How much to feed?! Confusion from breeder and bag..

[RebeccaSierra24]

My boy is 9weeks today and weighs around 7kg (15lbs?)

Breeder said 1 1/2 cups is good and just up it as he grows (which I've been doing) he's at about 2 cups now after a week of slowly increasing the intake.

However I just read on the back of his Eukanuba Large breed puppy bag, that for his weight and age, he should be having 3 3/4 of food a day.

It seems like there is a HUGE difference between the two..

Anyone able to help me work out how much I should be feeding him and how much I should be increasing the intake??

THANK YOU!

[Klamari]

Well, I don't like Eukanuba anyway, so if I ever had to feed it, I would probably ignore the bag

But really, I just went by how my pup looked and felt. If she started to look too skinny, I increased. If she started to look like a chubby puppy, I decreased. She definately had (and is maybe still having) some serious growth spurts, so I was constantly adjusting what I was giving her.

I've heard from a lot of people that the bags tend to overestimate what you should be giving them. I know if I gave Rayne what the Orijen bag recommended, she would be one fat little girl.

[JakodaCD OA]

9 weeks ok that 1.5 cups is what? 1/2 cup 3 times a day?

1/2 cup 3 times a day is what I usually feed a puppy that age, by the time they are six months, I am going to twice a day and doing close to 2 cups twice a day, depending on weight. I do NOT want a 'fat' dog.

I never go by the bag suggestions, you'd end up with an obese dog

[Franksmom]

I agree with the rest forget what the bag says and watch your pup for weight gain and how he eats and tolerates the food, Frank was on 3 cups at about 12 weeks and as he started to grow if I increased the Euk. lg breed puppy, then he would get diarrhea so I mixed his puppy food half and half with my other dogs lamb and rice based food, at one point at about 7 months he was taking 6 cups total a day, now at 15 mos he is back down to 4 cups total a day divided into 2 meals. Even on the 6 cups a day he was still skinny it's just what his body needed to grow right at the time, also the food you feed will make alot of difference in how much you feed.

[doggiedad]

when my pup was 9 weeks old he was fed
1 cup in the am., 1 cup at noon and 1 cup
in the pm. i also count his snacks and training
treats as food intake. at 9 weeks old my boy
weighed 17.5 lbs. i think the dog food manfactuers
up the usuage in it's direction so they can sell more.
use the directions as a guide line and feed a high
quality kibble or can. feed what works
for your pup.

[Freestep]

Originally Posted by Klamari

I've heard from a lot of people that the bags tend to overestimate what you should be giving them. I know if I gave Rayne what the Orijen bag recommended, she would be one fat little girl.

Indeed, almost across the board, dog food manufacturers feeding guides are WAY over what a dog should require, and so it's no wonder so many American dogs are obese. I think that dog food companies just want your dog to eat more, so you will buy more. And then when your dog gets fat, it's YOUR fault. Then they will want to market their "healthy weight" formula (aka diet food), which is the same price, the same amout of food, but fewer calories in each scoop... which means the manufacturers are still making the same amount of money.

It's good marketing, but is it good for the dogs? That's one thing that bothers me about pet food manufacturers. Like any other business, they've got to make money, but when the average pet owner doesn't know any better and feeds according to the guidelines on the bag, it almost guarantees obesity.