# Food



## sonatalady7 (Apr 4, 2011)

This question came from another thread, so I thought I'd start one of it's own!

How old is your pup, how much do you feed, and what do you feed?

Bella is 9 months
We feed her Blue Buffalo Lamb and Brown rice
She gets 1 cup a day

I know the amount varies depending on the brand, but I'm curious if we're feeding her enough/too much. Her weight seems to have leveled off, but she seems starving all the time!! It's like we never feed her!!


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## weez74 (Feb 9, 2011)

Hi Paula,

Sorry, I never know what a cup is - we don't use that measurement in the UK!

Rosie is 4 months old and she gets 75g of James Wellbeloved Ocean White Fish and Rice kibble, three times a day, plus treats and a Kong stuffed full of the same kibble at bedtime. Every now and again, she gets a spoonful of probiotic yoghurt too.

Rosie is a hungry dog and would eat the entire bag of dog food if we let her, but only if I stayed in the same room: if I leave the room while she's eating, she leaves her food to make sure I've not abandoned her and then runs back in for mouthfuls to finish it off!


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## Dylansmum (Oct 29, 2010)

It's hard to compare quantities because it depends on how concentrated the food is - for example I feed fresh raw food and Dylan used to get about 360 g a day, now he is down to 240 as he has stopped growing and started to get a bit chubby. The high quantity is because it isn't concentrated like kibble. Not sure if kibbles will vary too, depending on the formula.


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## sonatalady7 (Apr 4, 2011)

Oh yeah...I guess I forgot that we don't all measure in cups! 

Googled it - 225g = 1 cup!


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## Georgiapeach (Feb 12, 2011)

My poor overweight Rosie is on a very restricted diet to get an enormous amount of weight off her, before it kills her. She get 1/2 cup of Taste of the Wild, suplemented with a capsule of fish oil and 1/4 can of no-salt green beans daily. I divide the kibble into 2 feedings, so she doesn't feel so deprived. She also gets bits of fresh apple whenever DH or I have one, as well as baby carrots when we make a salad. She also loves ice cubes! 

So far, Rosie's lost 8.2 pounds, and has about 5 more to go. I need to post a new picture of her, b/c she definitely looks a little trimmer. I'm not sure it'll show up in a picture, though.


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## sonatalady7 (Apr 4, 2011)

Awww...yay for Rosie!


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## Enneirda. (Mar 5, 2010)

At the moment her food is having a lot of samples mixed in, but this is her normal:

'Lo is 2 years
We feed her tasteofthewild and cycle through the four types. 
She gets 1/2 cup a day


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## weez74 (Feb 9, 2011)

sonatalady7 said:


> Oh yeah...I guess I forgot that we don't all measure in cups!
> 
> Googled it - 225g = 1 cup!


So we're the same - 1 cup a day. 

Georgia Peach - I am DESPERATE to see a picture of the new improved Rosie! Every time I see a post from you I wonder what she looks like now.


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## sonatalady7 (Apr 4, 2011)

Enneirda. said:


> At the moment her food is having a lot of samples mixed in, but this is her normal:
> 
> 'Lo is 2 years
> We feed her tasteofthewild and cycle through the four types.
> She gets 1/2 cup a day


Enneirda,
Wow...that must be some super powerful food...only 1/2c a day?!


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## JulesB (Mar 6, 2011)

sonatalady7 said:


> Enneirda,
> Wow...that must be some super powerful food...only 1/2c a day?!


Have seen some high protein foods that you only need to feed a 5kg dog like my Betty is around 50 to 75g a day and if 225g is a cup this would be well under 1/2 a cup a day.

The one she has at the moment (Applaws) she should be having about 100g a day and she has two meals. However as she is a fussy madam and only eats her kibble some times (like once a day and then likes to miss a day every few days) I've had to start mixing in a little bit of wet food (am using natures diet) to cover the kibble and then she will eat the kibble - even though she does manage to lick the wet food off some of the biscuits and leaves them!!!!


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## kendal (Jul 16, 2009)

sonatalady7 said:


> Enneirda,
> Wow...that must be some super powerful food...only 1/2c a day?!


remember she is a very small sog with a very small frame, so her weight will need to be watched. she will need not more than a half a cup. 

my lot are about 300g of meat per meal


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## embee (Dec 27, 2010)

JulesB said:


> I've had to start mixing in a little bit of wet food (am using natures diet) to cover the kibble and then she will eat the kibble - even though she does manage to lick the wet food off some of the biscuits and leaves them!!!!


Flo tries to pick out the Nature Diet from the kibble as well so I mash a small block of Nature Diet with about a tablespoon of water so it is more like a gravy then mix the kibble in.


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## JulesB (Mar 6, 2011)

embee said:


> Flo tries to pick out the Nature Diet from the kibble as well so I mash a small block of Nature Diet with about a tablespoon of water so it is more like a gravy then mix the kibble in.


Ahhhhh, may try that then!! How do they learn to be so sneaky with food? I genuinely thought "she's a dog, she'll eat everything" but no not my dog!!!


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## caradunne (Nov 29, 2010)

sonatalady7 said:


> Oh yeah...I guess I forgot that we don't all measure in cups!
> 
> Googled it - 225g = 1 cup!


