Weights

[persephone]

Wondering what everyone does re: feeding

Edited July 28, 2009 by persephone

[stormie]

Orbit comes to work with me daily, so I do put him on the scales atleast once a week, but I don't take a lot of notice of what he actually weighs - more on how he looks. If I think he's looking a little leaner, I'll weigh him, then will put him on regularly to make sure he's putting on weight etc.

With regards to feeding, I feed raw, so try to stick to the 2-3% body weight, but again, mostly I just go by how he looks. With his weight, he should roughly be eating about 1.5kg food per day. My mince meat comes in 1kg packages and his RMB's are the same, so each meal I do roughly know what weight of feed he's eating, but some days he might get 2kg, where as other days he might get 1 or 1.5kg, depending on how fatty each meal is.

[persephone]

Thanks for the input, folks

as I don't sit & read heaps of threads- (or remember 1/2 of what I DO read, and who posts what) Doing it this way kinda sticks in my brain longer

[Diva]

For the overweight dog, I'm pretty strict, or else I tend to overfeed her. I still go by how she looks and feels but am more inclined to weigh the food I give so I know how consistent I'm being. For the others, I go by how they look and feel and don't weigh what they get.

Edited to add I weight at the vets, they don't mind just dropping by to use the scales.

Edited July 29, 2009 by Diva

[MolassesLass]

I go by the look of the dog as to correct weight, I have vet scales at home to weigh them on (for correct medication dosage) and I weigh once and then go by sight.

[poodlefan]

Don't weigh my dogs or their food. I go by how they look/feel.

[OSoSwift]

I don't weigh the food, but I have a general amount I fedd i.e a cup or so. I then adjust it by activity level or if my dog is putting on weight. Rain slack day, half normal food. Busy day at the beach, full amount. Looking a bit too well covered cut by around a quarter for up to a week until back to idea weight. I weight her from time to time, but she is always around my ideal for her.

[oakway]

I think the term that we are looking for is......I feed by eye.

It sometimes concerns me that I see where people say feed a % of the dogs weight.

My answer would be what if the dog is very active....what if the the dogs metabolism

is greater than the next.....what if...........what if........

I find it's better to tell new owners if it looks thin it most probably is and feed more until it looks right.

The same if it looks to fat.

I also have noticed that owners of more square and muscled breeds think that the slightly oblong dog at a good weight can look thin to many.

[Miranda]

If I'm at the vet I usually weigh the dog just because the scales are there and it's something to do while I'm waiting. However I feed my dogs based entirely on how they look and feel, I don't even read the recommended amounts on dog food bags.

[pebbles]

I'd hate to weigh what the boys are eating at the moment. Girl has just been in season and combined with the cold weather the Min Pin boys are looking like stick creatures but it's slowly coming back on again. I just go by look and feel.

[mudget]

I feed a general amount (ie 2 cups twice a day for my Wei, 1/4-1/2 cup twice for my aussie) and then assess the condition of them. My wei doesn't hold weight very well, so I up the food as needed, especially during colder months. My aussie on the other hand puts it on like his mum (although I wish it were as easy to take of as for him *sigh*) so I keep a close "feel" of him cause he's too fluffy to go by eyes only lol. Because my wei is taller than the average wei female i don't stick to strict weights either, I just want them to be healthy and lean ;)

[Dogsfevr]

If I'm at the vet I usually weigh the dog just because the scales are there and it's something to do while I'm waiting. However I feed my dogs based entirely on how they look and feel, I don't even read the recommended amounts on dog food bags.

Same here.i have never weighed food & never will.Each dog is an individual & i cater for each one.

[cowanbree]

You have to do it by how they look/feel as no recommended amount is going to be suitable for every dog. I have multiple dogs of one breed and they vary completely with what they need to be kept at an ideal weight, the 13yr old only gets less than ¼ of what the active 18mth old does who needs less than her 4yr old mother does and so on.

[Golden Rules]

I'm another who has never weighed food. Life is far too busy to fart-arse about with weights and such ;)

[Seita]

Another here who doesn't weigh - the dogs or the food. I go on how the dog feels and looks and adjust levels accordingly.

[SparkyTansy]

I do not weigh their food, and very rarely do i weigh them... I know when they are too light or heavy by look and feel.

The wei gains and loses weight quickly and it is very dependant on her exercise, so her food amount often fluctuates...

The boys are very easy to maintain... Spartan is a little more on the pudgy side these days since desexing but nothing serious... James needs to be kept lean due to his HD so i keep a very close eye on his weight.

A breeder once told me my very heavy boned (but not necessarily big) boy was much too heavy at 32kg (sight unseen), so i dropped his weight to the "ideal" and it was much too thin... weight is very much an individual thing, even within breeds.

Edited August 17, 2009 by SparkyTansy