Starving puppy?

Another one - Bodie is 9 weeks this week and I haev been feeding him 1/4 cup of dry kibble in the mornings mixed with a little canned puppy pedigree, and another 1/4 cup of dry kibbel in the evenings. I give him small treats throughout the day for going potty outside and maybe 5 morsels for going in his crate. The problem: - he is constantly seeking food and is acting like he's starving. I have had to put my older dogs food up because he totally CHOWS on it. Is this normal? Am I feeding him the right amount?

also - I switched my adult 3 year old Lab to puppy food until the pup is ready for adult food. Was this the right move?

Thanks for your help

Most dogs always are, in a sense, "hungry". They will go for any scrap of anything they can get. My 2 year old BCx is an exception to that, although my 16 week old BC pup acts like she is always hungry, too. So don't worry! Your pup is not starving. :)

Puppy food is fine, it won't do any harm to your older dog although it could make him/her gain weight because puppy has more calories and proteins meant for growing puppies. He/she may also go #2 more often than when he/she was on adult food.

I think the weight gain won't be a problem for Pandy - she is a little on the skinny side - healthy, but skinny. I guess I was so worried because from day 1 she has been a nibler - I leave her food out and she nibbles throught the day. I have a feeling this little guy is going to be a vaccum around the food. LOL

Im not sure what kind of pup he is, so it could very well not be enough. I always feel that you should feed what you feel necessary but also use the puppys cues to make final decisions. I always leave the food out and let them graze. Pups need to eat several small meals a day, and im not sure if two meals is enough? I never followed guides like that, but I think they need more than 2 meals at his age. You have to consider how much he is growing and the calories he burns because he is so full of energy at this stage. They typically need more than you would think. If the adult dog is eating puppy food now, I dont see the harm in leaving the dish out, and if the pup wants extra he can get it. If the food were always available, he would gobble it down so much either. Once he knows its always there, he will just go to it and nibble when he needs it.

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Originally Posted by emilysgk

Im not sure what kind of pup he is, so it could very well not be enough. I always feel that you should feed what you feel necessary but also use the puppys cues to make final decisions. I always leave the food out and let them graze. Pups need to eat several small meals a day, and im not sure if two meals is enough? I never followed guides like that, but I think they need more than 2 meals at his age. You have to consider how much he is growing and the calories he burns because he is so full of energy at this stage. They typically need more than you would think. If the adult dog is eating puppy food now, I dont see the harm in leaving the dish out, and if the pup wants extra he can get it. If the food were always available, he would gobble it down so much either. Once he knows its always there, he will just go to it and nibble when he needs it.

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He is a lab/golden mix. Maybe I should be feeding him 3 times a day - but i'm not sure if I should leave hte food out - when he gets into the food - (it's an automatic feeder) he CHOWS Down on it. What if he eats too much?

What breed is Bodie again? I'm thinking that unless she's a small breed that you could add about a quarter cup to each meal. Growing puppies need more food than an adult dog.

But I doubt that will cure the neverending search for food. lol Some dogs act that way some don't but especially puppies seem to act like that more often. I've noticed that although Kaige doesn't search as much for food now that he is aging but he still searches a lot.

It may depend on her previous owners & littermates too. If she had to fight for her food, or had limited food or the like she may be more prone to gulp & search.

I would ask your vet what he/she recommends.
I fed my Golden Retriever about 3 cups of food per day 2 cups in the am and 1 cup in the pm. ( I figured she would burn the extra during the day that is why the bigger portion was given during the day). I did that until she was about a year old (she is now 16 months old). She is on the lean side and weights about 47lbs, which is a perfect weight. She gets lots of exercise, which is also something to consider when trying to figure out how much to feed your puppy. Big dogs need a lot of food to help them grow properly. I think you might need to feed more, but ask your vet, they should know best.

If you are worried you can feed 3 meals a day, but I'd go back to twice a day in about a month or so.

I'd say she should be eating about 3 cups a day at this age, increase it slowly as she gorws, she may be up to about 5 cups a day in a couple months. Once she starts to stop growing you should feed a little less again.

When I got Kaige, he was 10 weeks old and was fed twice a day and got about 2-2.5 cups per day, but thats a slightly smaller breed than a lab/golden.
I know by the time he was 4 months of age he was up to 3 cups/day.
I tried feeding him 3 meals a day at 10 weeks of age but he wasn't finishing all of his meals in under 20 minutes, it would take him about an hour to eat his breakfast. When I started feeding him twice a day he started finishing all of his meals within 20 minutes.

BUT what kind of kibble do you feed? If it's Pedigree or another not so good brand you'll need to feed even more.

I think i would also check and have her wormed . You can be feeding worms not puppy . A lot pups are born with them from Mom.

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Originally Posted by Corinna

I think i would also check and have her wormed . You can be feeding worms not puppy . A lot pups are born with them from Mom.

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Yes thats a good idea. I didn't really think of it because I think I'm so used to people bringing their new pups to the vets ASAP for a general health check up anyways. They usually check for parasites and the like. The vet can offer you some advice on feeding & any other questions you may have too.

Good luck

well the good news is that Bodie is going to the vet this weekend for his 9 week shots so we will ask the vet then about the eating. The owner that we got him from said that he had a womer shot at 6 weeks - but is it still possible that he could have them? If so how would I know? Like I said, the vet is this weekend - so I will be relieved after talking with him.

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Originally Posted by Lescoop77

well the good news is that Bodie is going to the vet this weekend for his 9 week shots so we will ask the vet then about the eating. The owner that we got him from said that he had a womer shot at 6 weeks - but is it still possible that he could have them? If so how would I know? Like I said, the vet is this weekend - so I will be relieved after talking with him.

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Most puppy wormers need to be given in series, similar to puppy vaccines, and a lot of the over counter de-wormes don't usually work as well (not sure if thats what the previous owners gave or not) but yes it is possible that your puppy may still have worms. If your puppy is highly infected you would know, buldged belly, vomiting, you'd see worms, puppy would be sick etc... but if she's just midly infected there probably won't be any viasble signs.

Your best bet is to have your vet do a fecal check on your pups feces, and you may even want to deworm once even if that comes up negative just to be in the safe side.

Good luck at the vets!

Hiyah
heres a solution a puppy if nine weeks should be getting feed 4 times a day. It should say on the dry kibble bags how much a dog of that age should be feed then you should divide that into 4 meals a day.

Hopefully that way your puppy should feel its being feed trough out the day.

Email me back and tell me if this helps you and your puppy

Love Michelle x

More food, more times a day!

How did your vet appointment go?

Thank you for all your advice everyone!!! Good news! Bodie now weighs in at 10.6 lbs and my vet said, and I quote " you really can't feed a puppy too much" Regardless, I'm feeding him 3 cups a day ( 1 cup 3 times a day) and it seems to be working, although he still B lines it for Pandy's food and is like a vaccum - tries to suck it all in before I can get it picked up.

He also said that he doesn't have worms. WHEW!

Thanks again everyone!

Thats great news!