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Is my little guy eating enough?
So Dexter has always been a picky eater.
We had switched him to grain free when he thought he had allergies (turned out to be demodex mange...awesome lol). We have him on TOTW High prairie puppy dry food with a tablespoon or so of the same wet mixed in. We did the same when we were on Wellness Just for Puppy. I know I could take him off GF now, but I really like how much he has been going to the bathroom and it is much more solid now lol. (I can't believe I just admitted to that outloud)
Anyways...the feeding instructions for 20lb is 2 and 1/4 cups a day. We feed him a cup in the morning and a cup after work and he usually only gets thru 3/4 of it. We have been training him so he averages about 10 treats a day as well and gets a kong stuffed when we leave for work.
So he is eating around 1.5 cups a day I'd say...but it is like we have to hand feed him to eat. I was thinking of maybe switching to a different wet food to incorporate? Maybe we just need to switch up his dry food!
He is 7 months, 19.5lbs (the standard is 20-25lbs) and already at the top of his height range.
WDYT?
***Sept 2013 Jan. Siggy Challange - Bouquet Inspiration!***
Re: Is my little guy eating enough?
The feeding recommendations on the bag are often a little more than some dogs need. If you feed more, you'll buy food more often and thus the brand makes more money.
My dog stops eating when he's full, so yours may be the same way and it's not a bad thing!
If you really want him to start eating more, try wetting his food with just enough water to make it a little soggy, or buy TOTW's canned food and mix in a spoon full with every cup of dry food to make it taste a little more appealing.
Switching up dry food isn't a bad idea either, in fact it's a great idea to rotate proteins within the same brand. For example, rotate between High Prairie, Sierra, Wetlands, etc. I don't feed dry dog food so I don't know how long to go between proteins, but I'm sure someone else will chime in.
As always, if you are worried that it's a health issue a visit to the vet could assuage any fears or confirm that there's something that needs work.
ETA: Dexter is SO adorable! wanttosnuggle.
Ditto. G eats until she's full, which is less than the recommended. If she starts looking a little hefty, we feed a little less and jog a little more. If she were to ever start looking skinny (ha!), I imagine we'd likely feed a little more.
Edit: I realized that if you can't read my mind, that sounds contradictory. She hasn't been "hefty" since we switched her from Purina to the TOTW, and when we were trying to manage her weight before we switched foods (which solved the problem), we fed less, exercised more. By "feed a little more" I mean add fish oil to her food. She will eat more if we cover it in tasty oil, but if it's just plain kibble, she'll eat until she's full.
My real point is that if your pup seems healthy and is a healthy weight, I would let him eat however much he wants.
Ok thanks ladies!
He seems to like the food, just when he is done, he is done. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't becoming a bad pet mother lol. Both of our family dogs would eat until their stomach touched the ground, so Mr. turns-his-nose-to-his-food is new to me
***Sept 2013 Jan. Siggy Challange - Bouquet Inspiration!***
Dogs usually love all 3 -- and if he's a floppy eared weebus, the yogurt will benefit him -- keeps away nasty yeast infections in his ear.:)
I totally understand - all the dogs I had growing up were the same way, but Patches stops eating when he's full. He does it so reliably that if he actually cleans his dish, I sometimes give him a little more, which he sometimes eats and sometimes doesn't.
That said, I do agree with pp to mix up the protein sometime. Our guy is much more excited about dinner time when the protein initially changes, or when I mix in a little wet food, which I do every so often as more of a treat than anything else.
We have a picky eater - our vet's advice was always:
1. If you can easily feel her ribs when you run a hand on her side, she's not eating enough.
2. If you can feel her ribs when you poke her a little, she's eating just fine.
3. If you can't feel any ribs, she's eating too much.
I think it varies a little by dog, and by activity level. If he feels good, he's probably getting enough and you can cut back on what you serve him so that less gets left behind!