[xArsAmatoria]

I just brought my 8 week old puppy home on Monday. I am feeding him Canidae All Life Stages, but I'm a bit confused about the amount he should be eating.

The bag recommends 1 to 2 cups a day for 10-25 pound dogs. Dallas is 14 pounds, and I have been feeding him 1.5 cups a day, spread over the course of three 1/2 cup meals.

He seems to eat in spurts. He'll eat when I set his bowl down, then run over and drink some water (I feed him in his crate and his water is out all the time across the room), eat some more, run and play for a minute, continue eating, etc. He eats all of his food, but he seems happy & content afterward; not hungry.
His stools look fine. He poops about two hours after his meals, which I give him at 8:30, 1:00, and 6:00.

My question is, is this enough? I see people posting that their puppies eat 4-5 cups of food a day... Maybe their puppies are just older?

Dallas seems to be in great condition. Full of energy, although he does sleep a lot... As a growing puppy should! I have had him for three days. He seems a bit bigger in terms of height and length, but he weighs the same. He had a bit of a pudgy belly the day I picked him up. He's still got a belly, but I can see his waistline now, which I've read is how you judge a shepherd's weight. Correct me if I'm wrong, please!

I don't have any pics from the side, but here are two that show his body pretty well. Sorry for the novel, I'm just concerned he is not getting enough food and I wanted to give you all the info you need so I could get an answer right away! Thanks guys

 

[Rerun]

For a puppy that age 1 1/2 to 2 cups a day would be about right. If a puppy is eating 4 - 5 cups a day, it's either an older puppy or eating a crappy food.

Dante is still a "puppy" but he is 7 mo old and eating 4 cups/day of a high quality food. Micah is an adult and a large adult at 95 lbs and also eating 4 cups/day. Dante has a higher metabolism, is more active, and still growing. He has more calorie needs than Micah does.

 

[JKlatsky]

With new puppies I usually would feed what they would eat in about 10 minutes and then take the bowl away earlier if they lost interest in their food- . Mine would usually only eat about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup over 3 meals.

The highest amount my puppies were ever eating was 4 cups and that was around 5-6 months. Usually they averaged more around 3 cups until they hit about 10 months...where they stepped back to about 2-2.5 cups. They were eating Wellness LBP.

 

[xArsAmatoria]

Okay, great like I said, he's looking and acting perfectly fine. But I guess I'm just paranoid, being a new mom. Thanks for replying. Food is probably what I've been stressing myself out over most, oddly enough.

I'm thinking of switching his food, as well. I'm worried about the calcium & phosphorus levels in the Canidae ALS. What do you suggest, personally? It's hard for me to keep track of all the things his food should and should not have! (and I know everyone has very differing opinions)

I've had dogs in the past, but we haven't had a large breed in quite some time. This all might as well be brand new to me!

 

[xArsAmatoria]

With new puppies I usually would feed what they would eat in about 10 minutes and then take the bowl away earlier if they lost interest in their food- . Mine would usually only eat about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup over 3 meals.

I don't really know if it is that he's losing interest, though. I think that's just how he likes to eat! Whenever he walks away from his food, it's never for more than a minute.

 

[JKlatsky]

I am not a fan of constantly switching foods on such a young puppy. If he's doing well leave him alone. Puppies have a lot of stress in their early lives. Adjusting to living without littermates, learning your home, vaccines, growing, it all puts them through stress. To my mind, changing foods that a puppy is doing well on can create more internal stress...especially if it's a food that doesn't agree with the pup. Figure you buy the bag, start switching the pup, get some diarhhea, try to make the food work with a little pumpkin/rice just in case it wasn't the food, there's usually some trip to the vet involved, and then you change the food again. No thank you. I prefer to have a baseline. That way if all of a sudden you have poop problems you can be pretty darn sure it's not the food.

If your pup is giving you nice solid poops, is happy and healthy...leave it alone for a little while. You can change later if you are concerned.

 

[sakima]

We have an 8 week old male german shepard Sakima and he is eating Purina Puppy Chow at 1 1/2 cups for breakfast and dinner. We weighed him today and he is 11.5# and were wondering if that he is underfed, too light for his age? We feed him breakfast about 9:30am and dinner about 6:30pm. If anyone can offer sugestions about what his ideal weight should be, feeding amounts, and/or food options please let us know.