# Two 7 Week Old Brothers Food Amount?



## dnaginzter (May 8, 2010)

Using Science Diet for large puppy breed, i just can't figure out how much food I should be giving each one of my pups per meal per day (3 a day). When people say cups, do they mean measuring or the red throw away party cups? they're both about twenty something pounds. Btw is this one of the best dog foods?


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

Are these puppies away from the mother already at only 7 weeks?

No, science diet is a poor quality food. Some high quality foods would be Wellness, Natures Variety, Orijen, Acana. When referring to cups its actual measuring cup size, not a glass.


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

When I have puppies that young. They get as much as they will eat steadily, 3x a day. I watch them eat, and when they leave their food, they are done and I pick it up and take it away until the next meal time. 

At about 10-12 weeks I switch to feeding twice a day, around 4 months I have a pretty good idea of what they are wanting to eat per feeding and that's when I really start to regulate. Although I will also watch body condition and if someone's getting too fat, I may start to regulate earlier. I've never had a pup that got too skinny on this method.

ETA- If you have 2 and are feeding them together they are probably going to eat more than they would on their own because of competition.


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## dnaginzter (May 8, 2010)

They are 52 days old from today. 7.43 weeks. Is that to soon to get a pup? And with the dog food, really a brand that says science diet? Yikes that's awful. 

Thanks for the food regulation info. That's def going to help.


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

Most people recommend not taking puppies from their litter until they are 8 weeks old. I actually prefer 9-10 weeks if they are getting good care at the breeders. Some people do take as early as 7 weeks, but those people that do that on purpose are usually looking to imprint more specific behaviors and bonding on their puppies.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

Science diet is about as bad of a dog food as you can feed. There are so many better choices out there for the same price. Science diet is not only a bad food, it's one of the more expensive foods out there too.


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## Relayer (Apr 29, 2010)

Me be pretty sure that this be the same guy that has the "puppy biting his throat in the evening" problem. Man... guy... dude... get serious local help. You have 10 to 14 years ahead of you with these dogs. Pardon me if I'm wrong, but I sense that you suddenly have 2 GSD's and have limited experience raising other breeds. That's ok... really!! Just please be open minded enough to carefully read experienced people's opinions. You have the dog's lifetime at stake. Make it the best possible for the dogs AND you... so important.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Most responsible breeders won't even sell us 2 puppies at the same time. Too hard to raise them right (and $$$$ with all the food/training/vet bills). Much of the time the responsible 'new' owners of the 2 realize they are over their heads and return one of the puppies right away. So much better for everyone involved (specially the puppies..).

But if you have to keep them both, you need a heads up for the extra work and considerations for the situation you are now in. Great info on these sites:

http://www.uvhs.org/behavioral_docs/double_trouble.pdf

Raising 2 pups at one time in a Family Setting

Raising Siblings

You aren't crazy, 2 puppies really are harder to raise! :wild:


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## Wolfiesmom (Apr 10, 2010)

My vet and my breeder both told me not to feed my puppy any puppy food, that it isn't good for GSDs. It causes rapid growth, and causes hip bone and joint problems. They told me to give him adult food. He will still grow into that big German Shepherd you want, but at a slower, safer rate.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

I say anywhere from 8-12 weeks is a good time to get a puppy. 
I got my boy from a breeder at 11 weeks old

Science Diet is . I would *NEVER* feed my dog that, Vet's will try to push it on you but that food is terrible.

*I recommend Solid Gold Wolf Cub or Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy*


Solid Gold slows down their growth so that they dont get too big too fast, because that is not good for large breeds. I fed my by Solid Gold Wolf Cub and he loved it and he looked great on it. I recommended it to some of my friends and they are also pleased with the results.


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## Holmeshx2 (Apr 25, 2010)

I have to agree with MRL 2 pups at the same time is just a disaster. Even if you don't want to believe your pups could go to the extremes some of the sites have said just know it's a HUGE pain. Besides the obvious cost of doubling everything they will learn to feed off each other in temperment. While one young pup acting up you can handle having 2 they feed off each other. The more dominant one may start something then the other chimes in and then before you know it you have 2 terrors on your hands. For even an experienced home it is difficult to say the least but for an inexperienced home it's darn near impossible to do let alone do well.


