Calories per pound?

[marylou]

I KNOW I read this on here somewhere, but can't find it!

Can someone please tell me the approximate calories a dog needs to maintain weight? (80 lbs is ideal weight)

Thanks

[GSDog]

I feed my dog 3 cups a day of Orijen and it has about 450cal per cup..hes very healthy and looks great. In the beginning we were worried he was going to be a fat dog but now he's 9.5months old and weighs 90lbs. Orijen is 70% protein and 30% veggie and fruits. NO grains.

[Sherush]

Originally Posted By: GSDogI feed my dog 3 cups a day of Orijen and it has about 450cal per cup..hes very healthy and looks great. In the beginning we were worried he was going to be a fat dog but now he's 9.5months old and weighs 90lbs. Orijen is 70% protein and 30% veggie and fruits. NO grains.

Jesse has been on Orijen for the last month and a half and gets 4 good size cups a day because he uses a lot of calories at doggy daycare and walking/hiking and swimming, he is skinny and very healthy and weighs 67 lbs at 8.5 months and is now 25.25 high at shoulders.

[natalie559]

Dogs have different metabolism's so what works for one dog might not work for another.

In a calorie chart I have that can be used as a guideline it gives numbers for a 70 and 90 pound dog- so I would split the difference for an 80 pound dog:

70# inactive 863 moderately active 1222 highly active 1777
90# inactive 1022 moderately active 1322 highly active 1923

[marylou]

Thank you for the info everyone ~

Natalie, were did you find your calorie chart? The one I am remembering seeing said to take the dogs' weight, and had a multiplier (a percentage, maybe?) and you could get an "average" calorie per day to maintain weight. I think 80 pounds was something like 1250.

(I AM getting old, so maybe I just *thought* I saw it )

[JenM66]

No, you saw it, I remember that I posted something about it....let me look through my e-mails.....

Here it is, no book citation, but another GSD owner, for many years, has found this to work the best.....

"I think a good rule of thumb is between 10-15 calories per pound of weight if feeding commercial diets...obviously 10 for the couch potatoes or elderly, 12 for moderately active and 15 for growing, active and sport/training dogs. I don't pay any attention to the guidelines offed on the bags/cans because I find them ridiculous, promoting a level of overweight that's just awful."

I think Gracie gets about 1100 per day and that is keeping her trim at 67-68 pounds, moderately to very active. It all depends on the dog, though.

Here you go....found the link to the previous thread: http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/ubb...true#Post629443

[natalie559]

The chart I used was written in Segal's book 'Optimal Nutrition' by Christine Zink, DVM, PhD pg. 62

[marylou]

THANK YOU Jen!!

That is the thread I've been searching for.

[JenM66]

Originally Posted By: marylouTHANK YOU Jen!!

Anytime! Just don't ask me what I had for breakfast....I can remember everything about and for Gracie, forget it when it comes to me LOL

[GSDog]

The food you give your dog depends on your dog's size. In my case our dog even when he was 2-3months old he was growing too fast. Wasnt just the food but the dog also. Even the vet asked us what we fed him and back then it was Iams. I use to feed about 30yrs ago my dobermans Iams. Back then it was great stuff. But today it's crap. After my dobermans, I never had dogs. Didnt have time to to take care of animals. Last Nov/07 we decided to get our GS. And thinking back when I use to feed my dobermans Iams it must be good cause my dogs back then where very healthy and in shape. When our GS started to eat Iams he was getting bigger and bigger and fatter. We did follow the chart on the bag. Then one day I was reading grain free dog food and what grains can do to your dog. So when our GS was about 5months old we put him in Orijen. Because he was getting overweight we had to put him on Adult food right away or his joints would of damage later on. Today he's 27" high (shoulders) and weights 90lbs. He's still a pup 9.5months old as I mentioned so he still has more growing to go. That is why he only eats 3ish cups a day and not 4-5 like he's suppose to. He is very active and can jump over a 4foot fence or in the back of a pickup. He runs and catches up to any dog. So that is why we are keeping him on Orijen. Ive notice its great food and he loves it. Yes its a bit expensive but hey, he's part of our family. All this to say, dont over feed your dog and you dont have to give what the charts says. If you give your dog 10cups he will eat the 10cups so if the charts says 5 cups give it 3.5 just to see how it does. And that's aside from that you give him/her throughout the day.

Ok that was my 2 cents lol