Feeding Issues With Puppy

[cj-b]

O.K I have a 5 month old cross breed puppy. He currently weighs 6.5kg. He is fed 2 meals per day. Nutro Kibble in the morning and Pre made Dr Billinghurst Barf at night.

According to the feedings guidlines for each product, he should need approx. 1/2 cup of kibble and 115gm of BARF a day (half of each recommended daily amounts).

Most of the time he will eat all the barf straight away, I allow him about 15 mintues to eat, I refridgerate any left over ( if any ), and give it to him the next morning, before his kibble. The kibble he only eats on average half the amount I give him. Should I be worried he isn't eating enough, or could it just be thats all he needs. Should I do the 15 minute rule with the kibble as well, or let him pick at it over the day?

He does about 2-3 stools a day, most days 2. And he doesn't seem to be too thin, a nice shape, can feel his ribs but they don't seem to be bulging.

Should I cut back the amount of Kibble, until he eats it all, or should I continue to offer the current amount. I only worry as he is still a puppy, and not sure if he isn't eating enough he won't be growing right. Or if I take away the uneaten amount of kibble after 15 minutes, which sometimes he doesn't touch at all for a couple of hours, that he definitely won't be getting enough.

As you can see I'm a little worried and clueless

I'm sure it isn't an issue of him not liking the Nutro as sometimes he scoffs the lot.

Am I worrying about nothing, or should I be trying to feed him differently? All suggestions welcome...

[OSoSwift]

If his condition is good and he is energetic and happy I wouldn't be concerned.

He will go through fazes of eating more when he has growth spurts then eating less between.

I do not like food left out to free feed. I do the put the food down for 15 to 20 minutes and then remove. If his condition is good you are not starving him at all. A couple of things can potentially happen. He may eat too much and become over weight - most common issue. He may eat a biscuit here and there and not enough to keep weight on. Also if he needs a vet visit/ anaesthetic you will not know exactly what he has eaten and when.

He should have a visible waist, a tuck up (how much is dependent on breed) you should be able to feel his ribs easily and I like the shadow of the last rib or two visible.

He sounds like he has a great diet to me. Don't get too hung up on the amount on the bag, most grossly over estimate the amount they need to be fed. Caloric intake is determined by exercise and genetic make up. All dogs are slightly different and dogs from the same little can all require different amounts of food.

Edited August 4, 2010 by Rommi n Lewis

[cj-b]

If his condition is good and he is energetic and happy I wouldn't be concerned.

He will go through fazes of eating more when he has growth spurts then eating less between.

I do not like food left out to free feed. I do the put the food down for 15 to 20 minutes and then remove. If his condition is good you are not starving him at all. A couple of things can potentially happen. He may eat too much and become over weight - most common issue. He may eat a biscuit here and there and not enough to keep weight on. Also if he needs a vet visit/ anaesthetic you will not know exactly what he has eaten and when.

He should have a visible waist, a tuck up (how much is dependent on breed) you should be able to feel his ribs easily and I like the shadow of the last rib or two visible.

He sounds like he has a great diet to me. Don't get too hung up on the amount on the bag, most grossly over estimate the amount they need to be fed. Caloric intake is determined by exercise and genetic make up. All dogs are slightly different and dogs from the same little can all require different amounts of food.

Thank you so much, I feel so much better (and just picked up his leftover kibble).

I was starting to wonder about on bags. You make sense to me though with everything you said.

Do you know at what age, I should be only feeding him at night times? As I thought it may have been he is only hungry at night, but he is only nearly 6 months old. So thought it would be wayyyyyyyyy to early for that.

[ellz]

Healthy dogs won't normally starve themselves so don't worry about taking the kibble away after the 15 minutes. If he is going to be inclined towards finicky eating, leaving the kibble down will only encourage this. He'll quickly learn that if he doesn't eat it, he won't get the chance until his next meal so if he IS hungry, he'll clean his plate.

[cj-b]

Healthy dogs won't normally starve themselves so don't worry about taking the kibble away after the 15 minutes. If he is going to be inclined towards finicky eating, leaving the kibble down will only encourage this. He'll quickly learn that if he doesn't eat it, he won't get the chance until his next meal so if he IS hungry, he'll clean his plate.

Thanks. Do you think a puppy 6 months old that will reach a mature weight of around 8kg, should be fed 2 or 3 times a day? I tried a little warm water on his kibble this morning and he seemed to eat more than he usually does. I gave him about 15 mintues then took it away. If he gets his barf for dinner, should I offer him the remaining for lunch?

Sorry for the stupid Q's....

[ellz]

Personally all of my puppies are fed by demand, not weight and at that age, would still be getting at least two meals per day. I prefer to feed at least twice daily until around 12 months but do find that some puppies will start regularly refusing one of the meals by around 9 - 10 months per day. At this stage, I'm generally feeding almost the equivalent of a meal in training treats spread through the day anyway so provided there is no major weight loss, you might be guided by this.

As far as holding the leftovers from a meal over to the next meal, because I usually feed the same at all meals, it doesn't really apply to me, but if you are finding that the puppy is refusing one kind of food in favour of another....then in order to ensure that it eats well at all meals, I'd either stop offering the yummier stuff that is leftover, or alternatively split it so that it gets the same at all meals.

But that's just me....others would probably do differently.

[OSoSwift]

Mine are normally on two meals until 12 months. My Dobes were on two small meals all the time. My Whippets started not eating one around 9 months. Now they get their tea and a chew or smallish bone in the mornings for teeth cleaning and boredom busting if they have to stay home while I go out.

I feed a mix at meals, so would feed half BARF and Bikkies at each meal mixed together. So would have two meals a day with the mix. That way they will no hold out for the prefered food.

I would feed him twice daily and use any leftovers kept appropriately for the next meal, not add one in such as lunch.

As Ellz said a healthy puppy will not starve its self.

I am a big stickler for the 20 minute rule for food being available in our house.

[Tilly]

When I was feeding dry food I found the amount listed on the side of the packets were way too much food for some dogs – if I fed the amount recommended then I would have had a very fat dog.

Offer him what dry food quantity you feel he needs and remove what he doesn't eat ...

[cj-b]

some great information and ideas everyone, thank you.

I think I might give the mixed idea a go. I had never thought the little bugger was just holding off for the yummier one, little turd. But it makes a lot of sense. Will try this over the next few days and see how we go, thanks again for all your help. :D

[cj-b]

Mine are normally on two meals until 12 months. My Dobes were on two small meals all the time. My Whippets started not eating one around 9 months. Now they get their tea and a chew or smallish bone in the mornings for teeth cleaning and boredom busting if they have to stay home while I go out.

I feed a mix at meals, so would feed half BARF and Bikkies at each meal mixed together. So would have two meals a day with the mix. That way they will no hold out for the prefered food.

I would feed him twice daily and use any leftovers kept appropriately for the next meal, not add one in such as lunch.

As Ellz said a healthy puppy will not starve its self.

I am a big stickler for the 20 minute rule for food being available in our house.

Thank you for this suggestion. This morning instead of giving him just kibble. I measured up 1/4 cup of bikkies, added his Omega Blend then half his barf for the day, mixed it all up, and the scoffed the lot So will do the same again for dinner. Fingers crossed this continues, and I have peace of mind he is eating correctly and without having to leave out kibble all day. Thanks

[ellz]

some great information and ideas everyone, thank you.

I think I might give the mixed idea a go. I had never thought the little bugger was just holding off for the yummier one, little turd. But it makes a lot of sense. Will try this over the next few days and see how we go, thanks again for all your help.

The thing many people don't understand is that dogs don't have developed taste buds like ours...they eat to live and not live to eat. It is more likely that he was holding out for the texture than the taste.

Edited August 6, 2010 by ellz

[cj-b]

some great information and ideas everyone, thank you.

I think I might give the mixed idea a go. I had never thought the little bugger was just holding off for the yummier one, little turd. But it makes a lot of sense. Will try this over the next few days and see how we go, thanks again for all your help.

The thing many people don't understand is that dogs don't have developed taste buds like ours...they live to eat and not eat to live. It is more likely that he was holding out for the texture than the taste.

That makes a lot of sense. I reckon he does perfer the softer texture. He is the same with bones. If you give him a chix neck, he eats it but it takes him awhile after, leaving returning, leaving returning. But if I bash it first to crumbled it up a little, he loves it, doesn't leave it alone.

Think I will definitely stick to everyones advice, and keep mixing.

thanks