PetieMarie22 wrote:No I wasn't measuring. She just ate when she was hungry. I gave her 1 cup last night, she ate it all. I gave her 1 cup this morning. She ate it, then looked at me. So I gave her a half cup more, but she walked away. So I picked it up and figured when I get home I'll give her a cup again. How much should she be getting? She's not on "high Quality" so I was thinking 2 1/2 - 3 cups.
It really depends on the dog and the food. I would probably start with 1 cup (or a little less) morning and night and go from there to see how she does. I base how much I feed on the way my dogs look, not their weight (funny enough their weight never fluctuates more than a lb when we visit the vet each year). To me dogs are no different than humans. Their activity level and metabolism is totally different across the board, so following guidelines on the side of a bag makes little sense to me (that is just me so go with what you are comfortable with). I also wouldn't base your amount on if she still seems hungry after she eats what is in the bowl. You'll end up with a hippo after she gets used to the new feeding schedule.
Kayden's natural weight is around 50 lbs (although fairly lean) and he gets around a 1/2 cup of high quality kibble in the morning and at night with some yogurt or cottage cheese. He also gets a kong with peanut butter in it in the morning before I leave. He get some treats during the day based on the training we are doing and I always give him snacks throughout the day when I am eating stuff, so that makes up for the lower amount of kibble.