# How much Purina Puppy Chow should I feed my 10 week old German Shepherd puppy?



## morgan&thor (May 22, 2013)

I have had my little Thor for a couple weeks now and the breeder told me how much to feed him. But that was when I first got him and he has grown like crazy since then. He more then doubled his weight, but I have noticed that a bone in his back sticks out some. He IS NOT super skinny or anything I don't really know if he is considered small or large for his age or what I'm not really sure. He came from a litter of 9 or 10, I read before that the puppies weigh a percentage of the Mother's pregnancy weight. He now at 10 weeks weighs 20 lbs. He was the biggest of all the pups of the litter. So really I'm just don't know how much Purina Puppy Chow I need to feed my puppy. :gsdsit:


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

The answer is none.


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## volcano (Jan 14, 2013)

Zero, that stuff is like feeding a baby gas station food and mcdonalds.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

Purina Puppy Chow is not a good quality kibble. In fact it is one of the worst. If you want a better chance at a healthier puppy I would upgrade to a better kibble like Solid Gold Wolf Cub, Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy or Wellness puppy food


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## kjdreyer (Feb 7, 2013)

There should be instructions on the bag about how much to feed according to weight. You can use that as a guide, and then adjust to be sure your dog maintains normal growth and has normal poos.

(And look out, you might get a little flamed by people who really believe it's better for your dog to get a high quality food. OK, I am one of those people! But I also think you have to pick what's best for your own dog, for instance my dog doesn't tolerate grain free, it's too rich. OK, sorry again, I'm hijacking your post  And don't let the flames dissuade you from asking questions! There is excellent info here.)


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## marbury (Apr 3, 2012)

Here is the guide from the Purina website to answer your question, OP:










Now that the chart is available to answer your question, I'd love to encourage you to shop around and look for other brands of kibble in your price range that might have more 'bang for your buck'. Puppy Chow may meet the most basic guidelines for nutrition, but it has a lot of filler and a number of ingredients that can cause problems.

Especially now during critical growth and development, good nutrition will really give your pup what he needs. You'll start seeing dry coat/bad coat as he ages (if you aren't already) because he'll be missing some essential fatty oils and acids that Puppy Chow does not include. You don't have to spend a ton to get decent nutrition; if you have a feed store there are quite a few brands (like Diamond Natural, Taste of the Wild, 4Health) that are still very reasonably priced and will get your pup what he needs. And with a low- or no-grain formula you'll actually feed much less... the bag lasts longer and as a bonus you'll get less poop!!


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## VickyHilton (Apr 5, 2013)

I fed my puppy Fromm large breed puppy gold because that us what my breeder feeds their pups and was recommended. It is a fairly good quality food (with the correct percentages of calcium and phosphorus required for a large breed dog - goal is SLOW growing, not fast, to hopefully prevent joint problems in future) and a reasonable price (relatively speaking). I really don't recall how much I was feeding him at 10 weeks, but it was three times a day, for sure. A 30 pound bag at around $52 would certainly last much more than a month at that age. He was eating 6 cups per day at a year when I transitioned him to adult food (mine is extremely active). Hope this helps! 

Oh! And search for "good quality puppy food" or "what to feed my puppy" threads for much and constant discussion on the best food for a healthy dog long-term!


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## Contrary (Jun 12, 2013)

Not going to flame, but I agree, you need a better food for your pup. Wanted to share my story of my last GSD and his food.

We already had a cat when we bought our GSD puppy, and had to wait a couple more weeks til we could bring him home. Had the cat in for an appointment, so I asked the vet what food she recommended for him. She owned a GSD and recommended I do some research about it, so as to prevent him from growing too fast for pano/HD reasons. She said most puppy foods weren't recommended for large breeds for that reason.

So I did some searching, found out about BARF (this was well over 10 years ago and BARF was pretty much all that was said about raw that I found). Decided I couldn't do BARF, so I found a GSD forum, and it had a sticky with a list of foods in order of how good they were considered to be. Out of the top 5 on the list, the one I had easiest access to was Nutro Naturals Lamb and Rice (ADULT DOG FOOD). (Military commissaries sell it, so that was important with how often we move)

From 8 weeks old, he was on the Nutro. When he was about 2 years old, we had to go on emergency leave and leave him with a neighbor for a month. We kept our food in a kibble container, so she had no idea what we fed him when she ran out of his food, so she fed him Dog Chow, just like she fed her dogs. Being a good friend, she made sure we had a bag when we got home, so we didn't have to rush right out for food. 

I can't stand to waste stuff, so we fed it to him. His poop piles went from "small" to HUGE. He went poop more often. He ate a LOT more. (We free fed, and he was always the perfect weight according to the vet.) He finished that huge bag of Dog Chow in about a third of the time it would take him to go through a bag of Nutro.

Even though the Nutro was more expensive PER BAG, it was CHEAPER overall to feed it, PLUS there was MUCH less poop to clean up.

