How much should she be eating???

rblanshan · 12-24-2011, 08:47 AM

My female, 22 months, has lately started eating a lot more. I was feeding her a 50%/50% mis of Taste of the Wild-Buffalo (this is the only dry food she actually likes) and 4Health. When i fed her this mixture, @4-5 cups/day, she didn't eat it all at once and usually there was a bit left over the next day. I prefer to feed her all at once and let her graze on it throughout the day, which has never been a problem. Lately however, I have been feeding her 100% Taste of the Wild. The girl is eating the full amount within 20 min. If I put more in her bowl later, she will eat all of that too! I was told that females tend to fill out around 2 years and she has always been on the smaller side, and just finished heartworm treatment (successfully...woohoo!!) a few months ago. So, question is, do I need to start watching the amount of food I am feeding her so she doesn't over eat, or is it possible she is going through a growth spurt right now? I am probably going to get another bag of 4Health and start adding that back in, just to help lower the food bill. She still has a nice waistline and I am glad to see her putting on a few pounds, however I definitely don't want an overweight dog!

GSD Fan · 12-26-2011, 04:26 PM

I say it's a growth spurt AND the fact that her heartworm meds are working. By the way, I recommend you don't mix 4health and the other dog food. Only one quality dog food is needed. It's just a suggestion not telling you what to do or anything.

PaddyD · 12-26-2011, 04:49 PM

I assume the use of 4Health is to cut costs(?)
How big is your dog now? How much exercise? 4 - 5 cups seems like a lot.
Someone else can comment about growth spurt at 22 months ... I am not familiar with it. My dog is 2.5 and her weight hasn't changed in 1.5 years.
You know your dog. If her waistline disappears then she is overweight.

rblanshan · 12-27-2011, 09:32 AM

It started with me buying 4Health first, a great big bag, and after reading on this forum that it's a decent dog food. However, she would not eat it and as she was going through heartworm treatment, I wanted to keep her weight up. So I added in TOTW. Which she loves. She was getting 50%/50% until treatment was over as I had already tried a few other brands of food..which she didn't like. I was going to just feed her TOTW, until she started inhaling it! I bought a small bag of 4Health in a new flavor just the other day and added it back in to TOTW, and she has gone back to eating like a lady instead of a starving animal. I guess TOTW to her is what a right out of the oven pan of brownies is to me, I can't stop until it's gone! I will research other brands of dog food to see what else I can try as I do prefer to feed her only 1 brand. She has gained a good 5 lbs, which she needed.

12-24-2011, 08:47 AM	#1 (permalink)
rblanshan Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 97	How much should she be eating??? My female, 22 months, has lately started eating a lot more. I was feeding her a 50%/50% mis of Taste of the Wild-Buffalo (this is the only dry food she actually likes) and 4Health. When i fed her this mixture, @4-5 cups/day, she didn't eat it all at once and usually there was a bit left over the next day. I prefer to feed her all at once and let her graze on it throughout the day, which has never been a problem. Lately however, I have been feeding her 100% Taste of the Wild. The girl is eating the full amount within 20 min. If I put more in her bowl later, she will eat all of that too! I was told that females tend to fill out around 2 years and she has always been on the smaller side, and just finished heartworm treatment (successfully...woohoo!!) a few months ago. So, question is, do I need to start watching the amount of food I am feeding her so she doesn't over eat, or is it possible she is going through a growth spurt right now? I am probably going to get another bag of 4Health and start adding that back in, just to help lower the food bill. She still has a nice waistline and I am glad to see her putting on a few pounds, however I definitely don't want an overweight dog!

12-26-2011, 04:26 PM	#2 (permalink)
GSD Fan Elite Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: MS Posts: 1,128	I say it's a growth spurt AND the fact that her heartworm meds are working. By the way, I recommend you don't mix 4health and the other dog food. Only one quality dog food is needed. It's just a suggestion not telling you what to do or anything.

12-26-2011, 04:49 PM	#3 (permalink)
PaddyD Banned Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: MassaCHEWsetts Posts: 5,222	I assume the use of 4Health is to cut costs(?) How big is your dog now? How much exercise? 4 - 5 cups seems like a lot. Someone else can comment about growth spurt at 22 months ... I am not familiar with it. My dog is 2.5 and her weight hasn't changed in 1.5 years. You know your dog. If her waistline disappears then she is overweight.

12-27-2011, 09:32 AM	#4 (permalink)
rblanshan Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 97	It started with me buying 4Health first, a great big bag, and after reading on this forum that it's a decent dog food. However, she would not eat it and as she was going through heartworm treatment, I wanted to keep her weight up. So I added in TOTW. Which she loves. She was getting 50%/50% until treatment was over as I had already tried a few other brands of food..which she didn't like. I was going to just feed her TOTW, until she started inhaling it! I bought a small bag of 4Health in a new flavor just the other day and added it back in to TOTW, and she has gone back to eating like a lady instead of a starving animal. I guess TOTW to her is what a right out of the oven pan of brownies is to me, I can't stop until it's gone! I will research other brands of dog food to see what else I can try as I do prefer to feed her only 1 brand. She has gained a good 5 lbs, which she needed.

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