How much do you feed your dog?

[sillystraw]

We feed our 80 lb Rottie/GSD mix Taste of the Wild. She has been getting 2.5 cups a day but I feel like she is starting to look a little chunky. I'm thinking of taking her down to 2 cups a day but DH thinks that doesn't seem like very much food. (she does get a kong filled with cottage cheese or yogurt every work day as well).

How much do you feed your dog? And how big are they and what do you feed? (for reference)

[independencegirl74]

I can't weigh in on the food amount from a personal standpoint, since we feed our Boxer raw. BUT: 2-2.5 C/day of TOTW sounds about right for your dog's size. However, I'd say the daily Kong of cottage cheese or yogurt is adding way too many extra calories. Do you fill it all the way? Halfway?

I really like giving Zoey a stuffed Kong when we leave for work, too, but it's usually layered with some lower calorie/fat things along with the higher cal "ingredients." For example, I'll layer frozen green beans/peas/strawberries/blueberries/banana/raspberries (any of the above) with some pumpkin or peanut butter or no-sugar-added applesauce.

I bet if you calculated how many calories are in that Kong every day, you'd see it's putting her over how many she should be getting to maintain an ideal weight.

[sillystraw]

That is a good point about the kong. I guess that's why I figured if we go down to 2 cups a day it should be fine because she is getting the kong. Thanks for the suggestions about the fruits and veggies. She doesn't like them usually but maybe she would eat them frozen? She did have a vet visit a couple weeks ago and the vet didn't say anything about her weight but I know a little chubby tummy when I see it.

[jenni232323]

TOTW here too - our 91# standard poodle gets about 2.5 cups as well. One scoop AM and one PM - scoop says 1 cup but a full scoop is closer to 1.25 cups. He doesn't get any other "treats" except maybe cucumber or banana - he loves fruits and veggies.

[minniebee]

2-2.5 cups per day sounds about right. Maybe the kong treats are too much along with 2.5 cups of kibble. Perhaps 2 cups would be better?

We feed our rott/lab mix 2-1/4 cups per day of Innova (a mix of the large breed adult food and the senior food).

When we first got him, he was eating 3 cups per day (that's what his previous owner was feeding him) and weighed 82 lbs. Our vet suggested that his ideal weight range is 70-80 lbs, and we should cut back on the food a bit. We slowly decreased the amount he eats, partially for weight loss, and partially because he's getting older/less active and burns fewer calories. We had him down to 2 cups per day. Last time he was at the vet (in May) he was down to 68 lbs, so the vet said to bump him back up to 2-1/4 cups per day because she doesn't want him losing any more weight. We'll see how that goes.

[M]

My 75lbs Doberman gets 2 lbs of raw and 1/2 cup of Orijen Fish each day. On the road he gets 2.5 cups of Orijen in a day. On occasion, Hilo gets some dog biscuits, raw egg, yogurt, cottage cheese, hot dogs...but not too often.

If your dog's starting to look chunky then it's ok to cut back a little bit. TOTW is a good quality kibble that is full of protein so they dont' have to eat as much as the lower quality kibbles. That's why it looks like he's not getting much, but he's probably fine. And I agree with PP's, cutting back on the cottage cheese is probably the best place to start.

[kellbell191]

Molly is 40 lbs and gets 1.5 cups because she has a good metabolism. Darwin is 45 lbs and gets 1.25 cups because he has a shitty metabolism.

[jdbyogi]

Jun 21, 2012 14:10:56 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

We feed them more or less each day depending on how fat they look. Right now, one looks fat, one looks skinny, and the rest look fine, so we are adjusting food based on those very scientific judgments.

Hahaha, I sort of do this. Lauren is just under 60lbs, Heidi is usually hovering a little under 55lbs and they are both on TOTW. I think they are "supposed" to get 2-2.5 cups daily split into 2 meals, but Lauren gets just about 2 and Heidi gets closer to 3. She has a crazy fast metabolism and looks so, so skinny sometimes, so I figure she can have a little more food. Lauren is feeling a little heavy recently, so I may cut her food back a tad and add a little big of veggies to meals.

The calories in treats can really add up. If I'm giving them a kong or any higher calorie treats , i will cut back their meals a little. For kongs, I usually put some sort of produce (green beans, peas, carrots, apple, banana), something that can freeze, like unsweetened applesauce, pumpkin, or plain yogurt. Of course, a tsp of pb keeps them happy for a while as well.