# Anyone feed over 5 cups per day?



## shaner (Oct 17, 2010)

My 2 GSD's are now at 5 cups per day (they were at 4.5 a month ago, but were too skinny) and I think I may even need to up it to 5.5. I feed Orijen which is high in calories. My dogs are quite active, especially Cedar, but 5 cups already seems like a lot. 

Both are in great shape and are very lean, perhaps a little too lean. Cedar is 71 lbs and Titan is 81 lbs. Titan is a very stocky boy, but he's quite thin. Cedar has been even more active since we got Titan and with him getting older and more active for longer periods of time, she dropped 5 lbs. I put them up to 5 cups per day and she has slowly gained that 5 lbs back and seems to be holding steady at 70-72 lbs. I know that's a good weight for a female GSD, but I just think she's a touch too skinny and could definitely use another 5 lbs. 

Titan's growth has finally slowed and he seems to be holding steady around 82 lbs, and I don't want him any heavier, but he also looks too skinny. My vet and my girlfriend also believe both could use a few more pounds. 

Like I said, my dogs are very, very active. I live out in the country so they have a lot of room to run. We hike and swim every day, we play fetch, they play with each other, etc. I think I might move them up to 5.5 cups per day, but it just seems like so much food. 

Anyone else feed over 5 cups per day? I would switch to raw, but neither of my dogs care much for raw meat. Cedar won't touch it, and Titan is picky about which kind of raw meats he'll eat, so it's not really an option.


----------



## alsatian92 (Mar 26, 2012)

I also have two GSD I feed Canidae and the feeding directions says to feed 3.5-4 cups a day so I did at first but they looked too thin to me. One is 85lb an the other is 90lb an they are VERY active. I looked up the amount of kilo calories they needed per day and it said about 1800kcal. I had to bump them up to 5 cups for the smaller one and 5.5 for the larger one. (Canidae has 468kcal per cup) So to keep them at a healthy weight I have to feed about 2400kcal a day.


----------



## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

Do you have pictures? 

Standing side photos and standing birds eye view photos. This can help other forum members determine weight and food need.


----------



## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Beau at 10 months gets about an hour of actual running and 2 - 3 miles walking a day and eats about 1700 calories. He is 75lbs (guessing)


----------



## shaner (Oct 17, 2010)

jocoyn said:


> Beau at 10 months gets about an hour of actual running and 2 - 3 miles walking a day and eats about 1700 calories. He is 75lbs (guessing)


I would estimate my dogs are around 4 hours of running per day. That's with off leash walks, off leash hikes, fetch in the back yard, them playing with each other in the yard. Then we do the odd leash walk plus swimming all summer long. They are outside most of the day and are very active


----------



## 3ToesTonyismydog (Dec 27, 2009)

When Tony was about that age he was eating like a pig, over 6 cups of dry a day. I freaked out thinking something was wrong and took him to the vet. The vet said to sit down 3 cups per meal, if he ate it all fine, but when he quit eating to take it away, no more until the next feeding. He is 3 now and is healthy as can be. The problem comes down to growing to fast because they eat to much. My vet is a Large dog guy and has great prices, so I never hesitate to take Tony in. I am pretty lucky in that regard.


----------



## fast93 (Jan 16, 2012)

My 4 year old still eats 4/5 cups a day......and still looks like he could use a couple of pounds added to his frame. He runs and runs and runs so I don't worry about it too much. He eats until he's full not until the bowl is empty.


----------



## vicky2200 (Oct 29, 2010)

Ditto was free fed- eating 5-7 cups a day (yes, 7.) High calorie food. Now, we have a puppy who wont stay out of her food. I am feeding her 2.5 cups 2x a day (5 cups.) She was mad when I tried to decrease it. She is a good weight so I don't see the harm in it.


----------



## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

71 and 81 pounds sounds like a nice size. do your dogs
look thin or do you want them larger? maybe your dogs 
are at their natural size. GSD's have a variety of sizes.


----------



## shaner (Oct 17, 2010)

doggiedad said:


> 71 and 81 pounds sounds like a nice size. do your dogs
> look thin or do you want them larger? maybe your dogs
> are at their natural size. GSD's have a variety of sizes.


They look too thin. I'm going to put them at 5.5 for a while and see what happens. It just seems like a lot of food.


----------



## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

Can you post pictures? Top and side view?

I believe Orijens around 470 calories per cup. 470 x 5.5 = 2,500+ calories per day. That really is a whole lot of food.


----------



## GrammaD (Jan 1, 2012)

Huxley, a skosh over 50lbs @ 5 months, is eating 4 cups of kibble that is 529 kcals per cup. His stools are perfect, and he is very thin, so the vet has suggested increasing the amount. 

Poor kid tries to keep up with our field lab in play plus go to 2 classes per week plus training and walking daily. I also think I just hit the luck of the draw and have two high metabolism dogs. Abby, 56-60lbs depending upon what we are working her in, eats 5-6 cups of the same food per day to maintain.

We liked the Fromm, but it just wasn't keeping weight on either of them so we switched to Nutrisource Super Performance. 

They are both very fit


----------



## mosul210 (Mar 23, 2012)

My boy is 6 months old and about 75 lbs. He eats approx 5.5 cups a day - he eats 3.5 cups in the morning and 2 cups in the eavening. He also walks approximately .25 miles a day.


----------

