Another question - food, how much?

[Gorran]

Daisy's currently on Royal Canin Junior Lab dry food which she's getting on well with. However I've been told on here it's not particuarly good really, and from Googling it appears it's also too high in protein (30%) - so I'm thinking of changing to Burns.

Anyway, the fosterer was feeding 120g a day, the Royal Canin pack suggests 265g a day for Daisy's age. Which is the right amount? Do I need to increase the 120g given that she's now doing a 15 min walk a day and is obviously getting bigger as well? I'm assuming I do, but am unsure exactly how much to give?

All our dogs have been eating Burns for nearly as long as we've had them. It is known for keeping dogs slim, and they are very helpful about feeding amounts. Our dogs are mostly quite old, and it's not easy keeping the weight on them. The vet nurse suggested we fed more dog food, but Burns suggested less, but used supplements. Diet and nutrition isn't all that straightforward. We get on well with Burns, but it very much depends on the person and the dog and what suits everyone. The amount on the packet is really only a very rough guide and it is not written in stone!

Royal Canin isn't the best tbh, and is v expensive for what it is. I would switch to Burns or Fish4dogs both of which have done my girls very well. I also switch my girls food without faffing about - and have never had a problem.

How old is your dog, how long have you had her and how much does she weigh? She is likely to be gaining at about 1kg a week if she is a full lab. My guess is she is not getting enough food at the moment.

Don't get too knotted up with protein levels - burns have quite a low protein level. I like my pups to be on puppy food for their first 6 months only and during that time go for something at about 30% protein. They need it IMO - there is a lot going on in that time. After 6 months they go onto adult food.

Thank you both. She was 6.1kg when she was last weighed two weeks ago. Will weigh her tomorrow with our luggage scales.

She's 13 weeks now and we've had her 2 weeks and 4 days.

Will order Burns tomorrow.

Burns is good, but so is Pets at Home own version, Wainwrights.
Lots of flavours, as good ingredients as Burns.
take her in and ask for a 'nutritional consultation' to any of their shops and they will weigh her and then give you a 2kg of their food to try for free. if she doesn't like the taste they will take it back and offer you another.

Putting your two threads together, I'd give her a late supper tonight. I have no doubt that she's hungry and that's contributing to her unsettled-ness at night.

Give her 50g before she goes to bed and try and get a poo out of her before she's tucked up. It should follow about 20 minutes or so after her snack.

In our experience our pups are normally feed more than royal canin suggest . Feed her four meals a days and make sure she has enough so that a few kibbles are left. That way you know she has eaten enough. Pups do need a high protein diet whilst they are growing . It helps with the development of the Skelton liagements skin hair ect. If you change her food try doing it gradually over about 10days to avoid tummy upsets. We raise our pups on royal canin and a raw dieat and they have always done very well. Burns is a good food as well though. Good luck

Gosh I can't imagine her leaving any food, ever! She's such a greedy guts (typical lab?!) - she literally hoovers her food up in seconds. Now I'm worried she's practically starving:-(. The vet checked her over and said her weight was fine and far better for this breed to be under weight than over (which from my research into the breed and the books I'd read, sounded correct) but it really does seem very little food.

I'd love a definitive 'feed her this amount' but I know all dogs are different so that's hard. Trial and error I guess.

Yep lab are pigs !!! Cute though defiantly with this breed it is better to keep them on the leaner side . But whilst they are growing and developing keep packing in the food if you can bear it RAW chicken are a great sorce of goodness mind love these. Has she been wormed regularly? It may be worth getting that done as well. And yes it defiantly is trail and error she needs to be a bitp roly poly to look at , at this age and if she is hungry she may cry at night. Or she may be being clever!! My pups are about 20 Weeks now and are eating 300 grams of royal canin junior plus chicken wings or raw mince or cheese with a bit of pasta veg ect. Thesearent labs but a similar sized gundogs. Go with your gut regards food you will know when she is sensibly full.

She really does sound hungry. 120g is not enough food for any 13 week old lab. She needs more.

And beware of vets and labs - there are many who have a hobby horse about labrador weights - a growing lab puppy should have a covering over their ribs, spine and hips. Not a thick layer, but more like a blanket. If, when she is standing her ribs feel as though they're covered by a sheet, she is underweight. If it feels like a duvet, then overweight.

Excess weight is certainly not desirable but you definitely won't be in that position on 120g of food a day.

Give her a bit more!

We have definitely been giving more than 120g, thinking about it. We've been doing some training (sit, recall, wait and touch (which is totally pointless but very cute!) - she's a clever girl - and have been using her kibble as a reward. But still, not enough food. Will try 200g tomorrow and see we go? Is it ok to give her some chicken and veg as well? We have leftovers from supper and now I feel so awful I'd really love to give her something nutricious that I know she'll love.

Thank you so much for your help.

I am going to go completely against the grain here and say if it aint broke don't fix it! As you know flower also came home on royal canin jnr and was fed much less than the guide suggested. She was however the right weight and had nice solid poo (sorry!) We fairly quickly swapped her over to fish4dogs. Well it has been a nightmare! I am still feeding much lower amounts than suggested and although she is trim she is definitely the right weight however we are still struggling to get her poo right. Personally I would increase her food much more slowly, say 20g a day for a week keeping a close eye on her poo and only when you feel like youve got the amount right look at changing foods (if at all). For example the guide on fish4dogs puppy says 180g-305g and flower is probably about 7.5kgs but we have only this week got to 200g.

And if it does go wrong have a read of this

Sorry to be clear when I said if it aint broke I meant changing the food, I agree that she needs a bit more than 120g now :)

Anchovies, you are right for some dogs - and it sounds as though you're really struggling with your puppy. There is a lot of merit in the if it ain't broke, don't fix it argument in some cases.

I don't subscribe to changing food over slowly though. I have swapped and changed kibbles immediately with no ill effect - and have gone backwards and forwards between brands. I am not one for faffing about, tbh.

At the moment we have a bin of Burns (emergency caught out by bank holiday purchase!) and a bin of Fish4Dogs and it's anyone's guess as to which one of them is fed at any one meal and all of the dogs manage perfectly well.

But - this pup needs more food as a starting point!