# Only eating once a day at 8 months old?



## mkac2005 (Apr 16, 2012)

Ivan just turned 8 months old but for the past few weeks he almost never eats breakfast anymore but has no trouble eating dinner. He was eating 3 cups am, 3 cups pm and now he's only eating about 3-3 1/2 cups a day. He has been acting normal and just saw the vet a few days ago for skin issues which is in currently on an antibiotic for. He eats Fromm LBP and has since he was about 14 weeks old. Is this normal for puppies to slow down their eating at this stage?


----------



## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

6 cups a day is a lot, I don't know what froms recommends, but I'd guess its somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 cups for a 90lbs dog. I feed Naturures Variety instinct and none of mine eat over 4 cups a day (both my adult females are over breed standard) Check the label recommendations.


----------



## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

Not sure about how much to feed kibble, as I make Ky's food ... but by the time she was about 7 or 8 months old, she decided she didn't want breakfast either ... so as long as your dog is eating the amount it should in a day, I wouldn't worry too much ...


----------



## Raffilr (Jan 1, 2013)

My 8 moths old gsd eats about 4 cups a day I give him blue buffalo and it says to feed him 6 cups a day but he Doesn't eat that much..sometimes my dog goes the hold day with out eating the vet said that is normal try to give him some wet food mix with his regular and c if he will eat it 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

Just checked the label and they do recommend 6 cups @ 6 months, tapering off by each month after that. IDK, that still seems like a lot to me. According to the website @ 8 months he should be in the 4-5 cup range (depending on weight and activity level).
Large Breed Puppy Gold dog food - Fromm Family Foods


----------



## mkac2005 (Apr 16, 2012)

Thank you Nigel I checked it out, I guess I was still stuck in the mind frame for 5-7 months where it's 4-5 1/2 cups a day I believe it said. At 8 months it says 4-4 1/3 cups per day and I am only giving him 3-3 1/2 cups for dinner. I could try to increase it a little just at dinner and see if he eats more. I mixed wet food with the kibble only a couple days in the mornings to get him to eat but I don't want him to over eat.


----------



## GusGus (Oct 24, 2012)

No idea but that seems like a lot to me. My boy gets 1.5 cups in the AM and 1.5 cups is the evening. He was eating about 6 cups of Iams a day. He has been staying at a perfect weight. But I feed blue buffalo wilderness.


----------



## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

3 cups in the am and 3 cups in the pm seems like
a lot of food. when my dog was a pup he was fed
1 cup in the am, 1 cup noonish and 1 cup in the pm.
he had a snack throughout the day plus training treats.
i think at 8 months old or 9 months old i started feeding him
1 cup in the am and 1 cup in the pm. most of the time
his kibble is topped with something.


----------



## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

6 cups a day sounds like a huge amount of food to me too, no wonder he wasn't eating all of it! By 8 months old, he's past the rapid growth phase that puppies go through, so his caloric needs are changing too. If I'm looking at the chart right, it's 4 to 4-1/3 cups a day for 8-12 months old, at the 80-90 pound range that he should be getting, yes? How much does he currently weigh? All of my dogs as puppies were putting on as much as 10-12 pounds a month at first, but that slowed way down by around 6 months old, so I adjusted their food accordingly. 

I'd try giving him 4 cups a day total, split into two 2 cup meals, and see how that goes. If he only needs 4 cups a day, then one meal of 3-1/2 cups might be too much food at one sitting. I think it's better to feed two meals a day than one.


----------



## mkac2005 (Apr 16, 2012)

I am going to try and break it up into 2 meals a day. Thank you everyone for your advice!


----------



## julie87 (Aug 19, 2012)

My 8 month old female has a weird eating habit. One day she will eat all her food the next day she will eat half. I don't force her and not worried, she knows better if she needs much food or not. Plus she is growing so Im not too worried about her portions. She really isn't excited about eating that much..unlike my other dogs I had before. Also I have noticed the more I exercise her the more she eats. Has your pup been lazy lately?


----------



## hvtopiwala (Jul 18, 2012)

i had the EXACT same problem at 8 months old (which was last week!). he gets 4 cups in a day, 2 in the AM and 2 in the PM...and he just didnt like breakfast...tried switching foods and he didnt care...he was starting to lose weight ad he was already underweight as it is, so for now if i mix in some wet food in the morning and lower the kibble portion he eats it all. once hes at a good sustainable weight, im going to ween him off the toppers and get him back on kibble.


----------



## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Delgado eats Fromm LBP, he eats 4 cups (2 cups twice a day) and is a nice healthy weight

If his weight is good and he's not scrambling for more I would try cutting back and see what happens


----------



## Josie/Zeus (Nov 6, 2000)

I can't remember if Koda started eating once a day at 8 months or 10.. but it's somewhere there.

I just followed his cue, when he started refusing to eat in the morning, then I only feed at dinner time. He's been eating once a day since then and he's fine, he's on raw btw.


----------



## Pwhitmore (Apr 16, 2020)

mkac2005 said:


> Ivan just turned 8 months old but for the past few weeks he almost never eats breakfast anymore but has no trouble eating dinner. He was eating 3 cups am, 3 cups pm and now he's only eating about 3-3 1/2 cups a day. He has been acting normal and just saw the vet a few days ago for skin issues which is in currently on an antibiotic for. He eats Fromm LBP and has since he was about 14 weeks old. Is this normal for puppies to slow down their eating at this stage?


I think as with humans dogs are also unique and their individual needs will vary. My 8 month old is very slim and just polished off 8 cups in the last 3 hours(he didn't eat his breakfast). Most days I struggle to get him to eat 4 but I never empty his bowl if he doesn't finish so if he is hungry, its there. I wouldn't worry too much about label recommendations unless your dog looks like he's getting pudgy and while giving them 6(or 8) once in a while may seem like a lot it could just be a day where they were very active and therefore very hungry. Today he asked for more, so I obliged. Yesterday he ate about 3 cups.


----------



## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

7yr old post.


----------

