Breeder underfed puppies

[Tuptuptup]

I came to realise that the breeder of our puppy used the puppy current weight rather than the expected adult weight when working out food requirements.

I was very careful to check 100% that puppy came from home breeder with prior experience of puppies (not first time due to Covid) and all health tests were carried out. However this major error on her part came to light when I collected puppy and she told me the amount to feed. A few days later I checked the packet myself and realised the error. So damage done already, I decided to feed correct amount and everything would be fine physically she would be ok. She was otherwise healthy and vet checked.

We have had puppy a number of weeks now and I am beginning to worry about the pschological effects of this under feeding. She seems permanently hungry and looking for food even though I am now probably giving her more than she needs. I am worried this could develop in to resource guarding. She eats super fast almost choking on her food and does look around nervously. No growling at us though.

Not really sure what to do. I am first time puppy owner and inexperienced in handling any complex issues. Feeling quite stressed about it.

Yes that definitely what the packet says. It is annoyingly large range

I would honestly go and speak to the vet nurse at your practice. They are experts in nutrition. They will be able to work out your pup's calories requirements rather than relying on food manufacturers rudimentary feeding guides.

That sounds a lot. I'm now worried I'm under feeding mine!! She is a 14 week old cocker and has 150ml wet pouch a day but this is divided up and mixed with approx cup of kibble at each meal. You also allow for training treats/stuffed kong in their daily allowance. Mine is not fussed for kibble on its own at all!

One cup of kibble each meal aria20 ?

Look at the dog never mind the packet. Does the puppy look skinny? You don't feed exclusively based on the packet. It's a guide. You need to watch how your pup grows and adjust accordingly. Did he look skinny when you collected him? The puppy doesn't sound underfed just high drive. Comparing a lab to a border collie isn't fair at all. They are hugely different breeds. You absolutely should get DC involved in training and feeding ASAP. Are you doing training classes?

Yes it's a small measure prob like large handful mixed with the 50ml wet food and to be honest she rarely finishes it?!

Which brand of dog food is it? Some contain lots of cheap ingredients that aren't particularly nutritious, which mean you need to feed more.

My puppy eats in literally about 10 seconds. Then spends ages licking the bowl after !

It’s a fish and veg mix, no grains. I think it’s a good quality one.

I did wonder if I should try something else

Well your pup obviously loves that mix! Mine prefers the lamb wet pouches to chicken/turkey/beef but even so often doesn't finish it and then will go back an hour or so later to finish it?! I'm thinking of changing over to natures menu or something similar as got some freebies from there to try.

What food is it @Tuptuptup , I think you are way over thinking the effects of the breeder potentially having got it wrong , some dogs are just greedier than others . Get her a slow feeder bowl or start scatter feeding and using 2 meals worth as training treats .

I read on line that restriction to food availability when puppies could result in resource guarding. So this is what worried me. She even loves a bit of raw carrot I swear she will eat anything! I did get a toppl bowl for her which is quite good at slowing the feeding process

Our sprocker puppy was always ravenous, it sounds fairly normal.

We also gave ours goats milk as it seemed to fill her up.

Make sure you are watering the food down first with a little warm water as she could get bloat if she's eating dry food too fast.

Oh I hadn’t heard of watering it down. Is this something that is standard?

I'd not advise watering down, far better to scatter, use a puzzle, slow feeder or snuffle mat. Kibble is good for teeth and dogs need to chew

@Tuptuptup

It’s a fish and veg mix, no grains. I think it’s a good quality one.

Which brand?

I don’t measure my dogs food, I go by his body condition (by eye and by feel). Admittedly, easier on a short haired breed than a long haired. He is in optimal condition according to body condition scoring tables (available on the internet) and our vet agrees. If ever he starts to look a bit ‘ribby’, I up his food slightly. If he’s starting to look tubby, I reduce it slightly. It works for us. The numbers on the food packaging are a rough guide. Obsessing over numbers isn’t all that helpful, unless you are wildly out and have no idea what a healthy body condition looks like for your dog’s breed, sex, activity level, neutering status, age etc.

I feel like I don’t want to say in case breeder recognises me on here. But I just looked up Lily’s kitchen and it looks similar. When I input her details it said 263g per day of food

The thing about recommended amounts are they are just recommendations. I have 2 border collies, one ate significantly less than what the breeder recommended she eat and she still grew to 18kg and has good food manners. My other one I fed what the breeder recommended and in-line with the bag and he was skin and bones at 5 months. I upped what I was feeding him to the amount meant for a dog growing to 30-35kg. He is 2, still eating as much as a lab (and as enthusiastically) and still very lean, though has ended up taller and heavier than the breed standard (22kg and shoulders well above his fur sisters).
Have you done puppy preschool yet? Ours covered resource guarding and what you can do with them as puppies to avoid it.

If yours didn’t it may be worth trying to get in for a one on one with a professional trainer who knows working dogs. You may need to anyway. BC are highly intelligent, highly strung and very active dogs. Both of ours had little things, that could have become big things if we hadn’t put in a lot of work training

I am struggling to find a good trainer. The one I have currently has experience mostly with labs and I dont feel she fits very well with my puppy

Just like with people, it's generally healthier for a dog to be at the lower end of the recommended weight scale than be overweight. Make sure you don't overfeed

Some dogs just really really like food...

Re being worried about her reaction to good and DC... at that age, I’d be giving very little food in a bowl, I’d be using it to train so hand feeding and putting it in toys and scatter feeding. Children can help with all those - and it should mean she sees them as providing things rather than competing fit them.

Thank you I will get them involved in hand feeding

I second @tabulahrasa re scatter feeding, hand feeding, kongs etc. We have a feeding ball, a puzzle feeder, kongs, licky mats and i use his feed allowance for training although I do save high value for recall and lead walking. It is all about enrichment but also slows the feeding down. Dogs calm themselves by sniffing, licking and chewing so ideal for those to hand feed/scatter feed kong/toys etc & even hide and seek with kibble which is something my boy loves!

Training wise, I know collies are different from labs - my sister trains guide dogs so lots of labs but also privately trains loads of different dogs the principals are the same but you want someone who uses positivity and game based training - collies are so intelligent - we had a border and beardie and my sister has Australian shepherds & collies of her own. A puppy life skills 1 course if you can find one locally would be ideal - we did it with our boy.