How much to feed?

[NoLongerATeacher]

Hello we have 2 golden retrievers - dd1 is 13 months old and is working line - expected adult weight 30-35kg - he’s currently 33kg // dd2 is 6 months old and is show line - expected adult weight 35-40kg - he’s currently 26kg.
I am feeding them a mix of mcadams dry food and canagans wet tins. Dd1 twice a day dd2 3 times a day. Looking at the recommendations it suggests 400g per day for both but I’m doing 650g- 700g per day each.
Dd2 is constantly hungry - so 400g just doesn’t seem enough! Both very active - what do you think ? How much do you feed your large breed dogs a day? Thanks for any advice.

Depends what condition your dogs are in and how many calories they burn off...

I go on how they look rather than appetite though.

650-700g sounds like an awful lot of food. I have never fed any of my large dogs that amount.

I would expect a 75kg dog to be having about 580kg a day

Dont let them kid you they are hungry.
What do they look like? Can you feel their ribs?
Do they have a waist?

I feed to condition - if they are thin they get more, if they go past the markers of ideal weight, they get less. I'll also adjust their food if we are having a very active day or have done very little (like a v wet day where they won't go out).
Your older one should be pretty much fully grown now - have you looked at condition scoring for him rather than weighing him

580kg a day obviously 580g a day!

Look up Body Condition Score to determine if they're currently a healthy weight or not.

How much wet food are you giving them?

You are giving them about 170% of their daily allowance in dry.

Ddog1 should be a skinny teenager at the moment, not adult weight.

Thank you so much - I am going to adjust down to 450g a day for both - I’ve done the body score (thanks for that advice) and both do seem normal - older one is very active and looks pretty lean - younger one is stockier but not fat. He’s just a glutton I think! Thank you all again.

Some dogs do eat more than the recommended amount of food.
Ddog is 2, unneutered and she eats the full amount of dry food plus a tin of wet. She is slim and very active as she is a pointer from working stock. At some point I will have to trim down her food.

“Some dogs do eat more than the recommended amount of food.”

Yep... current dog is about 20kg, medium sized mongrel, he’s getting more of the same food than my rottie did, but, he’s if anything slightly too lean.

Its worth considering that if you are feeding a lot over the recommended food changing food.

Some dogs prefer higher protein food and some of the very skinny high energy dogs will only put on weight with more carbs.

If raw feeding look at balance of bone to meat content

My working springer spaniel (15 kg) is on the same weight of food as my senior Labrador (30kg).