How Much To Feed?

[Betsy D.]

I have a 12 wk. old GD who weighs 19 lbs. give or take... I have been feeding her Innova for LB Puppies. She loves it and is doing well with it. My question is how do I really know how much to feed her?

I was feeding her a little more than 1/2 cup of food three times a day with training treats as an addition. The vet told me to feed her two times a day, 3/4 of a cup each with training treats. He wants her to be hungry for her treats to perform for training. I didn't listen to him because she didn't seem to hesitate to train willingly for treats with three feeding a day.

Now I have switched her to twice a day because she is going to be going to a puppy day care boot camp and though I didn't ask, I assume they don't feed. I started feeding her 1 cup twice a day and I noticed that she seems to be starving by about 10:30 at night. Just a little while ago, she was pawing at her food bowl and whining. Water bowl is up for the night, but I left the food bowl down; I just didn't think about it. I looked at the bag of food and it says that I should be feeding her 3 3/8 cups of food a day according to her age and weight. I've been giving her 2 cups!

So, should I under feed her or should I feed her what the bag suggests? OR is there a happy medium? She did wake up in the middle of the night last night for the first time in over w week. Could she have been hungry in addition to needing to go out? Suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Adina P]

I would look at the bag and look at the pup. If my pup was on the thicker side, I'd use the lower end of the range listed on the bag. If my pup was on the skinny side I'd opt for the middle to higher range...over time you can adjust based on whether the puppy seems to be at a healthy weight.

[Adina P]

P.S...quite often I used my pup's kibble for training treats and would do training at meal times or right before to use up part of his meal's kibble..

[Lynne B]

At that age I put Beck's food down for 15 minutes, if he finished it before that I would give him more, if he didn't finish it I picked it up until his next feeding. I'm no expert, but that worked ok for him and he was very receptive to treats for training between meals

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Betsy, I also always go with the recommended amounts on the bag, and then adjust up or down for the particular dog & situation. 12 weeks is very young, and I think they are normally fed smaller amounts 3 x a day at that age, maybe some of our puppy people will know.
When does the boot camp start, and how long a period of time are they there? Maybe you could ask about the feeding, if it's more than a couple of hours.

[Tammy & Gracie]

I think at twelve weeks 2x daily feedings are borderline ok, I think we went to 2x at around 16 weeks, but the vet probably has no idea of the nutritional content of Innova. I would try to feed the amounts on the bag. Another thought though, as a large breed, the vet probably wants to NOT hasten the growth of the pup too fast so the joints and bones develop slow and steady. I have heard my vet say this with larger breeds.

I think I have read to feed them what they will eat in 15 or 20 minutes. Remove the bowl at that point and reoffer at next feeding time to help prevent "picky" eating habits. Maybe some preactice training in the evening with kibble treats before bed so the stomach is not empty, (but only oif that does not cause digestive needs during the night)!

[Kelly Gallagher]

Our puppy went to 2x a day feedings at 16 wks. She was getting 3 cups a day at the time spread over 3 feedings..now she gets the same amount 2x a day. She is eating Chicken Soup for Puppy..large breed. I'm not an expert but I think maybe your puppy might need a little bit more food during the day...especially if she seems hungry.

[Michele Barton]

Hi Betsy, I tried switching Gus and Molly to twice a day but by mid-afternoon they were wimpering and pawing at the food container, so they are still being fed 3x day at 14 weeks. I am actually feeding them more than what the bag says, because they seem to never get enough. They're on TOTW, and the bag says about 4 cups a day (I can't remember the exact amount), but they are eating between 5 and 6. I'm not worried about it being too much because they are very active and they don't get many treats except for bully sticks and a few puppy biscuits here and there, and they are remaining lean. I've never seen such chow hounds! A few weeks ago, I tried giving them as much as they wanted for one meal, and Molly ate 4 cups and Gus ate 4.5 cups within 2 minutes. That just seemed like too much at one time for their size (I'm very leery of bloat, had a dog die from it), so the method that worked for Lynne won't work for me. I'd suggest giving Cimmy more if she seems hungry, you can always cut back if she starts getting pudgy. Two cups a day doesn't sound like enough to me.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Peri eats 2 cups a day and she is a mini, so I would agree that she probably needs more....and she only eats in the morning and at night. She never ate in the middle of the day, so I went ahead and switched her to 2 feedings.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Calla is almost 6 months and weighs about 30 pounds now. She gets Fromm's and eats about 3 cups in 2 servings. She would eat all of my older dog's food if given half a chance (and sometimes she does). She's steadily gaining weight and seems to be "just right" in terms of her weight.

[Yvonne N]

Hi there. We have fed Astro twice a day since he came home with us. He is eating TOTW now and he gets two cups am and two cups pm. He is happy as can be. I see him at lunch every day and he doesn't seem hungry. Smile!