Still Hungry?!?!

[Clint]

Well, I am closing in on one week of owning my new puppy.  It has been interesting.  Since he has settled in and he has started to eat "normally" it seems like he can't get enough to eat.  He is eating Blackwood 2000 (what the breeder fed).  The bag says to feed an 11-20 pound dog a maximum of 1.5 cups.  Joe, my dog, weighed 11.04lbs on Tuesday when we went to the vet.  I have upped him to the max of 1.5 cups (spread out over two servings) which he kind of nibbles on, but finishes in a reasonable amount of time.  The problem is once he finishes, he continues to go in the kitchen and look for more food!  I plan on switching him to Orijen puppy, but I am waiting a little while since that is what was suggested.  Should I feed him more Blackwood?  He is not fat you can feel his ribs and a little bit of fat over each one.

 

Sorry for the low quality pic.  It was taken on my phone the first day I got him.

 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Two feedings a day is not enough for a young puppy. He needs to be fed more often. Divide the food into at least three meals, and add a little food to each meal if he still seems hungry.  

After a couple of weeks, you will hopefully transition him off this food. It's not very good quality, and the 2000 formula is not the puppy formula, and doesn't have guidelines for puppies, which is a problem, because puppies need more nutrition than adult dogs of the same weight. They are experiencing tremendous growth and development, and need nutritional support. The website also doesn't provide the k/cals per cup, so it's hard to tell if he's getting enough to eat or not. But you need to keep him on the food for at least another week or two before switching.

[Clint]

I can feed him 3 times a day, but one feeding will be in the morning and the other two will have to be in the evening/night about 2-3 hours apart.  My work schedule won't allow me to do it any other way.  2000 was puppy before they recently changed their line up and now they list it as an all life stages food.  On the new site they list the calorie count as 3545 kcal/kg.  Got that number here..  I bought my bag two weeks ago and it is the previous style bag that is yellow and purple, but I'm assuming the formula is the same.

 

I was going to wait about a week or two to transition so I guess my thoughts were right there.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Clint, I know this wasn't part of your question, but is the puppy alone all day while you are at work, without a potty break? I can't imagine that's the case, a young puppy could never hold it all day, so if you or someone else is coming in to give the pup a potty break, couldn't he be fed then, too?

The kcal/per kg doesn't really help us know how much the pup is getting unless you know how many grams of food are in 1.5 cups. I do know that the 2000 formulas is lower in macronutrients than the puppy formula.

[Clint]

I'm single and everyone works in my family...I'm only 29 so all of my friends work.  My mom comes by and lets him out very quickly (not nearly long enough to eat) and has to go back to work.  That being said.  How much food do you think I should add?

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Clint, I bet you could find a wonderful dog walker in your area that could come in during the day and let your puppy out for a bit and feed him. Just a thought.

[Mimi Linna, Lilly and Lolly]

he is so cute...Lilly is 11 wks and I feed her 3 x a day..she is probably 5 lbs now. i also give her some food and a little peanut butter in a kong to keep her busy for 3 minutes. One of the books that I got said to put the food down and what they don't eat in 20 minutes pick it up..

[Clint]

Thank you!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Twenty minutes seems a long time for a puppy who is interested in food, but perhaps I don't know anything.

[Mimi Linna, Lilly and Lolly]

that's true, Lilly never lasts 20 minutes.. it usually takes her 10 minutes and then she is done.. but she is smaller.

[Mimi Linna, Lilly and Lolly]

I wonder if they have feeders that have timers on them to release a certain amount at a certain time. If you can afford a pet walker that may work.. good luck.. wish i were closer and I would watch him during the day.. it wouldl give lilly someone to play with.

[Clint]

Well, I increased his amount of food from 1.5 cups to 1.75 cups.  He at 1.75 cups yesterday and I put 1.75 cups in his bowl today, but he didn't eat about a cup of that food.  His poops have been fine up until this afternoon.  They started a little soft and glossy looking and by tonight he just had a pile of poop that looked like a half melted ice cream cone.  The only thing I have changed is the amount of food he is eating.  I haven't given him any treats at all.

[Lindsey]

Hi Clint! It's been awhile! I wondered how you and your pup were doing :-) I'm not going to be much help here...as I transitioned Molly off of the Blackwood as soon as the bag I had, that came with her, ran out. I had a HORRIBLE time getting her belly situated. We went through a few good weeks of nothing but soft stool. Now she's eating Wellness and doing just fine.
I would say that the 1.5 cups was def. NOT enough...for a growing pup. Molly was eating 3 cups! and she was still underweight...according to her vet. I had to start adding stuff to her food for calories, she just played so hard and burned cal. so quickly.

On side note...how is housetraining going!!??