a bad owner.

Goodness... I must have missed where you are feeding full kibble rations AND raw. No, I'm sure that you are not underfeeding him, regardless of what the little monster tells you. Unless you are starting to see spine and hips, then I think you're probably okay. He's probably going through an "ugly puppy" stage.

[Mickle]

Spicy eats the most out of all of the dogs in the house. He gets 2-21/2lbs of raw..when he gets kibble its 3 cups. Hes probably 50-55lbs now and 61/2 monthes old. I dont keep him chubby but I dont think hes too thin either...he actually just started to fill out more! Wohoo! We always play with his food and if hes looking a little thin we add more, if we think hes a little chubby we take some away. Just mess with it in small amounts to start and Im sure Seppel will be just fine Spicy is my first puppy ever..all of my dogs came to me at 1 year or older.

[ellie@ny]

Christine can you post a side picture of him?
I think every dog needs a different amount of food,I never read labels,nor go by the dogs weight...
I go by their look,and their exercise level,and with that I increase or lower their food intake.

[BritneyP]

When Shelby was still growing I fed her 10% of her body weight as that's what I was told you are supposed to feed puppies. I just kept doing that until she started to get chubby, and then knocked her down to 5%, and then when she was still chubby I took her down to about 2%.

I think you summed up the best way to approach feeding raw, Cathleen!

Just watch him Christine. Up his food, look at him, watch his stools and see what happens. Also, I have always heard for puppies it's 10% as well. So, perhaps something to keep in mind...

[LMM]

When I first got Junie I was feeding her 10% of her body weight. I've since backed off to around 5% because she was porkin' out. I say up it a little bit, 2% is a little on the low side for a 6 month old puppers!

Where are some recent pics?? We can give you a more specific answer based on that

[furever_pit]

Christine can you post a side picture of him?
I think every dog needs a different amount of food,I never read labels,nor go by the dogs weight...
I go by their look,and their exercise level,and with that I increase or lower their food intake.

This is how I decide how much to feed the pooch too. It works well for me.

[amazincc]

These are the most recent ones...




I upped his RAW to 2 pounds this morning, and his kibble tonight to 4 1/2 cups. He was a happy camper.

He's all legs... maybe it's just me who thinks he's skinny...

[pitbullmamaliz]

I don't think he looks too skinny at all.

[ellie@ny]

He doesn't look skinny at all,but wow 2 # of raw and 4 1/2 kibble seems a little way too much for me. That's how much amount my 3 eating one day!/a 46#,75#,33#/.

[amazincc]

I swear, you can see his ribs. They are not sticking out or anything, but they are definitely well defined... it's hard to get a good pic to show it, w/his coloring.

I'm gonna disregard all charts and what-not, and play around w/the food amount until we find a happy medium. The little bastard ate my rubber door stopper last night, by the way, and still managed to be starved this morning.

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone.

[ellie@ny]

Christine do whatever you think it's good for him,It's very hard to judge from a picture.
But honestly just because he acts like he's hungry that doesn't mean he is! They like to play that card, trust me!
He probably have a good food drive which will make his training more easier for you in the future.

[Mickle]

I think he looks great! What a handsome boy

[blabsforbullies]

I do not feed raw, so I can't say for sure on the amount. But, he doesn't look too skinny to me at all. Some dogs just have that physique and metabolism naturally. My youngest Lab, Abraham, is like that. You have seen his pictures... he is ridiculous in activity and he eats Taste of the Wild - 5 cups twice a day... yes... 10 cups a food a day (2-3 BM's per day), and if I try to cut back, I start seeing spinal bones.

I agree with everyone else. I constantly change the amount of food I feed my dogs based on their activity level and such....

Good luck! He is a HANDSOME, HANDSOME fella!!!