# How much do you feed you GSD?



## Akk578

My 8 month old German Shepherd Bandit is recieving 2 cups in the AM and 2 cups in the PM. Someone told me I am over feeding him.... That he should only get 2 cups all day. I was wondering how much should I be feeding him at his age? Am I over feeding him? An when he is a year old how much adult food should he be eating a day? Thanks :apple:


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## Jgk2383

It depends on what type of food he is on. With some of the lesser quality kibble you need to feed more to receive optimum nutrion/calories. What the premium brands that are cal dense you can feed less and achieve the same as feeding more of the other brand. Hope that makes sense, my brain is elsewhere today.


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## Mac's Mom

Akk578 said:


> My 8 month old German Shepherd Bandit is recieving 2 cups in the AM and 2 cups in the PM. Someone told me I am over feeding him.... That he should only get 2 cups all day. I was wondering how much should I be feeding him at his age? Am I over feeding him? An when he is a year old how much adult food should he be eating a day? Thanks :apple:


I'm not an expert by any means. But I do know that it does depend on the weight of your dog. When I was feeding kibble, my vet said 1 cup per 10 lbs.


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## Lucy Dog

What are you feeding? What kind of exercise is your pup getting? Hows his weight? 

There are tons of variables when deciding how much to feed. There's nothing set in stone that says feed X amount Y amount of times. It really depends on the dog.


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## we4elves

Matty is 8 months 64 lbs and she gets fed diamond natural lamb & rice. I feed her 4-5 cups a day and would actually like her to gain a little weight, but as soon as I feed her more than that she gets soft stools...so I am trying to add a little more throughout the day while training.


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## LeftyGinger

My male, Bruno is 75 pounds and 10 months old and he gets about 5 cups a day. He has a fairly high level activity each day but because of his age and activity level, looks thin. I constantly hear comments about why I'm not feeding enough but always from people who don't understand the breed and how they're supposed to look while young so it's in one ear and out the other. I adjust more or less on activity level and if they're knocking their bowls around for more after licking it clean or whether or not there's extra left over when they walk away.
Like everyone else says, it's dependent on several factors, activity level, current weight, and such. I CAN tell you that 2 cups all day is FAR TOO LITTLE for an 8 month old GSD. I would really think about what you're feeding sounds about right. 2 cups a day will get you a dog that's starving all the time.


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## mjbgsd

Cody get's 4 cups a day as he is losing weight. 
Isa get's 2 cups a day. 
Akbar eats about 2lbs of raw in the morning and 2 cups of Orijen at night as he has a very fast metabolism.


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## BlackPuppy

My 9 month old Dutch Shepherd puppy, about 50 pounds is getting 4 cups a day of grain-free Evo. My older dogs get half as much. It's weird.


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## BlackPuppy

Mac's Mom said:


> I'm not an expert by any means. But I do know that it does depend on the weight of your dog. When I was feeding kibble, my vet said 1 cup per 10 lbs.


Shows you that you shouldn't listen to your vet. If your dog's bones are sticking out, feed more, if he's getting fat, feed less. All dogs are different, and all food is different.


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## Dainerra

Mac's Mom said:


> I'm not an expert by any means. But I do know that it does depend on the weight of your dog. When I was feeding kibble, my vet said 1 cup per 10 lbs.


Holy *bleep*! Rayden would be getting almost 9 cups of food a day! Of course, if he was eating cheap store brand food, then he'd NEED that much.

As it is, he eats 4 cups a day, with some eggs/cottage cheese/what not added in on occasion.


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## Doggydog

Mine gets 2 C a.m. and 2 C p.m. Premium dry food. I thought she should be cut to 3 per day but she dropped weight so I upped the portions. She is quite active.


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## jakeandrenee

3 to 4 cups per day, Jake is 7 months


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## patti

Bo eats about 2 cups, twice a day, maybe a little more. He eats Blue Buffalo. I never really measure for any of my dogs, just watch how they look. Too wide, feed less, too narrow in the waist, feed more. Bo is 9 mos. old. He's long and lanky!


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## Lucy Dog

Well since we're saying actual amounts no matter what the food is... Lucy gets about 3 cups of orijen adult a day in addition to about 1/4 cup chicken breast and i rotate between yogurt, canned pumpkin and eggs mixed in. She also gets snacks/treats throughout the day.

She's a pretty active 70-72 pound 2+ year old female.


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## Sigurd's Mom

Sigurd gets 2 cups in the morning and 2 cups in the evening. I also add in a chicken breast at each meal.


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## Elaine

This is just so silly. If your dog is no longer a lean machine, you need to feed more. If your dog is nice and lean, you are feeding just enough. If your dog is skinny, you need to feed more. All dogs have different caloric needs due to their metabolism and activity level and dog foods can have significantly different number of calories per cup. Look at your dog and go from there.


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## Zoeys mom

My dogs get 3 cups of Orijen a day and a cup of home cooked food split between their two meals plus training treats and sometimes even table scraps. Both are solid muscle and healthy looking


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## Syaoransbear

Chrono gets 1 cup per day.


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## Rerun

I can not imagine an 8 mo old GSD, regardless of the food quality and even if it was a lazy dog, only eating 2 cups a day.

But if the dog is of good condition (weight) then it must be working. Feeding is much more simple than it's made out to be. If the dogs skinny, feed it more. If the stools get runny, then your dog may have a digestive disorder or you need to try a different food. If the dog is fat, cut back. If you cut back and add exercise and the dog doesn't lose weight, check thryoids, etc.

Ours eat between 2 3/4 day (Audrey who is small at only 55 lbs) and up to almost 6 cups/day (works out to be about 5 1/2) for the big boys (Kodi and Micah who are a lean 83 and 90/95 - yes he's actually that big).


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## Ruthie

My rule of thumb is that I feed 1/4 - 1/2 less per day than the weight chart on the bag says. On training or tracking days when he is getting a lot of treats I reduce another 1/4 - 1/2 cup for the evening feeding.

From there I just keep an eye on him to see how his weight is since it will fluxuate based on how much activity he has. If it goes up I reduce a 1/4 cup per day.


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## Runswithdogs

Regen gets 3 cups/day, 3.5 if she was at daycare or got more exercise than usual. She is on TOTW.

Edit: she also gets training treats, a raw bone most days of the week, and Kongs. Sometimes we'll sub RMBs for her dinner.


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## unloader

Remy eats 1 cup of Orijen 3 times a day. He also gets about 1/2 cup of Orijen as training treats. I'd like to feed more, but his stools get soft if I do.

Forgot to add that he is about 7 months


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## Pattycakes

My 16 month old, 60 lb female GSD gets about 4-4.5 cups of Blue Buffalo a day. She is very active. 

I agree...it depends on the dog. Each one is different.


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## sprzybyl

wow Riley only eats 1 cups 2x a day of EVO red meat, plus a small amount of chicken and a raw egg. We go by her weight, her stools, and her overall health/ appearance. She got itchy on some food and switch brands if needed.


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## Mac's Mom

BlackPuppy said:


> Shows you that you shouldn't listen to your vet. If your dog's bones are sticking out, feed more, if he's getting fat, feed less. All dogs are different, and all food is different.


This is a starting point. Of course its more or less depending on the dog. As a growing puppy this amount actually turned out to be perfect.


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## gmanshepherd

my 15 month old male eats around 1-2 bowls of dry food every day. and the only day I let him eat food scraps ( bones etc) is sunday. he is healthy. at around 66 pounds.


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## MrsFergione

My 6 1/2 month old female gets the following twice daily:

1 cup dry food
4oz raw meat
1 tablespoon yogurt or cottage cheese

The raw meat is a variety, it's different each day or meal, and sometimes I throw in an egg, or some sweet potato or whatever else in small quantities I think she might like.


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## MrsFergione

I increase her food if she starts showing too much rib, it's worked perfectly fine so far. She also has Nupro joint supplement with all meals. I've increase her food 2 times since she was 14 weeks.


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## Baillif

I'm the same way. To protect their back and hips I want to see some rib. Keep em light and springy.


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## Jd414

12 weeks old and gets about 3-3 1/2 cups of earthborne puppy food per day.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Packen

Both of my dogs need about 2600 cals per day.


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## barnyard

Willow gets 2.5 cups day of Dr Tim's grain inclusive and about 3/4 can of Kirkland Cuts in gravy. She is 18 months and her ribs show lightly. She also gets coconut oil and fish oil.
Happy Girl gets 2 cups of Dr Tim's grain free and 1/2 can of Kirkland cuts. She is 8 or so. She also gets coconut oil and joint supplement.


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