puppy food

[TheHoundsBitch]

Does 600g of kibble a day sound too much for a 9 kilo 12 week old puppy?

I am getting very confused about feeding amounts as I am changing brands and the rescue had dpup on too little food to start with (half what the food pack said she should be on!) so we have gradually increased her food to what the pack suggests (for those that saw my other thread, her behaviour has improved no end!) but the new brand is doubling the amount the old one suggests.

Also, I'm having to convert lbs/cups to kilos/grams too. V. confusing.

Best to start by following the guidelines on the pack, different brands vary. Keep an eye on the poos, if she starts producing increased amounts, or it gets loose or runny then reduce amount of food.
They don't always need as much as the pack says.

When introducing the new food do you think this would be a good way to do it:
Remove 5g old food and add 10g of new food each day until fully swapped over?
We have been increasing the old food by 5g per meal per day to get it up to where it should be. I don't want to give her a tummy ache from increasing it too quickly as its such a large increase in volume.
This is way too much math for my poor brain

That would mean gradually introducing the new food over two weeks - is that too cautious?

Sounds fine to me, as long as pup's OK with it. There aren't any definite rules but I don't think you can go wrong by being cautious .

:) thanks - I'm so worried about getting it wrong!

The amounts suggested on food packets should be taken with a very large pinch of salt ..

If I fed dpup the amount suggested for a dog of his size he'd very quickly be morbidly obese - as it is he's beautifully slim

Remember to factor in training treats etc when working out your pup's total intake

And dogs should be lean - for most breeds you should be able to feel ribs easily

The feeding guide on dog food packs is always wrong. Don't forget they do really well out of selling dog food, and the more they can get you to use, the better.

600g of dog food a day for a 9kg pup is MASSES. What breed pup and what is the dog food?

She's a ridgeback cross, on pedigree vital puppy atm and moving onto Kirkland signature puppy.
She is definitely meant to be skinny but you can see 3 ribs which I think is too probably too skinny, she is growing v fast too. She's taller than a staffy already!
It does seem a massive amount.

I only know labrador puppies, but I know them really well!

I would try her on 3 meals a day and give between 120 - 150g at each meal. If she gets the squirts, she's eating too much food.

Fast growing big breed puppies are going to be ribby. They put on so much size so fast it is inevitable. Lab pups - at least the line of pups I breed - will gain about a kg a week until they get to about 6 months old. I expect your pup will gain at a slightly higher rate, but it's likely to be similar unless she is crossed with something even bigger!

Also, puppies will almost grow overnight, so while they may well look ribby on Monday, by Tuesday they could be looking entirely different.

Is she acting hungry? I wouldn't worry massively about it, but I do think 600g per day is too much for a wee one. Cut her down a bit and see how she goes for the next week. If you do decide she needs more weight, increase her slowly with volume, they really do change day by day.

And I know it's unfashionable, but I don't fanny about with food changes. I just swap them. Maybe do it over a few days? Two weeks is pretty cautious

I'm a cautious kinda gal!

She is definitely 'ribbier' on some days compared to others. She is actually probably a bit more than 9 kilos now! She was 8.7 on 27th Sept.

She's on 4 meals a day at the moment, she was acting very hungry before we upped her food - when we got her she was on 30g 4 times a day and we are giving her 60g at each meal now (that still needs to go up to 75g per meal according to the pedigree packet). She's stopped eating her own poop, and is much calmer generally.

This is the Pedigree food.
This is the Kirkland food

The new food is MUCH nicer than the old crappy stuff! She will get way more nutrition out of it. Pedigree food is rotten; masses goes in, masses comes out and the dog benefits very little. Pedigree get to sell loads though.

30g is nothing! She must have been desparate for food, bless her. My 7 week old lab pups were on 50g four times a day and they were much tinier than her - no wonder she was scoffing her poo.

While you're building her up a bit, stick with 4 meals - it'll help her tum cope. Once you're happier with her, drop down to 3 meals. If she shows no sign of an upset tum, I'd get her off pedigree as soon as I possibly could - it's awful and she is growing so fast she needs the best nutrition you can get into her. I would throw caution to the wind and just swap, but maybe you could go for a 50:50 meal?

Yes, pedigree is crap isn't it? The Kirkland stuff is supposed to be the best budget food going.

Thanks for the advice, You've made me feel a lot better about the whole thing. We were so confused about how much she should be having and had some horrific behaviour issues with her - which in hindsight could well be linked to her not eating enough! She's been like a different dog over the last few days. (I've probably jinxed it now!)

I think I'll switch her over to the new food over a week, a little bit cautious!

I've just read bits of your other threads. I wish I'd seen them sooner - I would say most of those frantic, biting behaviours were down to hunger. Obviously some of it is being a pain in the arse puppy, and adjusting to so many changes so quickly, but a hungry puppy is an awful puppy.

Well done for spotting the problem - I expect she will be far more content now. Fingers crossed.