For those who feed dry kibble...

How much do you feed your dogs? I have gotten conflicting information from my vet and my breeder.

My dogs are 9 months (16 lbs) and almost a year (14 lbs) so we are trying to switch foods with Kip out of puppy food.

Right now we are feeding them once in the morning and once at night. About 1 cup per dog a day.

Neither are overweight nor skinny. They are both at a good weight and get a morning walk (15 min) and an even walk (30 min)

Also, we live in cold Wisconsin. Do you suggest we put booties or jackets on them for their walks or should they be fine for that length of walks? We dont dare take them out when it gets below zero or when its wicked outside but I do want to know that they are warm enough. I have coats for them but getting them on and off is quite a scene! lol.

Thanks for your help!

I live in Iceland and my dogs get their walks even if it´s well belowe zero.
I do put a sweater or a coat on them though. I wouldn´t worry too much about the temperature,I´m more concerned about a very cold wind and very wet weather .
today we had about -7 degrees celsius but no wind whatsoever and the girls actually love "crispy" days like that.they get alot more playfull and silly

vicarrieous said:

How much do you feed your dogs? I have gotten conflicting information from my vet and my breeder.

My dogs are 9 months (16 lbs) and almost a year (14 lbs) so we are trying to switch foods with Kip out of puppy food.

Right now we are feeding them once in the morning and once at night. About 1 cup per dog a day.

Thanks for your help!

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Hi, I think the twice a day sounds fine, and the amount you are feeding would seem okay if their weight stays healthy. I wouldn't put all kibble in the same class as far as amounts go, though. Some food requires feeding more than others, depending on the content, how much filler, etc. Feed based on the feeding recommendations on the package and tweak based on your dog's activity levels and how they do on what you are giving. I, personally, never use a puppy food, just an all life stages food. There is some debate about the need for a puppy formula.

Since I am in Georgia, I can't advise on the cold weather attire, but I am sure someone will let you know who is used to that!

It sounds like a normal amount of food, and especially since your dogs are at a good weight, you are probably right on. I agree with brotymo above that it does depend on the brand of food. I've heard that certain brands like Orijen are very dense and you have to feed less or you will end up with an overweight dog.

Daisy gets a little bit less than you are giving because she's overweight and we're working on that (but I know that it is really the treats that are causing the problem, not the food). I recently bought Wellness Healthy Weight and she really likes it. Hopefully it will help us with the battle of the bulge.

We do have a warm coat for her when it is bitter cold (below 30 degrees or so and windy). It also depends on how long you will be out, of course. I would definitely think in Wisconsin that you would want to have pretty warm coats for them, given that Cavaliers are single-coated dogs used to being indoors.

What is the conflict between vet and breeder?

The amount you feed is really entirely dependent on each individual dog, their metabolism, and amount of exercise, and it is hard to generalise. I have dogs that only eat 1/4th cup of food once a day to those that eat 3/4ths once a day, same amount of exercise, only two lbs difference in size.

It doesn't matter much whether you feed once or twice.

Adults tend to eat slightly less than puppies. You want to keep a good waist. I think a cup a day is generally a lot for most dogs, unless the dogs are very active or larger than average. This is in part because most people will supplement that amount with treats or scraps during the day so the dog ends up really eating far more than a cup. But a cup daily generally would be a huge amount of food for any of mine, and they get 4 walks a day, and range from 12.5 to 17 lbs.

I advise using this page for feeding information for cavaliers:

www.roycroftcavaliers.com/manualfeeding.htm

Do you suggest we put booties or jackets on them for their walks or should they be fine for that length of walks? We dont dare take them out when it gets below zero or when its wicked outside but I do want to know that they are warm enough.

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Mine wear jackets when it's really cold outside. Miles has a pair Of boots to protect his feet from the salt. He doesn't mind them at all. Here's his winter outfit...now I need to buy one for Truman since we had our first snow in Chicago today!

We feed Mary Alice (approx. 6yrs) and Rosie (20mths), 1/3 cup of good quality kibble twice a day.

Mary Alice had gained a lot, as Karlin says, from treats given out when Rosie was being trained. lol

Now that Mary Alice has her waist back, we'll be keeping them slim and trim.

We have water-proof racing jackets for them, with fleece lining ...... don't use boots at all.

We go out walking in all weather.....but if it's really cold or stormy, the dogs come running back right away.

My dogs also get more playful and silly on 'crisp' days....lol

Carrie - does snow still get under Miles' coat? Getting the snowballs off their fur is almost impossible!

Hi! Stella weighs 16-17 lbs. and she gets 1/2 cup of Orijen Sr. a day fed in two meals of 1/4 c. each meal. Plus a couple of biscuits. Lucy and Desi weigh 24lbs. and 29lbs. and they each get 3/4 c. total a day (3/8 c. fed in the a.m. and 3/8 c. in the p.m.). Of course all 3 of them are couch potatoes LOL! All 3 have sweaters and coats that I sometimes put on them. It depends on how cold it is. We live in Ohio, and can get some really cold weather!

Mindy gets 1/3 of a cup of dry kibble twice a day with a TBSP of plain yogurt in the morning and whatever vegetables we are having in the evening. I think she is nearly down to her ideal weight and then I'll probably increase her evening meal to 1/2 a cup rather than take her off the low cal formula.

Jato is 1 year old, and I feed him 1/3 cup 2x a day. Zoey is just 5 months, and I feed her 1/3 cup 3x a day. I will switch her onto his schedule when she turns 6 months. They are both at a good weight. I have bought winter coats for both of them since I live in Illinois. I think their fur is much to thin to not have some sort of protection from the cold/wind/snow.