How much to feed a puppy?

[jess.s 10]

Hi, our puppy, Toby is just over 4 months old. we feed him 3x a day. He has 1/3 of a can of butchers puppy & 2 handfulls of pedigree small bite mixer at each meal. (plus some treats during the day while training him, usually a bit of ham/sausage). He's a small dog, his mum is a jack russel x pug & dad a king charles cavalier. He seems constantly hungry though? He eats his food so quickly then sniffs round for more. If we leave the room with any food on the settee he's got it & wolfing it down within seconds. He also follows my toddler round waiting for him to drop a biscuit/breadstick ect. & again he's hoovered it up before I even have chance to pick it up! Also I've seen him eat his own poo a couple of times (although I have read this is normal for puppies). He has regular check ups at the vets for his injections & wormimg etc. & they weigh him each time & his weight is fine. I was just wondering if we need to start feeding him more? Or could he just be greedy & will eat more & more no matter how much we feed him?

I would be grateful for any advice, Thanks x

[john t 10]

It's a litter thing, biggest pup gets most of the food, and he's thinking i'll get it all now, as i don't know where my next feed is coming from. My Cavalier is exactly the same and she's 7 and a half, give her her breakfast every morning, and you'd think she aint been fed in months as we are eating out toast. Ya pup may grow out of it, but don't be surprised if it doesn't, keep an eye on her, and be firm with food when people are eating, make sure she know's it wrong to scrounge food etc... Good luck

 

jt

[mounts 10]

get it off tin food and on to a decent dry. canin/ wellbeloved or something a bit cheaper like beta

[ccit 10]

I agree. Tinned meat is largely water and mixer biscuit is just carbohydrate. What pups need is protein. Change to a good quality kibble and the quantities are clearly written on the packet. They tend to be a bit higher than strictly necessary but it is a baseline.

Don't use cheap supermarket kibble - go for something like James Wellbeloved or Royal Canin puppy kibble. My pup has been reared on Fish4Dogs puppy and is in fabulous condition. You can soften these kibbles with warm water if needed. They usually like that because it brings out the smell of the food.

[cparsons 10]

I have no idea why people are telling you to get off wet and use Royal Canin. RC is a rubbish food and there are plenty of good wet foods available.

 

I would personally change his food if you can afford to as Pedigree isn't very good. If you can go with something with a higher meat content then he should feel fuller as he won't be pooing most of it out.

[berlingo 10]

wet food is mainly water also small breeds tend to have worse teeth than larger breeds and wet food gathers between the teeth and rots. Vets will tell you that dried food is better for their teeth & their digestive system

[ccit 10]

The nutritional value of some wet dog foods is poor. I have read that about 70% may be just water. If it is to be used then the owner should check the ingredients thoroughly and buy a quality product. BTW the OP said that he was giving Butchers, not Pedigree wet food. Adding mixer to it is done to bulk it up but mixer is just carbohydrate and the dog doesn't actually need it. It has little beneficial nutrition in it.

 

Dried puppy foods are complete although some people add a little wet meat just for taste. They also usually contain a minimum of 26% protein. The one I use is 30% protein. Puppies grow very fast and need this to make bone and muscle. I doubt very much whether Butchers canned food will meet this requirement.

 

@cparsons - Royal Canin and James Wellbeloved are made by the same company and both are good products. I do not know why you say that Royal Canin is not a good dog food. There is no other company that has such a comprehensive range of food to suit different needs, including diets for ill animals.

Edited October 10, 2013 by ccit

[jess.s 10]

thanks for all the replies. We do intend to move him on to dry food eventually (mainly because my husband works for a cash & carry so can buy big bags of dry food cheap with his discount). But I think a diet of just dry food would be a bit boring for him? he is eating butches puppy tins & pedegree small bite mixer as that was what he was eating when we bought him.

[Daid 10]

When its old enough forget tinned and kibble it's all rubbish and get it on raw meat and bones.

[cparsons 10]

@cparsons - Royal Canin and James Wellbeloved are made by the same company and both are good products. I do not know why you say that Royal Canin is not a good dog food. There is no other company that has such a comprehensive range of food to suit different needs, including diets for ill animals.

 

Royal Canin:

COMPOSITION: dehydrated poultry protein, maize flour, maize, wheat flour, animal fats, dehydrated pork protein, wheat, hydrolysed animal proteins, beet pulp, fish oil, soya oil, yeasts, minerals, hydrolysed yeast (source of manno-oligo-saccharides). ADDITIVES (per kg): Nutritional additives: Vitamin A: 12000 IU, Vitamin D3: 800 IU, E1 (Iron): 46 mg, E2 (Iodine): 4.6 mg, E4 (Copper): 9 mg, E5 (Manganese): 60 mg, E6 (Zinc): 181 mg, E8 (Selenium): 0.12 mg - Preservatives - Antioxidants. ANALYTICAL CONSTITUENTS: Protein: 25% - Fat content: 14% - Crude ash: 5.9% - Crude fibres: 1.2% - Per kg: Manno-oligo-saccharides: 0.5 g - Omega 3 fatty acids: 6 g including EPA/DHA: 3.1 g. - See more at: http://www.royalcanin.co.uk/products/products/dog-products/size-health-nutrition/medium-dogs-11-25kg/medium-adult#sthash.igzNdsZf.dpuf

 

... you think that's good? Really? There's no need to have 30 different kinds of food either.

 

There are plenty of better kibbles you can get for less money. RC certainly isn't a budget price but it's got budget ingredients.

 

Fishmongers:

Ingredients: Salmon (60% [freshly cooked salmon 42%, salmon meal 12%], salmon oil (5%), salmon digest (1%), potato (14%), potato starch (14%), beet pulp, minerals, vitamins, brewers yeast, mannanoligosaccharides, fructooligosaccharides

 

The above is cheaper than Royal Canin and is easily available from Pets at Home. If you're wanting to supplement with a wet food then Wainwright's, Nature Diet, Lukullus should be well appreciated.

 

OP, you may find that if you move your dog onto a better quality food they'll be more content. Personally I feed raw but I know this isn't suitable for everyone and would rather feed a decent quality kibble than half hearted raw.

 

[angel22 10]

I agree with cparsons. My dog has either fishmongers or Arden grange dry food mixed with Wainwrights, natures menu or hi-life wet food. She has allergies so has to have hypoallergenic food and I find the above much better than James Welbeloved. (So does my dog!)

[vwkittie 10]

Fishmongers is good, we mix in a little chubb roll (only 50p a roll) to make it more interesting.

 

Also Wainwrights from P&H or Lifestage from Jolleys are good.

 

 

We never worried how much ours ate as a growing pup to be honest.