How Much Water and Food?

[Jean]

Hi all. My puppy is 12 weeks old. I just got her a week and a half ago. She has acclimated wonderfully, and is very happy and energetic. When I took her to the vet, she was 22 lbs. I have been getting a lot of different information on how much to feed her, how much water to give her, etc., etc., and am wondering what your take on it is. Currently, I feed her about 1 cup of food three times a day. She licks the bowl clean. I don't want to overfeed her, but she seems to want more. Can I go ahead and increase her food to 1 1/4 or 1 1/3 cup per feeding? Or is that too much? Also, I am trying to house train her, and have been told that I should give her water periodically throughout the day. She gets water at 7:30 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., and 7:00 p.m. Another reason for opting to "control" her water intake is because when I first brought her home, all she did was drink, almost to the exclusion of eating (for about a day or so, she only ate about 1/2 cup each day. She just drank water). What do you guys think?

[mvarnell]

I have never limited a puppy's food. I was always told by the vet to offer as much as they wanted three times a day. You worry about limiting if they are over weight at adolescence. I wouldn't free feed (leaving it out all the time) but I would let them get all they want.

[Cassidy's Mom]

I let puppies drink as much water as they want except for later in the evening. I usually pick up the water bowl by 8:00 or 9:00 at night unless s/he's REALLY thirsty.

Seeming to want more food is never a good reason for giving more food, however. I feed to the condition of the puppy - if she's not overly skinny or chubby, then she's probably getting the right amount of food, even if she thinks she's still hungry. Because her growth will be rapid for the next few months, the amount to feed her will change as well, so keep an eye on her condition and increase or decrease as necessary.

I have two dogs that would eat until they explode, so I make the decisions about how much food is enough.

[Lucy Dog]

What are you feeding? Just feed around what the bag says 3 times a day like you're doing. There is such thing as overfeeding and that's why there's so many fat dogs these days. I definitely don't recommend you allow the dog to eat as much as it wants during meal time.

As for water, it should always be available except at night. With puppies and while house breaking, I usually just pick the bowl up an hour before it's time to go to sleep and put it back down first thing in the morning.

[doggiedad]

i fed my pup 1 cup in the am, 1 cup noonish
and 1 cup in the pm. he always had access
to water. i use to take his water bowl around
7:00 pm. when he was 9 weeks old we took
him out every 15 mins and gradually went
to a 1/2 hour, to 45 mins, to an hour and so on.
over night i took him out every 2 hours and i
gradually increased that time.

[Jean]

Thank you all for your responses!

[righton]

i feed mine 2x a day - 2 cups at 7am and 2 cups at 5pm. water is also timed 7am, 12pm and 6pm. also after we walk he rests and cools down, then i'll give him a little water. give him time to pee then sleep time inside the crate. vet said to let him cool down before giving him water. i just follow the feeding instructions verbatim. He is 4 months old.

[kitmcd]

Mine is now 6 months and I just went to twice a day feeding. She now gets 2 cups am and pm. Until 6 months she was eating 1 1/2 cups 3 times a day. On the rare occasion that she didn't finish eating in about 15 min, I removed the food. She has access to water all day. When she was little I even left some in her kennel at night.

[JakodaCD OA]

I'm with Debbie on the water, always free access to it, except late at nite/overnite.

12 weeks old I was feeding 3/4 of a cup 3 times a day. Sometimes puppies will eat until they burst but it doesn't mean it's good for them

By the time they hit 5-6 months, I go to feeding twice a day, and 'up' the amount.

Right now my 3 year old 75lb female gets 2 cups twice a day.