Porky weighs about 8 pounds now and I am unsure of how much food I should be feeding him. We were feeding him 1/4cup of dry food each day, but lately he seems to get very hungry if we feed that amount. So we have started feeding him 1/2 cup a day. This seems to help him a little, but we have also noticed he is losing weight. Right now he is eating Beneful food. Should we feed him a little more food each day? or not worry about it and leave it at 1/2 cup a day. He is VERY active and runs everywhere he thinks walking is for sissies. LOL I feel like 1/2 a cup of food each day is quite a bit for how tiny he is, but his little tummy rumbles if we feed him any less. Any suggestions you have would be VERY helpful. I am totally lost as to how much he needs a day. Our vet wasn't much help when I called and asked him, he just said feed him as much as you think he needs and watch if he starts to gain weight or lose weight and then adjust the amount. :rolleyes: I already knew that, but was wanting to know a specific amount to feed him. Thanks in advance for your helpful advice on this!!!
Porky's mom
I am not too much help here either. I free feed my dogs. I keep a constant supply of dry food out and large bowl of water. We fill them as they get empty. My dogs seem to like to run by the bowl for a couple nibbles as they run out the dog door. This works well for me. All of my dogs are at their ideal weight, according to my vet. George @ 14 pounds, Grace @ 14.5 pounds, Meeko @ 83 pounds and Nino @ 87 pounds. None of them are overweight. Many people here disagree with free feeding, and many dachshunds will eat until they drop if allowed, so that may not work for you. My dogs have been fed this way since puppies and it does work fine for me! I guess they have gotten used to it. I can't get any of them to eat a large meal at one time, they just love to pick when they want! I hope this is of some help for you! :thinik:
PM,
How old is Porky?
I feed my puppies under 6mos 1/4c. 3 x a day. Puppies over 6mos and under a year get 1/3c. twice a day. Of course if they begin to look too thin or fat you would have to adjust accordingly as every dogs metabolism is different. Since you are feeding Beneful he is probably going to require more food than with some of the other foods since it has many fillers in it (ie: Corn). it basically goes in one end and comes out the other... yuck!! Might want to consider changing him over to bit better quality kibble.
Jen & the Crew
I feed Rock once a day and he is weighting around 15.2 pounds. The vet said he is a perfect weight for a mini.He eats half dry and half wet food.
I know most people feed their dogs two times with small portions each time but it seems to work well with Rock this way with my work schedule.
I feed Charlie a 1/2 cup in the morning and another 1/2 cup in the evening. In between I try to keep him out of Abbie's food, being able to do this has been better since Abbie was switched to adult food. I only feed Abbie once a day in the morning.
Penny is 3 years old and she gets 1/4 cup in the morning and 1/4 in the afternoon of Nutro Natural Choice. She weighs in at 12.5. She also gets a few treats throughout the day.