Author Topic: Feeding a ravenous puppy  (Read 2024 times)

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Offline Welsh Lass

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Feeding a ravenous puppy
« on: August 27, 2018, 06:28:31 PM »
Our 10 week old puppy is ravenous and even the sight of her dinner bowl sends her into a frenzy! She is very bony , very active and our vet said to keep feeding her 5 meals a day. The complete food she is having is Purina Beta puppy and at two meals I add a little sachet meat.
We had our last cocker puppy 20 years ago ( our last Cocker we had at 2 ) and I remember giving her ready break and milk at breakfast. Does anyone have experience of using a milky feed ?

Offline phoenix

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Re: Feeding a ravenous puppy
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2018, 09:11:58 PM »
It’s not a good idea to ever give them cows milk. They will get diarrhoea, being lactose intolerant.
It’s a while since I had a puppy, but I’m not a fan of dried food,  so it’s good you’re adding some wet.  To add some extra calories,  you could add rice or cooked sweet potato to the diet. . Don’t give a lot, because a greedy pup will eat till she sicks it up, having a tiny tummy. Your vet is sensible to suggest splitting food into five meals still. 
Using a wet food will look bigger and taste better, and feel more filling quickly.  Or you could soak the purina  beforehand, and will absorb a lot of water to  make it bulkier.
RIP Marti  the EPI springer age 12,  and beloved black cocker Bobby, 8 yrs old, too soon, from PLN.
Now owned by TInker, tiny hairy grey poodle/terrier rescue from Greece and Jack, local rescue,   scruffy ginger terrier mutt.

Offline Welsh Lass

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Re: Feeding a ravenous puppy
« Reply #2 on: August 28, 2018, 09:40:51 AM »
Thankyou for your advice. I think I’d have to do food prep in another room to
soak the dry food.  My puppy goes wild as soon as I touch her bowl. But will try that .
My old cocker books all seem to have given one meal as porridge ? Maybe with puppy milk?

Offline elaine.e

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Re: Feeding a ravenous puppy
« Reply #3 on: August 28, 2018, 02:53:02 PM »
Have you thought about trying a different food? Beta is very high in cereals, including wheat, and low in meat. It's not a good quality food to be honest. You may find a change of food to a better quality one, perhaps grain free, will be more satisfying for her, more nutritious, and may even help her to be calmer and sleep more.

When I got my first puppy 31 years ago he was fed raw meat + a puppy biscuit mixer for two of his meals, Weetabix and milk for one meal and tinned rice pudding or porridge for one meal. It didn't work for him, but was what many breeders seemed to do then. I ditched the milk and cereal meals very quickly!

Here's a link to the allaboutdogfood website, showing the ingredients and rating of Beta puppy. The website can be a useful tool to help you find other types of food, if that's what you decide to try. If you do, please make the change over gradual or else you may ned up with a pup with an upset digestive system initially.

https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-reviews/0254/beta-puppy

Offline Welsh Lass

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Re: Feeding a ravenous puppy
« Reply #4 on: August 28, 2018, 10:42:46 PM »
Thankyou for the website. Amazing differences in the scores of different foods

Offline Willow69

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Re: Feeding a ravenous puppy
« Reply #5 on: August 30, 2018, 09:58:42 PM »
Hi, I had a similar issue when we brought our pup home at 9 weeks. We were stunned at how fast she ate - gone in seconds. For the first week we kept her on the kibble that the breeder gave us and fed her 4 times a day. I knew it was very poor quality kibble because I'd researched a lot before we picked her up, so I wanted to change her onto a better quality one. We continued with the 'better' kibble for another couple of months. But she continued to have dodgy tummy days every week, our vet said she was a little underweight so to increase the amounts. Although she began to put on weight, she still had a bad tummy often and bolted her food so fast but still looked hungry. We spoke to a dog trainer who explained to us about feeding raw. I understand that everyone has their own preference for what is best for their dog, and all dogs are different. I was worried about changing her diet again but had to do something as she always seemed so hungry and was pooping so often. Within 4 days of stopping the kibble we saw a massive improvement, her tummy troubles disappeared and at 6 months reduced her meals to 2 per day. The food she is on now is a 3rd meat, 3rd ground bone & 3rd veg. Her digestive system cannot cope with grains.
 She is still food driven, easy to train as is so focused on the food! I bought her an anti-gulp bowl which also helps. I hope you find a solution for your little pup.

Offline BonnieScot

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Re: Feeding a ravenous puppy
« Reply #6 on: August 31, 2018, 06:51:50 PM »
Hello.

Bonnie was on cheap kibble when she came home at 8 weeks and I moved her straight onto raw with no problems. She still inhaled her food (thank goodness for kongs), but it suited her very well. I use chicken or meat for training, and we have Millies too.

When we brought Bon home we already had two cats and a geriatric Border Terrier called Rosie with lymphoma. As part of caring for Rosie (she lasted six years after diagnosis) I became very interested in the quality of their food and found that the closer I could get it to what they would have eaten wild the better. Dogs and cats have no need for wheat or cereals and found research pointing to a relationship between the tenacity of the cancer and the level of carbs in dog food. That sealed it for me. I know everyone has their own views and circumstances. For me, the diet made the difference to wee Rosie's longevity and quality of life. My cats haven't needed a vet since, and Bon only goes for annual check up (apart from the bee sting....). Clean teeth, not smelly, smaller poo, shiny coat, and loads of energy (sorry, that's just cockers!).

And bizarrely, my little cat is a complete pain in the bottom if she gets her mitts on Whiskas or anything. To the extent we call it 'Cat Crack' as she behaves so badly on it.


Offline Welsh Lass

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Re: Feeding a ravenous puppy
« Reply #7 on: September 07, 2018, 09:34:14 AM »
Thankyou to everyone for your advice. Phased Bella over to no grain meat and veg kibble and she seems far more satisfied, calmer,  sleeping more in the daytime. However she is still gobbling her food down but she seems very enthusiastic about everything in life. Off to the vets for her second vaccination today.