# how much do i need to feed my puppy?



## MiaTheDog (Apr 6, 2020)

I feed her three times a day, I was wondering what would be a fair amount to feed her in each serving. She is 9 weeks old, all these sites say different things, what are yalls recommendations?


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## Hatch (Jul 16, 2015)

MiaTheDog said:


> I feed her three times a day, I was wondering what would be a fair amount to feed her in each serving. She is 9 weeks old, all these sites say different things, what are yalls recommendations?


It depends, what are you feeding her?


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## Bramble (Oct 23, 2011)

Feed according to the labeling on your kibble. There should be guidelines on the bag. If she is looking fat decrease a little, if she is looking skinny increase.

I personally keep my puppies a little leaner, but not skinny. Being chubby may be cute, but it is very bad for growing joints.


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## MiaTheDog (Apr 6, 2020)

Hatch said:


> It depends, what are you feeding her?


unfortunatly im feeding her rachel ray untill her chewy order comes in, then she will be eating victor select nutra pro


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

Need to know kcal per cup on the bag. 
Even with that, charts say I should be feeding my almost 6 months old 4.5 cups/per day based on 420 kcal/cup on the bag. But's he's really skinny and i just upped him from 6 to 7.5 cups per day in 3 feedings. It seems a lot but he's very tall and skinny.


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

WNGD said:


> Need to know kcal per cup on the bag.
> Even with that, charts say I should be feeding my almost 6 months old 4.5 cups/per day based on 420 kcal/cup on the bag. But's he's really skinny and i just upped him from 6 to 7.5 cups per day in 3 feedings. It seems a lot but he's very tall and skinny.


Holy cow that's a ton of food!


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## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

Sabis mom said:


> Holy cow that's a ton of food!


Agreed. My friends adolescent Danes eat less than that 🤔


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## tim_s_adams (Aug 9, 2017)

My pup went all the way up to 8 1/2 cups a day for awhile when she was growing quickly!

You have to feed the dog in front of you!


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## tim_s_adams (Aug 9, 2017)

The food I'm feeding recommends 4 cups BTW!


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

tim_s_adams said:


> My pup went all the way up to 8 1/2 cups a day for awhile when she was growing quickly!
> 
> You have to feed the dog in front of you!


Agree. I have just never had to feed that much. My Dane was at 6 cups for a bit I think. Bud at 11 months was at 6, but we were feeding 6 times a day for weight gain.
Shadow eats 2.5 cups a day, lol, and it's a fight to get her to eat it all!


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

tim_s_adams said:


> My pup went all the way up to 8 1/2 cups a day for awhile when she was growing quickly!
> 
> You have to feed the dog in front of you!


Thank you. I hesitate to post how much I have to feed him since I know it sounds like a lot. My pup eats more than twice what my 80 pound adult male eats.

But the pup just turned 6 months and is 70 pounds and all ribs are showing when he walks so much that I think someone might accuse me of abusing him 

His father was the largest GSD I have ever seen (had to be 120) and he's likely going to be a very big boy himslef.


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## Stroker548 (May 19, 2020)

MiaTheDog said:


> unfortunatly im feeding her rachel ray untill her chewy order comes in, then she will be eating victor select nutra pro


What is the problem with Rachel Ray? Im a new poster here but I was under the impression that it was a decent food.

Sent from my SM-S727VL using Tapatalk


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## Rexi's Mom (May 5, 2020)

Same question about rachael Ray food. I feed Rexi the puppy food of her brand.


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## drparker151 (Apr 10, 2020)

The one I looked at played a trick that is too often used in dog food, rice is listed twice, corn products listed twice, peas products listed twice. They are broken apart and listed twice so that they appear lower on the ingredient list, but when you combine them then the meat is probably a 3rd or 4th ingredient instead of the first as it appears at first glance.


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## davewis (Jan 7, 2020)

I went through the same thing about two months ago when my boy was around 7 months old. I couldn't get enough calories in him for a few weeks. At the peak, he ate 6 cups high-calorie food, 1.5 cups roast chicken breast for extra protein, and six 'satin balls' for extra fat. Often I would mix in some full-fat yogurt or an egg into his meals.

Now he is back down to a much more reasonable 4 cups of food and one cup chicken breast. I think he is between growth spurts  His ribs and pelvis look and feel good again


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## Rexi's Mom (May 5, 2020)

drparker151 said:


> The one I looked at played a trick that is too often used in dog food, rice is listed twice, corn products listed twice, peas products listed twice. They are broken apart and listed twice so that they appear lower on the ingredient list, but when you combine them then the meat is probably a 3rd or 4th ingredient instead of the first as it appears at first glance.


