Feeding

[Duke]

I'm a little worried that my 16 wk male is not eating enough.  He eats his food in the morning between 7-7.30 from roughly 5-6 o'clock t time day before, he never wolfs his food just keeps going back to it, then when i feed him roughly dinner time he will eat a little and that seems to last him rest of day?? i've been told not to worry because he is only eating what he needs,
 He does look slim and most of the pups i've seen are chunky, someone even commeted on him being skinny. Any advice please....

[Karma]

Are you leaving food down all the time?
It's generally better to feed at regular mealtimes... at 16 weeks your pup should really be on 3 meals a day.  Put his food down, and pick it up after 20mins... then he will need to wait until his next meal time.

In general, though, as long as you can't see his ribs, and he's not losing condition, the actual amount he eats shouldn't be a cause for concern - the amounts on food bags are just a guideline, some need more, others less... 

[Holly Berry]

How many meals does he have per day? At 16 weeks he should be on 3. The important thing is to have routine and set meal times. Also only allow him 10 minutes to eat and then take the food away, its important not to allow him to "graze". Ebony at 5 months is fed 8am, 1pm and 6pm.

I found that Ebony took ages to eat her kibble so I now mix a small cube of Naturediet with it and she literally "inhales" it.

Hope that helps 

Posted at same time as Karma

[Duke]

When we got him he was on puppy Wagg and on sort of 3 meals, wen we went to get him some more food from a trader he told us look on the ingredients and what the food has in mostly cereal and sugars, so we got some of his food that they make up(well being) i think it was called, he managed to eat that but we found it expensive 3kg bag for £10. so we bought some Harringtons from asda we the same ingredients. I think he is eating roughly a bowl and a half a day.
  yes his food is down most of day, so i will try and pick it up for next meal time.  He tends to eat after a good run around on the field. Not sure what to do? Do i change his food or carry on..............

[Karma]

So, assuming he came to you at 8 weeks you've had him on 3 different sorts of foods in the space of 8 weeks?

If you're happy with the food he is on, and he isn't losing weight or looking in poor condition, then I wouldn't mess about changing his food yet again...
Stick to set mealtimes, and if he still doesn't eat very much, reduce the amount you put down at each meal...

Honey was never a big fan of her kibble, and almost ate it grudingly, but she never let herself starve!! 

[Duke]

Would i be wrong if i put some bread and gravy in or leave it?? yes he has been on 3 diff foods in 7 wk which i know is not good. But the trader said try and get mostly meat in than the average of 4% and less cereal and sugar and oil. I will do the 10 min leave down then pick it back up till next meal time. Thankyou

[Karma]

Your dog would get no nutritional benefit from bread (and it makes Honey fart like a trooper!!!    ), and human gravy would be very salty for a dog.

If you wanted to add something to make the kibble more interesting, try and get a wet dog food and mix that in (though you may find your pup will eat the extras but not the kibble!!!).

The trader is right... a 4% meat content is very low and means that most of what is in the dog food is filler (the cereals and sugars, which a dog doesn't need).
There are some good kibbles out there, but in general you get what you pay for - the better quality ones tend to be more expensive (though often you need to feed less of them).  Harringtons looks a reasonable quality - there are better kibbles out there, but it's decent enough - it has a fair percentage of meat (meal), doesn't contain wheat or artificial additives and has some beneficial extras in there.... 

[Geordietyke]

Odie is 14 weeks on Monday and I now feed him at 7.15am/11.15am/4pm.  He is supposed to be on between 150g-380g (for 3 to 6 month olds) - I feed him PAH food as meat content was 24% and his system has taken to it unlike the Proplan Puppy which caused the runs!    Odie is eating approx 200g daily but doesn't always finish it each mealtime (I leave it down 10-15 mins only), however he is a right little porker so I'm assuming he is eating enough each day!