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## dnaginzter (May 8, 2010)

Thanks for the helpful advice everyone. So far so good. Today is there third and last day on Science Diet. Have I gone too far with feeding them that brand to where I can't undo something? If there's anything I can do to get that cleaned out of their system let me know. Man that got me really worried big time. I'm picking up either Royal Canin, Eukanuba, Natural Ultra Mix Canidae, Eagle, Solid Gold, Orijen, or Innova. Oh geez please some one tell me feeding them three days of Science Diet wont destroy them with their bones and joints in there lives.


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

Don't worry a few days did not destroy anything!!! Think of it as if you decided to eat McDonalds for a few days  Not good nutrition, but some junk food now and then isn't going to cause permanent problems. 

Of those you listed The first 3 are not so great, Eukanuba being the worst of the list. The last 4 are good! Though Innova's maker is in the process of selling to Proctor and Gamble so the quality will probably go down.... I've heard Canidae has gone down in quality the last few years.


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## Holmeshx2 (Apr 25, 2010)

No it's not going to destroy them quite honestly in most cases 3 days of the best or worst food isn't really going to be enough to make much of a difference. You have definitely not gone too far to undo something there are dogs that spend years on some of the worst foods out there then get changed to a better diet and shortly after you see health problems clearing up. Eukanuba is along the same lines as Science Diet for quality. I have heard quite a bit of bad about Royal Canin being close to the same category as well so personally I would steer clear of that as well. I originally like Innova (at least over the previous options) but I recently read that they were bought out by P&G (proctor and gamble) so not sure how much I would trust their quality now quite honestly. I don't know it may just be me but I have issues with companies having their hands in "too many pots" for lack of better terms. If I'm chosing something so important that is the main source of all nutrition for my dogs health, wellness, and happiness I want the company to know what they are doing. I want them to have some sort of knowledge as to what my dog really needs and be willing to adapt to the times and knowledge constantly being learned to better their products for the sake of my dog. Personally, I have an issue believing the same people making my Q-tips that I clean my ears with or take my make up off with is going to really understand what is needed for the best health of my dog. Quite honestly I know I want a lot from a company but hey if I'm paying my hard earned money then I want my moneys worth and I'm willing to compromise but not with my pets health. 

If I were you and trying to do the best that I could I would first sit down and make out a budget of what you could feasibly spend on food and one that you are ok spending. Don't lie to yourself and say oh well if I have to I will but then a few months down the road switch because it was more expensive then you were truly comfortable with spending originally. Also, choose how you would prefer to feed. Do you want a kibble that you can simply put on the floor and be done or are you willing to do more work? Are you ok with raw feed or homecooked feeding or even something more along the lines of commercial pre-made raw diets. Know you will have grief no matter which way you go quite honestly so make the decision you feel is best for you and your dog and make sure you are comfortable with it so you can stand behind it and not question yourself constantly when others doubt you. If you feed raw you will have vets that disagree with it and tell you that you are wrong as well as other owners and at the very least get wierd stares and constant questions because it is viewed as "out of the norm" With raw or homemade it is a fair amount of time involved in preparing the meals weighing them and feeding them and it can get rather costly depending on the area you live and resources you have available. Once you get used to it though it really isn't that much work but definitely more involved then setting a bowl of kibble down. Premade raw food is obviously easier it's like going and buying a frozen TV dinner from the super market yeah its better then eating a candy bar but definitely nowhere near the health benefits of if you made the meal yourself. With kibble it is more widely accepted and most vets won't question you for chosing to feed it. It does not go without issues though. You obviously want something of good quality and that will cost you. Its hard when you see a 50 pound bag of food for $15-20 and knowing your paying like $60 for far less then that. You will have people that feed the poor kibble call you crazy for spending that much money and how great their dogs do on the cheap stuff but it's just like humans.. yeah we can live off of cereal but we are not our best on it. We may seem perfectly healthy because after all it has nutrition in it and vitamins but when we start adding things our body needs like lean proteins (chicken fish etc..) and fresh fruits and vegetables you will see a healthier person. They may not have been sick exactly on the cereal but with the better food more nutritionally sound to what our bodies need you will get better skin better hair nails etc.. more energy and just over all feel better. Same goes with dogs. Also with kibble you have the choice of feeding specific times a day or free feeding again either choice will have opposition and both have their pro's and cons. Asking questions is a great start but they really are just a beginning to get a general idea and then you need to go a step furher and research. 

