I'm so confused!!

[TrixiesMom]

Okay now I think I'm going to lose my mind trying to figure out all these numbers!

I feed my 3 1/2 month old Canidae ALS. Now I know the recommendations on the labels are for the most part reliable, but not totally accurate. The label recommends for a puppy under six months weighing 20 lbs, two cups a day, the calorie count per cup is 468, so she should be getting 936 calories per day. But I read a calculator that said she should be getting over 1400 a day! Now she is skinny, but the vet said that shes at a perfect weight now, when I got her she was really underweight.
I feed her about 2 1/2 cups of dry and I mix in plain white rice, so she is getting about 3 cups of food a day total.

But she always acts like shes starving to death! I don't want to overfeed her because of the bone issues and weight issues. But of couse I always feel bad because she is always going to her bowl looking for food and always whining and barking when its feeding time because she dying. Plus she is eating her poop and trying to get the cat poop out of the litter box, she won't eat her poop or get in the cat box right after she has eaten, but she will any other time during the day, especially when I know she wants to eat. I pick up the poops right away and tell her no when she tries to eat it, yuck!

So any suggestions? I feel like I'm starving her, but shes at a good weight now and I don't want to overfeed her, she gets a moderate amount of exercise and I know I am going to have to increase as she grows, but geez, its all so confusing!

[mthurston0001]

This is really very simple. Overweight = feed less and Underweight = feed more. That is provided we have been given a clean bill of health by the vet. There are some dogs who will act as though they are starving no matter how much they are fed. You are making it waaaaaay to complicated.

[ChancetheGSD]

when I got her she was really underweight.

But she always acts like shes starving to death! she is always going to her bowl looking for food and always whining and barking when its feeding time

Plus she is eating her poop and trying to get the cat poop out of the litter box, she won't eat her poop or get in the cat box right after she has eaten, but she will any other time during the day, especially when I know she wants to eat.

Was she starved by her previous owner?

I wouldn't feed the rice, empty calories. Just give the kibble and if you want some healthy extras, give things like meat. (raw is best but cooked is ok too just no spices and things)

What are her stools like?

I agree with the above poster, if she's too thin, feed more. If she's getting a bit plump, feed less. Don't feed based on her licking the bowl or begging for food.

[TrixiesMom]

Well that's just such a simple solution! LMAO! I was going nuts trying not to overfeed her and looking into calories and stuff like that!
Her previous owners had her on pedigree, and obviously not very much because she was REALLY skinny. My husband got her from a byb, we both didn't know any better. Her poops are nice and firm now, they were loose for almost 3 weeks but now they look like normal poopies, vet says shes in excellent health now that she put on some weight and all her tests are good. I'll cut out the rice and add some healthy meats instead as a treat.
I feel a little stupid now....the answer was so simple. LOL.
But I really appriciate the feed back it makes me feel so much better to know there are answers out there!

[ChancetheGSD]

She might just have had problems gaining on the Pedigree. My brother had his Pit Bull puppy on Pedigree until I finally got him to switch to something slightly better. He was eating about 6-8 cups of Pedigree and wasn't gaining a thing. On Authority, he was eating about 4-5 cups a day and started to finally put on some healthy weight. (His dog was a bag of bones on Pedigree :/)

Lol! My girl Zoey is a food hog. She has actually eaten through a plastic bin and then eaten 8lb of kibble in one sitting!!!! :shock: She's only a 14lb dog!!! SHE LOOKED LIKE A SAUSAGE WITH LEGS!!! Some dogs just don't know how to control themselves unfortunately. :/ But since you said she was really underweight when you got her, I didn't know if she'd been neglected. Sometimes when dogs don't get fed properly, they'll start eating things they aren't suppose to out of fear of not knowing when their next meal is. Didn't know if that could be a possible cause or not.

How many times a day do you feed her?

[NewbieShepherdGirl]

Originally Posted by mthurston0001

This is really very simple. Overweight = feed less and Underweight = feed more. That is provided we have been given a clean bill of health by the vet. There are some dogs who will act as though they are starving no matter how much they are fed. You are making it waaaaaay to complicated.

Sasha is one of these dogs. If she had her way about it she would be on full feed all the time; however, when I look at her right now she looks perfect to me. When she starts lookin' a little chunky I cut back a bit, if she were ever to look too skinny then I'd up her feed a little. When I had Sasha on Purina, I can't remember exactly what it told me to feed her, but I remember thinking it was a lot! I don't really go off of what the bag says, more how she looks.

[mthurston0001]

I once new a dog who got into it's food when the owners were gone. When they got home they found what was left of the food and a very sick puppy. Turns out the dog ate sooooooo much that a rock-hard ball of food was surgically removed from it's stomach.

[TrixiesMom]

She gets fed 3 times a day right now, and gobbles it down everytime! I have two other smaller dogs, but they only eat once a day. If I try feeding them more then that they just don't eat, then the pup comes along and eats their food! I have to monitor them closely when they eat, they all eat in seprate places so they don't steal each others food.