How much do you feed?

[Julie J]

Just a question...I often wonder if we are feeding Jack enough. He is such a little glutton! In the morning he gets two cookies and at night we are giving him 3/4 cup of kibble. He is only a 15 pound dog and the vet says he is exactly the right size. But he always seems hungry! He will gobble down his dinner and then sit right beside our Golden and try to dart in and grab her food as she is chewing. If he is outside he tries to eat everything (including the poop coming out of our Golden's butt - gross! )
Am I feeding my baby too little? Just wanted to get the opinion of some of you experts...

[Kodee]

it depends on the calorie level of your personal food more so than cup size. But if your vet is saying he is a good weight for size, its just that I want to eat all the time cause i love it some dogs have.

You could add veg/fruit to cookies in morning. Or you could separate the two dogs and offer the cav a frozen kong stuffed with veg paste/yogurt giving your golden time to finish his dinner uninterrupted.

[cavalicious]

I worry about this too but Ollie does not always ask for food so I can't be giving too little... maybe I'm giving too much! LOL

I give him a little bit of puppy porridge in the morning (can't tell you the measurement I just fill up the bowl to about 1/4 of the way)

1/2 a cup of kibble for lunch usually mixed with yogurt or egg or fruit or vegetables.

Every other day I give him a chicken neck for lunch, is this too much for one whole meal?

And at dinner he gets another 1/2 cup of kibble mixed with yogurt and vegetables.

Through the day he gets dried liver for doing tricks and pieces of fruit as snacks

[Karlin]

Most puppies won't need more than about a cup food total, including treats, during the day. As one breeder has said, there's no prize for making your puppy grow up faster than others, and there are arguments that eating too much causes them to grow too quickly or grow oversized.

Almost every cavalier I know or know about would eat until bursting. They are ALWAYS hungry. The breed generally can have a real problem with obesity if a dog is fed because it seems hungry or free-fed (eg having food on offer all the time) so it is important to find the right amount of food given a dog's activity level and metabolism and adjust up and down depending ONLY on whether the dog is at a good weight. This means with a distinct waist. Neutered dogs need about 10-20% fewer calories so food should be reduced after neutering. How much they need varies widely. Leo and Jaspar eat about 2/3rd to 3/4s a cup of food daily (they ate more as puppies). Lily gets 1/4th to 1/3rd cup only (and she is quite active). If she gets more she really gains weight fast.

We all need to be really cautious with treats as that is where the extra calories really start to pile on. Try to stick with fruit and vegetable treats, not biscuits and meat or chees types (all lots of calories).

[*Pauline*]

I'm just wondering what size the cookies are. Maybe they don't fill him up for the day. Maybe if you halved all the food he would usually have and give one half in the morning and the other night. That's what I would do.

[orla]

Hi Julie,


Jack is a beauty what a cute face!!

Our Bella 5yrs old, was fine with a lovely figure, a little more Beyonce than Kate Moss lets say, but certainly not overweight.
However since the new arrival Pip burst onto the scene poor Bella has piled on the weight.
Over the Christmas I had a lot of friends and family come to stay, and every time someone picked up Pip, someone else would pick up Bella and give her a treat.!!!
I sort of noticed it, but was not really taking it in and now; well she is looking at the worst word in the dictionary: DIET!!!

My advice would be to err on the side of caution, if the Vet says Jack is good go with that, Pip could eat for Ireland, and I seperate both dogs at feeding time.
The rule is very strong now that there are no treats, Bella loves carrotts and apples, but again these are in moderation.

I have never heard of Puppy Porridge, is it something you can get in Ireland?

Orla

[Julie J]

Thanks for your input everyone. I spoke with my breeder and she thinks I should try giving him a little bit more in the morning and seeing if that helps. So we are going to give that a try.

He is really such a greedy little thing that my husband thinks I am just being taken in.