New Feeding Schedule/Amount

[The Food Group]

Hi everyone,

I am hoping to get some opinions about how much food I should be feeding Ernest.  I had posted a while back that I was worried he was going to exceed the weight for the Fromm Puppy Gold feeding guidelines, and guess what, he has!  So here's some pertinent information

-He's a couple days away from being 6 months old, and approx 53-55 lbs. 

-He was neutered about a week and a half ago, so not sure if I am supposed to be feeding less? His appetite has picked up since the neutering- so much so that he doesn't even notice that I don't put yogurt on top of his food anymore.

-He currently gets 1+1/3 cup three times daily (about 4 cups total per day).

-I found out when he got neutered that he has mild hip dysplasia, and the vet definitely wants him to stay lean.

-I would like to switch him to 2 meals per day rather than 3

-I am finding it confusing that even though there is no value in the feeding recommendation chart for his age/weight for Fromm Puppy Gold, it's hard to even try to extrapolate a value because the chart on the bag and the chart online are different!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!  And on a side note, I am pretty sure the breeder said I could switch to adult food at a year old, my vet is telling me that more and more people are doing it at 8 months, so now I don't know when to plan on doing that! 

Thanks!

[Kerry Daly]

Both my dogs are on Fromm.  Zeus is on adult and Appollo on large breed puppy gold.  I am guessing you are using the large breed puppy gold and not the regular puppy gold.  What I keep hearing is the reason why vets are ok moving puppies earlier (especially if they are bigger) is that it is ok to move earlier to adult due to the fact that puppy typically contains more fat and after a certain size they do not need the extra fat. You wont need 4 cups a day on, it goes down when you move to adult. The nice thing about Fromm is if you use 4star when it is time to move to adult, you can move between flavors without having to ween them from one to another.  You can mix them - give them variety.  Many stores have samples of it so you can see which flavors he will like. I moved Zeus to twice a day around 6 months.  Does he seem hungry after he eats breakfast?  Honestly 4 cups seems like a lot but Zues did not get to this size until he was 12 months.  He is only 60lbs at 2!  If your vet supports it, i would move to adult at 8 months.  For now, I would move to two feedings and watch and see if he is really hungry between meals.  Also, we used healthy treats throughout the day to give him that satisfaction.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Ordinarily, I tell people that you don't need a "large breed" formula unless your doodle is expected to top 80 or 90 lbs...that they are really meant for the giant breeds like Great Danes and St. Bernards who can take more than 18 months to reach skeletal growth. But in this case, since it's important that Ernest not gain too quickly, you could switch Ernest to the Large Breed Puppy Gold. It has 28 fewer calories per cup than the regular puppy gold, so not a huge difference, but that is a savings of 112 calories per day for the full 4 cups. You would still feed 4 cups per day, and you can divide that into two meals, so two cups at each meal. At this age, he really should be getting two feedings per day rather than three. 

If you want to stay with the regular puppy formula, perhaps try cutting back a teeny tiny bit at each meal. like maybe an eighth of a cup, and see how he does with that. As they get older and their growth slows down, they need fewer calories per lb. of body weight. 

Generally, you switch from puppy food to adult food when the skeletal growth is complete, or close to it, which is usually between 8 and 10 months for most standard doodles, although the extra-large guys can take a bit longer. So I'd say you would be safe to switch Ernest any time after 8 months old, it really won't make much difference at that point. I agree with Kerry that the Fromm Four Star line would be a good choice if you'd like to introduce some variety in his diet. 

Does this help at all? 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Try the 1 and 7/8 cups twice a day and see how he does with that. You may not be able to cut back more than that, depending on his growth rate and how hungry he seems. But it will still be a savings of 104 calories per day in just that quarter cup per day less food. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You may have to give him his dinner a little earlier than usual at first, since he won't get a meal in between breakfast and dinner. But he'll be getting more food at breakfast than he usually does, which should help him feel full for a longer period. It may take a couple of days for his system to adjust. 

[Anita - Thunder, Noodle, Sparky]

The entire food thing is quite confusing in my opinion and I stressed a lot about it. We didn't feed our puppy puppy food - I think the food we were using at the time was for all ages. Go by calories in, not necessarily how many cups he is getting. All dogs are different, and since he is younger, he needs more food. I understand the hip issues and keeping their weight down. I have that with my oldest big dog. Karen will be able to guide you better on recommended calories, but my 75+ lb 1 year old gets about 1,400 Calories of Orijen a day. My other two, older, less active, and one with hip problems get 670 and 504 calories a day. They are around 60 lbs each. I don't know if this helps at all, but it is what I have found to work best for them. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Calculating calories per lb of body weight works great for adult dogs, but it's harder for puppies, because they go through different stages of growth and the amount of calories they require per lb of body weight fluctuates. Once they reach full skeletal growth, it's much easier. And i agree that it's a better way to calculate food amounts than going by the number of cups per day.