Puppy Feeding Advice

[Sg1suzi]

Hi

I have a 13 weeks old puppy corgi x cavalier who we have had for about 3 weeks now. When he came to us he was on eukanuba puppy small breed kibble and to be honest he was about as impressed with it as I would be if you gave it me for my dinner. He would eat 3 nuggets ate a time and walk away barely getting through half a cup per day, he also had lots of quite soft poos, however as suggested I kept him on the eukanuba for a week and then slowly started transitioning him over to pro plan, but he was still only nibbling the kibble and seemed to be a bit lack lustre. Now please don't flame me but we did get him from a pet store (it's not a big chain, and has a good reputation) and at his breeders he had been getting supercoat plus puppy mince so as I am all for a natural diet I decided to introduce a little bit of raw. As I'm new to this and he's a puppy I got the big dog barf patties and well he loves it and I'm seeing an improvement in him already.

Now for the advice, this is what he is currently having. He weighs 4 kg currently and gets half a barf pattie per day split between breakfast and dinner, then he gets about a cup total in pro plan per day split between lunch and supper, but I do leave the kibble down for him and he just picks at it really, but does eat a little more at the actual meal times I would say. I work shifts and my husband works full time monday to Friday so I want to keep a bit of kibble going so that on days when I am not there at lunchtime he still has access to something to eat. He's not really a guzzler, when it comes to the kibble so I know he won't go overboard and he only gets a measured amount per day and when it's gone it's gone. I will introduce some RMB soon, but at the moment he only goes into the yard on a lead for toilet and a little run around as we have been advised to wait until after 3rd injections until he goes out proper, and I don't really fancy him chasing a raw bone all around my kitchen floor!!!! When I do introduce them I will give him to them instead of barf for his breakfast on days I am home so I can supervise him.

Eventually I will probably also make some homemade barf but at the moment I'm feeling more confident using the patties and as he's only little it's not too costly for us.

Does all this sound okay?

Thanks for your time in reading :)

[Jumabaar]

My advice is to feed him according to how chubby or skinny he is. This link has a pretty good description of how to run your hands over the dog and decide if your feeding too much http://www.fieldwooddogtrainingcenter.com/Do%20I%20Look%20Fat%20in%20This.pdf This is particularly important because you wont have a guide of what your pup should weigh being a mix- but condition score is the same across all breeds :)

Having puppies (and adults!) at correct to slightly lean body condition means that they will grow nice and slowly and build muscles and generally be much healthier. It sounds like he is currently getting plenty of food so I wouldn't worry about him not eating enough. A healthy puppy will start eating 'boring' food before they starve to death just like a little kid with their greens

I take my young pups out in a backpack for walks around the block which is a great way for them to learn to cope with all the noises and motion of the outside world. I would also think that he needs at least an hour or two outside so he can run around and build muscle and get used to being in his own body.

Edited January 31, 2013 by Jumabaar

[minimax]

All sounds good so far!

I'm now used to cleaning up bone mess from my floors, I just make sure they stay on the tiles or lino and do a quick mop after dinner each night. It's life with dogs - it's going to be messy!

My guys get a homemade raw mix for brekky, and a chicken carcass for dinner (which they love to drag all over the floor). No reason you can't feed him in the yard, either supervised if it's not secure (but probably good to ensure it's secure sometime soon), or on his own if it is secure.

[Nekhbet]

put the puppy outside, he's not that delicate and he needs to be out in the fresh air and sunshine - also better running amok outside then destroying your house. Take him in the car, carry him if you must but dont lock him away or you end up with nothing but a shy pup. Simply avoid areas that are frequented by a lot of dogs and their poo, hence carrying or car is a great idea.

If the pup prefers raw, stick with raw. There are the BARF and there are products like Vets All Natural, just make it up with the protein source your dog prefers and it takes the guess work out of raw diets as it's complete. Frankly both of those foods are not that good in quality, if he's not keen on it save your money and go with the raw.

As for feeding bones, get yourself a nice dog crate, put some paper or a towel down and let him go for it in his crate and not make a mess :) also helps making crate time super fun!

[Sg1suzi]

Thanks for all your help and advice

Puppy does go out and about in the car, we carry him places too and he has dogs all around us where we live. He doesn't bat an eyelid at anything he's very calm and happy to be out and fussed. We do live in a very high parvo area tho so I am going to listen to my vets advice on that one, and we have had other dogs in our yard so for now he is supervised when he out playing.

I will probably go full raw when he older and can manage on two feeds but the dry food is handy at the moment when I am out working