How Many A Day

[twodoggies2001]

I have added a new member to our family at 8 weeks old and the breeder was feeding 3 feeds a day. I thought at this age 4 were needed. I can feel his ribs and when

I fed him he scoffed down his meal in no time. It's been a while since I've had a baby in the house. Should I increase to 4?

[MishB]

We got another pup a couple of months ago, at 8 weeks old.Breeder had him on 3 meals a day.Others might do it differently though?

[ellz]

What breed? Some breeds are best kept "lean" as puppies. Having a chubby puppy may be cute, but it can also cause untold damage to growing joints.

Some breeders have different feeding regimes depending upon what they are feeding. If you are following a breeder's guidelines to the letter on type of food and amount, then they "should" know what is best for their puppies. If however, you have changed the diet at all, it may need re-evaluating to ensure that it is suitable for the individual puppy in both amount and frequency.

Also, puppies SHOULD eat their food relatively quickly. The last thing you want is a puppy which dawdles with its food.

[Sandra777]

Feeling his ribs is a good thing - you should always be able to feel a dog's ribs no matter what age.

Yep, eating up everything offered quickly is a great thing - no fussy puppy there!

If the breeder experienced in the breed and ethical they are by far the best people to tell you how best to raise your pup.

I can't see the photo :)

[twodoggies2001]

My little one is a mini schnauzer and he is really getting into his food. He is happy and that's the main thing. He was bred by one of the well known breeders, and the reason I asked about how many meals is because I fed my older boy 4 times a day when I got him. I just wanted to make sure. It's been awhile since I had a baby in the house lol.

[Tara8430]

When i got Abbey the breeder had her on 4 feeds a day after i had her home a week i put her back to 3 feeds cause they were doing her last feed of the day at 11pm and both myself and Abbey were out cold by that time of night anyway.

[ktig]

When my mini schnauzer came to me he was about that age and was only on 3 meals a day and did just fine. You want to be able to feel their ribs a little as that's normal, and as for the wolfing down of meals - my guy still does that and he's 11 months old now! :)

[SchnauzerMax]

Max (our mini schnauzer in my avatar) started on 4 meals a day but we put it back to 3 meals a day after a couple of weeks.

Where's the piccies?:D

[twodoggies2001]

Not long back from the vet after a check over. He sailed through with flying colours and she is quite happy to have him on 3 meals a day. Told me that his ribs feel OK to her and not to worry. She also mentioned that I could try him with not soaking his puppy dry food for the good of his teeth which I did and he chowed that down together with raw mince, cooked chicken and some rice. I want to get him across to fully raw but will do that in steps. I will also try him on a chicken neck in the next few days.

[TrinaJ]

My puppies whn they o to their new homes are on 3 feeds per day PLUS goats milk just before I go to bed at night.

[luvsdogs]

When I got my 1st Border Collie pup back in '93 she was only 6 w/o & was on 4 meals per day, but one of those were a puppy milk feed. 15 yrs later when I got my current BC at 12 w/o she was on 3 meals per day as was my Japanese Spitz pup at 8 weeks. If you watch him with a raw meaty bone & he spends time tearing & chewing on it he should be fine. The 1st time I gave my JS pup a raw chicken wing it took him 3.5 hours to get through it & being white he looked like he'd killed the chicken. :laugh: