How much to feed them?

[hauff]

Hello everybody!

I would like to know, if there's any problem in feeding a 52 days Bull Terrier only 2 times a day. Or should I leave him with the food all day long to eat any time he wants?

Thank you very much.

[slleipnir]

Hauff, welcome! From my own experiance. It depends on how your dog eats. If he constantly will eat whatever is placed in front of him; like my Lab, I'd suggest feeding him the suggested amount that it says on your dog food bag (It has weight sections) If he only eats when hungry, like my older dog, then leaving the food out all the time wouldn't be a problem. Thats what we used to do with him anyway, and have no problems.

[mary_jsn]

is he a puppy? I suggest that you do what hauff said weigh him/her and see it in your dogg food bag, all brands have it. Second if it's a puuppy, it needs twice the amounts of vitamins than an adult dog, so you should feed it 3 times a day.

[hauff]

Thank you very much guys.

I would like to know some other things...
The bull stays most of the time in a small place, the kitchen and sometimes we get him to the room to watch tv and we leave him alone to rxplore some places there. Is that a problem?

I mean, if he stays the most time of the day in the kitchen and then later we allow him to stays in other places of the house, will he feel the need better to be in the room than in the kitchen that is smaller?

Or should I only allow him to be in other places when he learn to do "the basic needs"(or should I say learn to "use the bathroom")?

Thanks again folks, you seem very kind! =)

Ps. Sorry my English, I do not speak English at all. Yet!

[lizbud]

Hello & Welcome to Pet Talk !!
If the puppy is less than two months old, I think
I would feed it 3 times a day.Pup's need extra
vitamins and nutrients when they are just starting
to grow. Don't think I'd leave the food out all the
time. Also letting the pup explore other rooms
before it's potty trained is not a good idea.
Is your dog's name TORO? Good luck with the
house training !!
P.S. Please don't apologize for your english, I think
you express yourself & the problems very well !!!

[mary_jsn]

when potty training your dog, i recommend that you never, leave him alone in case that he goes where it's not wanted to instead of the place you want him to pee/poo. Also you should keep a constant eye on your dog in case he takes anything special and breaks it or eats it. Also be careful with cables, such as the tv room, he might get interested in the cable and starts chewing it, which will costs your pet's life and your tv's certainly!!!!

[hauff]

Hi Lizbud and Mary, thank you very much!

About the cables it is truth, sometimes he started to chew the cables of the phone and then I did something(I don't know how to say that, so I'll try as lizbud said "I can express things very well"). Well, when Toro started to chew the cables I grab him behind the neck and said "NO!". And he doesn't understood and continuing to chew the cables and I did the same thing, and then it didn't stop. And I grap him again and said NO and then I left him in the small place in the kitchen and then I left him alone.
I think(correct me if I am wrong) that this way he will associate the NO with something not cool or something bad or boring. And he will associate the no, with the same pull on the neck her mother were accustomed to call his attention.

[mary_jsn]

Squirt bottle, I read somewhere that when puppies and dogs are chewing furniture or cables, anything, hide in somewhere where he will not see you and squirt a bit of water. If he keeps on chewing it, keep on squirting, this will get the puppy to think that he is being punished by the furniture, in this case, the cable from the telephone, unless of course, he loves water! LOL;) joking, try that and see what happens.
It's a pleasure to help you. You know i live somewhere near Brazil, in Chile, you know that country? but I can't speak portuguese of course!!!:D.
You know i used to do the same thing with my puppy, and in a result he quite enjoyed it, so he kept doing something bad, for something he liked. I think you should tell him a very loud NO! and may be raise your hand like you are going to hit him, that's what i do to my pup, and she stays quite quiet!

[hauff]

Hi Mary nice to meet you then!
Sure that I know Chile and I cannot speaks spanish too. :)

You know, I have read something about it too, but do you know what I think of it? Picture that I am in the streets and he start to bite something, will I get the squirt and squirts on the dog in the middle of the street with people looking at it? This is bizarre!! :D

I think I WILL have to show him whos the daddy here! hehehe
With some power NO's and sometimes grap the scruff of his neck saying NO.
I am doing it yet and sometimes giving him some timeout's.
And I think soon or later he will associate the No with something bad. (GOD HELP ME):):p

Any other advice?

[mary_jsn]

You've got a point there, may you could use the squirt inside, in your home, and outside you could say the loud no and raise your hand, or grab him like you do it. When he gets older I think you will have to punish him raising your hand, but not hitting him, it gets worse and makes you feel bad.:(

[Gepansy]

Welcome to pet talk!
Hope you like it here.:D ;)

[RachelJ]

Welcome Hauff. I have raised several dogs and each one was so different in personality. When Hannah was a puppy, she was very stubborn and difficult to train. It took a far more forceful tone of voice and vocal exhibition of my displeasure in her behavior to get her to understand. I called it my *crazy lady* mode. It was the only thing that eventually got through to her. With a dog of normal sensitivities this would have been completely wrong, but with Hannah it turned out to work. She didn't like my crazy lady mode. It made her stop and think that I don't want to make Mom *erupt* again. I don't know if your dog is just an average puppy or one like my Hannah that needs a little more emphasis that you are not happy with his unacceptable behavior.

As far as where your dog should be, I think that if you are able to supervise him, he should be whereever you are. Dogs are very social creatures and being left alone in another part of the house is not good unless you are busy and can't supervise him or if you are not at home, then as a puppy that is necessary.

[Rottie]

Well it depends on your dog. If your dog is the kind that will eat and eat and eat just because there's food in his bowl (like mine), then you should limit his food to two/three times a day for a puppy and one/two times a day as an adult. If your dog only eats when he is hungry, then you can free feed (leave food out so he can eat whenever he wants).

I don't free feed my dogs because if I did, my Rottweiler would weigh 200 pounds, not 89. He would just eat and eat forever. :D

[hauff]

Thanks Rachel, Rottie, Gepansy. You are very kind people.

[Logan]

Hi Hauff, and welcome to Pet Talk!
Everyone and their veterinarian will have different advice for feeding. If your puppy is staying indoors during the day, I think I would spread the feedings out to three per day, so that you can. When my dogs were puppies, my vet instructed me to leave the food out for them, but they were outdoors all day, so the "mess" wasn't an issue. You just have to work out a system that fits your schedule.
And my only advice on the discipline issue is to keep your eyes on your puppy when you allow it free roaming of the house. Puppies are so inquisitive and get into trouble when left alone. Its not their fault, just their nature. Correct him when you see him do something inappropriate, but don't scare him. And praise, praise, praise when he does the right thing! He'll learn that its better to do the right thing. I think voice corrections are much better than "hands on" corrections. You don't want to frighten him, just let him know what is right and what is wrong. I used a "leave it" command quite often, and must admit, that I still have to do it occasionally! :o And my dogs are both about 3 years old!!! :eek:

Anyway, I'm so glad you're here. I know you will love it!! :)

Logan, Honey and Lilly