Thank you! What do you feed your pups?


davewis said:


> I went through the same thing about two months ago when my boy was around 7 months old. I couldn't get enough calories in him for a few weeks. At the peak, he ate 6 cups high-calorie food, 1.5 cups roast chicken breast for extra protein, and six 'satin balls' for extra fat. Often I would mix in some full-fat yogurt or an egg into his meals.
> 
> Now he is back down to a much more reasonable 4 cups of food and one cup chicken breast. I think he is between growth spurts  His ribs and pelvis look and feel good again


Thank you! How much do you feed your pups? Rexi is always starving but gets 3 cups of food each day.


davewis said:


> I went through the same thing about two months ago when my boy was around 7 months old. I couldn't get enough calories in him for a few weeks. At the peak, he ate 6 cups high-calorie food, 1.5 cups roast chicken breast for extra protein, and six 'satin balls' for extra fat. Often I would mix in some full-fat yogurt or an egg into his meals.
> 
> Now he is back down to a much more reasonable 4 cups of food and one cup chicken breast. I think he is between growth spurts  His ribs and pelvis look and feel good again


Should I just increase her food or find a different brand?


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## davewis (Jan 7, 2020)

Now, at almost 10 months pup eats four cups of kibble and one cup of chicken per day. That is split between two meals.

I experimented with a couple of different foods during the last growth spurt. Pup was eating such a large volume of food that he was getting pudding pup. I ended up going with Fromm large breed puppy food.

At the time, his eating manners became horrible. He moped around his dish like I was starving him and wolfed the entire bowl in less than a minute after I set it down. He has gone back to eating like a happy and healthy dog again.


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## drparker151 (Apr 10, 2020)

When we get our puppy in August it will continue on what the breeder has been feeding it. If I decided to change it will be to Fromm Large Breed Puppy Gold. When switching food blend a bit of new in with the old and slowly increase new while decreasing old.


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## JunoVonNarnia (Apr 8, 2020)

I feed Fromm's Adult, initially it was adult gold as per the breeder but just switched to grain free.

Juno is 6 months, 50 lbs and eats 4 cups a day, between two meals. She's about to hit a growth spurt, so I'm going to up it gradually. Her ribs on the side of her body are fine but her sternum feels super bony. 

It's difficult trying to figure out how much to feed.

If you want a bigger dog, do you feed more?


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## drparker151 (Apr 10, 2020)

JunoVonNarnia said:


> If you want a bigger dog, do you feed more?


NO! you'll end up with a fat dog, most dogs I see are over weight. Look at these pics How to Evaluate Your Dog's Weight - dummies


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## davewis (Jan 7, 2020)

In general height and length (skeletal features) are determined by genetics. Body mass and composition are determined by genetics, exercise, and nutritional inputs. (food)

I consider how big and how fast pup grows to be largely out of my control.

I regulate his exercise around his growth and mood. Sometimes he is crazy energetic. Other times it seems he would rather just look out the window or chew a bone.

Finally, I try to pay attention to his hips and ribs (and appetite) to match his calorie and nutrition input to his current exercise and growth needs. I don't really micromanage, I just shift the amount of food up or down every week or so if he starts feeling too boney or too chubby. Younger puppies might need more frequent adjustments


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

Rexi's Mom said:


> Thank you! What do you feed your pups?
> 
> Thank you! How much do you feed your pups? Rexi is always starving but gets 3 cups of food each day.
> 
> Should I just increase her food or find a different brand?


I didn't go up to see if you've said how old or active your dog is but 3 cups kibble is not a lot for a growing dog at all but about right for a grown reasonably active GSD. Do you know how many cal/cup you are feeding? It's on the bag


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## CactusWren (Nov 4, 2018)

WNGD said:


> I didn't go up to see if you've said how old or active your dog is but 3 cups kibble is not a lot for a growing dog at all but about right for a grown reasonably active GSD. Do you know how many cal/cup you are feeding? It's on the bag


Interesting, mine is 19 months and getting 4.5 cups. He'd been losing weight at 3 cups.


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

CactusWren said:


> Interesting, mine is 19 months and getting 4.5 cups. He'd been losing weight at 3 cups.


My 6 year old reasonably active (minimum 3X off leash walks per day) 80 pound male GSD gets 4c per day in 2 meals
My 6 month reasonably active (same walks/play) 80 pound male GSD gets 5-6c per day in 2 meals, I just cut him down from 7.5c per day in 3 meals


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## CactusWren (Nov 4, 2018)

WNGD said:


> My 6 year old reasonably active (minimum 3X off leash walks per day) 80 pound male GSD gets 4c per day in 2 meals
> My 6 month reasonably active (same walks/play) 80 pound male GSD gets 5-6c per day in 2 meals, I just cut him down from 7.5c per day in 3 meals


That's pretty close. Jupiter is about 80 lbs too. He might be just a hair over that nowadays.


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## JunoVonNarnia (Apr 8, 2020)

Our of curiosity, when do you start to cut back in a puppy's diet? In other words, how do you know your puppy's stopped growing? 

(Should this be a separate discussion)?


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

JunoVonNarnia said:


> Our of curiosity, when do you start to cut back in a puppy's diet? In other words, how do you know your puppy's stopped growing?
> 
> (Should this be a separate discussion)?


You might get as many answers as there are puppy foods...generally the answer is 12-18 months for large breeds.


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