I know there are folks here who don't care for Nutro, and I know there are better foods available than Nutro, but if I were going to feed Storm kibble, I wouldn't hesitate to feed the Nutro Naturals Lamb and Rice again. My dog was never sick, never limped, and was always in great shape according to the vet. I never did xrays for dysplacia because I never had a reason to, but we never had any pano, and that made me a believer in "decent" adult foods for large breed dogs.


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## Blanketback (Apr 27, 2012)

morgan&thor said:


> I have noticed that a bone in his back sticks out some.


When my puppy was underweight and my vet told me to increase his food portions, he said it was good to be able to feel the top of the spine but _not_ good to be able to feel along the sides of it. I was also feeding Fromm's LBP, although I can't say that this was the best choice I could have made because I think he may have been sensitive to some of the ingredients. Feeding our puppies seems to be right up there with rocket science


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## gsdsar (May 21, 2002)

A good starting point is a cup per month of age per day. But each puppy is different. And if your pup is thin then start by increasing amount by 25% pet day. It will generally level off at between 4-5 cups a day. Split between 2-3 meals daily. 

My puppy, 7 months old gets about 5 cups a day. He is thin, but not skinny. 

As others have stated. Puppy Chiw is not a first choice food. If you can afford a better one, I would switch. But if you don't want to, then the same rules apply. Sort of. Higher quality foods require less quantity to receive the same nutrition. So you may end up feeding significantly more Puppy Chow, than a higher quality food. 

I feed Nutro. Which many in this board think is bad food as well. But it's what's in my budget and my dogs do great on it. 


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## meek (Feb 14, 2012)

Feed your pup as much as he can eat 3 to 4 times a day. Till he gets a little older. That's what my vet said and that's what I did. My puppy was fine with that. When he gets older cut it back to 2 times a day. 


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## Mary Beth (Apr 17, 2010)

Since you are feeding Purina, I suggest you give the Purina One or Pro Large Breed Puppy Chow - it will just cost a little than the regular Purina but it is formulated for the needs of a large breed puppy. My Sting was on that as his breeder had him on that .


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## Maik (Sep 24, 2012)

I am a bit surprised that there are actually breeders that feed their pups this crap....makes me wonder where else they skimped. For the life of me, I can not imagine a quality dog coming from such a breeder.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

Just look at the difference in the ingredients. Which one would you rather eat? Which one sounds more healthy?

Purina Puppy Chow Ingredients

Ingredients: Whole grain corn, corn gluten meal, chicken by-product meal, brewers rice, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of vitamin E), soybean meal, egg and chicken flavor, barley, animal digest, calcium phosphate, fish oil, calcium carbonate, dried yeast, salt, potassium chloride, choline chloride, l-lysine monohydrochloride, added color (yellow 6, yellow 5, red 40, blue 2), zinc sulfate, vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, dl-methionine, manganese sulfate, niacin, vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin B12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin D3 supplement, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite

Blue Buffalo Blue Wilderness Large Breed Puppy

Ingredients: Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Tapioca Starch, Peas, Menhaden Fish Meal,Tomato Pomace, Natural Chicken Flavor, Dried Egg, Chicken Fat Potatoes, Fish Oil, Flaxseed, Potato Starch, Alfalfa Meal, Whole Carrots, Whole Sweet Potatoes, Blueberries, Cranberries, Apples, Blackberries, Pomegranate, Spinach, Pumpkin, Barley Grass, Dried Parsley, Dried Kelp, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Turmeric, L-Lysine, Taurine, L-Carnitine, Oil of Rosemary, Beta Carotene, Vitamin A Supplement


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

Maik said:


> I am a bit surprised that there are actually breeders that feed their pups this crap....makes me wonder where else they skimped. For the life of me, I can not imagine a quality dog coming from such a breeder.


I agree with this!


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## Sibze (Jan 30, 2013)

Wow those ingredients, there is no actual meat!


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## Rbeckett (Jun 19, 2013)

At the risk of sounding impolite, why on earth are you trying to kill your puppy? Purina is about as low on the totem poles as you can get in a commercial preparation. You would actually do better making your own kibble from a recipe than feeding you dog all of that processed "Schtuff". A puppy is an investment in the future and should be well fed and well loved by the time he or she is selected for it's eventual meeting with it's future job and destiny. Failing to support the puppies growng body and growing mind will not produce a very tough high drive dog suitable for much more than being a family pet rather than a Rin-Tin-Tin example of athleticism and drive, Please reconsider the feeding program you are on before you do a real disservice to your dog and yourself.

Wheelchair Bob


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## marbury (Apr 3, 2012)

Guys... take a chill pill. Not everybody researches this stuff before they bring their pup home. Stick to constructive ways to help the OP, not making him/her feel like a horrible person.

The important thing is that the OP is here. Let's help, not hurt.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i fed my pup 3 cups a day. 1 cup in the am, 1 cup noonish and
1 cup in the pm. he had snacks and training treats throughout 
the day. i didn't feed Purnia.


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