To help narrow it down some (sorry I'm a long winded person lol)
Find your budget your willing and are able to spend on feeding your dogs
Choose how much work you are honestly willing to put into preparing and serving the meals.
Research then choose which diet you best feel comfortable feeding
then once you find which method you prefer and feel is best learn and do it.

If its raw you are gonna want to do a ton of research on what you need portions etc.. If it's kibble your going to want to find which brand you prefer and making a list of whats in your budget will help you limit those options. If you want whats best learn first which brands are bad and cross those off your list but also learn why they are bad so you can learn to avoid them in future decisions. Then once you've learned what bad to stay away from learn what good you want to look for (BTW learning to read an ingrediants list properly makes a HUGE difference and is a HUGE help) Find a list of a few top brands that have what you want then choose between them however you may need. Some may be price some may be availability not all areas or stores have the top brands. Keep in mind you may go through all this and choose what you feel is perfect only to have your dog refuse to eat it lol so I would suggest if your doing kibble to get a small bag to taste test them with first if they refuse to it make sure to have a back up brand so your not starting at square one again. Then of course keep on eye on them to make sure they are doing well on the new food health wise to make sure its the right food to stay with. 

Also, don't forget, whatever you decide it's generally best to gradually switch their food over to avoid upset bellies or other issues. Some dogs can take to a switch with no issues but it's generally easier just to spend a little time and gradually switch foods just to avoid the possible complication. There are a million resources to teach you to switch food but generally the easiest is to feed about 75% old food 25% new food for a day or 2 then switch to a little more new a little less old and keep gradually going down until at the end it is just the new food and they are no longer eating any old food. Generally do this over the course of 7-10 days although it does depend on the dog.


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## dnaginzter (May 8, 2010)

Wow thanks for the info everyone. Eagle, Solid Gold, Orijen, or Innova I'd the group I'm choosing from. Well see how it goes. Great idea on the small bag first. I bought the largest science diet bag you can find. X_X


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

The calcium/phosphorus ratio is most important for growing pups, and Orijen and Wellness super5mix large breed puppy are two that have it.
I would choose before the other brands of kibble or research a raw diet.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

I'm still saying Solid Gold Wolf Cub

About Solid Gold Wolf Cub on Solid Gold's Website

_"High energy diets, like most puppy foods, can promote rapid growth in large breed puppies, which can play a role in the development of orthopedic diseases. WolfCub Large Breed Puppy Formula contains lower amounts of protein, fat, calories, and calcium than Hundchen Flocken Puppy Food to help control the growth process. Research shows that a Calcium level of 1.5% or less is the most suitable for a large breed puppy."_

_Protein, Min 26%_
_Fat, Min 12%_
_Fiber, Max 4%_
_Moisture, Max 10%_
_Calcium, Max 1.5%_
_Phosphorus, Max 1.2%_
_Calories per cup, 375_


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

You can donate what you have left of the Science Diet to a local animal shelter. Its a poor food, but a step up from no food!


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## Holmeshx2 (Apr 25, 2010)

Lin said:


> You can donate what you have left of the Science Diet to a local animal shelter. Its a poor food, but a step up from no food!


:thumbup: definitely a good idea. Whenever I used to get really good coupons for some of the lesser foods or my favorite the free bag coupons I would always go get them and donate to the animal shelter same goes for treats my dogs wouldn't eat or didn't like. With treats you can generally go in and ask if they mind you giving them to the dogs then just go down the line of cages. This was my favorite thing I used to go into the "vicious" room. Would randomly go buy bones or other treats just for this purpose. 

Our shelter in Michigan sucked tiny little cages stacked on top of each other then they had a whole other room for dogs that were aggressive and definitely not going to get adopted or were taken from owners for fighting and being mean awaiting their court date to be PTS  

Was always full of pits rotties and GSDs go figure...  my favorite part was all these dogs lunging at the cage growling and trying to eat you and watch how quickly they get some act right for the treat lol. Made me feel good to show them a little love towards what I knew was the end of their life.


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