Interesting! I use a cup measure for convenience and I have just checked to fill the cup the kibble weighs 80 gs. I feed Izzy 2 half cups a day of Burns Lamb and rice or fish and rice kibble, mixed with a small amount of high quality wet food (Naturediet or Almo tuna) to make it smell more interesting and to encourage Izzy to eat it. She is 11 months old, weighs 6.3kilos (about 14 pounds) and has done so since she was she was 7 months old. xx


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## embee (Dec 27, 2010)

Flo is 10.7kg and has 2 meals a day of 70g Origen kibble with an ice cube sized bit of Nature Diet mashed in. She also has around 25g of training treats (freeze dried duck or chicken or small pea sized bits of cheese) each day. I have found she stays at 10.7kg on this amount and at her last check the vet said she was just the right weight for 15". She has quite a solid, broad, muscular, chunky build.


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## Mogdog (Feb 6, 2011)

Maisie's taste seemed to change after being spayed and she went off her Naturediet. So she gets a good handful of kibble in the morning and 150g Cesar early evening. She's a small dog - 5.4kg - but her weight looks right for her frame.

She was always a poor eater but having a friend's dog to stay for a while really helped - Maisie just copied the other dog and gobbled it all down - I couldn't believe my eyes!


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## sonatalady7 (Apr 4, 2011)

kendal said:


> remember she is a very small sog with a very small frame, so her weight will need to be watched. she will need not more than a half a cup.
> 
> my lot are about 300g of meat per meal


So are you saying that I"m feeding her too much? The packaging says to feed 3/4 - 1 1/2 cups. I don't know how tall she is but she weighs 18lbs and I can still feel her spine and ribs (though I have to feel a little bit for the ribs). 

BTW - how do I measure her height? From feet to what? Head, shoulder? I've always been confused about that!


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## Enneirda. (Mar 5, 2010)

> Enneirda,
> Wow...that must be some super powerful food...only 1/2c a day?!


'Lo is pretty small, just 12 pounds, and she's very leggy and lean. TOTW is high protein food at 25.0% and has very little fillers too. She will sometimes get a little extra for training, and does get a little table scraps, but most of time the she just gets a 1/2c of food a day. 



> I can still feel her spine and ribs (though I have to feel a little bit for the ribs).


She should be at a safe weight then. 



> BTW - how do I measure her height? From feet to what? Head, shoulder? I've always been confused about that!


Hight is from the floor to their shoulder bone right behind their neck. Long wise is the butt bone to the chest bone.


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## sonatalady7 (Apr 4, 2011)

Thanks Enneirda!


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## Enneirda. (Mar 5, 2010)

Anytime.


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## shari313 (Apr 8, 2011)

this is a good thread... i'm clueless too... i don't even know how much cassie weighs... just got her recently, haven't taken her to the vet yet.

but i have been feeding her 2 times a day with one pouch of Pedigree wet pouch food, mixed with a little bit of Beniful dry dog food. 
i would have loved to just give her dry, but she won't touch it. i wasted a whole bag of kibbles and bits when we first got her... i was having to put actual gravy in it, microwave it, and get it mushy for her to eat it, so i just figured i didn't want to bother, and started getting her the pouches. ha ha. 

it's so weird that they love so much to chew on stuff, like legos, and rawhides... but they won't eat a crunchy dry dog food. LOL. pi-iicky. LOL.

but it also seems like she's begging like crazy no matter how much food or treats i give her. she came to this house totally used to eating whatever the kids at the other home were eating. girl scout cookies... pizza... whatever. lol. so i bet she feels realllly deprived here, it's rare she gets non dog food, unless the boys drop something. (i do give her baby carrots etc)


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## Enneirda. (Mar 5, 2010)

Shari, _please _get Cassie on another food. Pedigree and beneful are trash! There are many foods much better then them, and even the same price! And even if a food is more pricy, dogs eat less of a better food because of less fillers.

Go here for info on beneful:http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php/product/1871

Few things I want to point out: It has Animal Fat and animal digest; these ingredient were determined by FDA testing to contain pentobarbital. Pentobarbital is a lethal drug used to euthanize animals (dogs, cats, and horses predominately). Thus, when a pet food contains the ingredient Animal Fat, by-product meal, meat and bone meal and animal digest, according to FDA testing this pet food "could contain euthanized animals".

It has food colors. Food colors are not needed in dog food, and often cause problems. All of these are in beneful: Yellow 5 causes sometimes-severe hypersensitivity reactions and might trigger hyperactivity and other behavioral effects in children. Red 40, suspected of being linked to ADHD. Yellow 6, can cause hives, runny nose, Allergies, Kidney tumors, Vomiting. For a kid, (non harmful!) food coloring is fine. But a _dog?_ coloring is only in dog food to pull in buyers! 

(info about pets in pet food: http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-industry-exposed/euthanized-pets-dog-food/) I can't find the ingredients of the pedigree pouches, but I've never found a pedigree that wasn't awful. kibbles and bits is trash too: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php/product/1899

Also, the reason she is picky, is because she can get away with it.  Dogs are like kids, if they can get away with something, they'll run with it! The best method I've found so far in the webs to fix a picky dog is to pick two feeding times in the day, and set down the food for only 15 minutes. Make sure she sees it (call her over even) and them walk away. If after 15 minutes she's ate it, fine. If not, also fine. Pick it up, and put it down at the second feeding time. She'll only fast herself for awhile before she cracks and eats it. And she's fit, a few days of less food won't hurt her.


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## shari313 (Apr 8, 2011)

ugh, why do they make dog food if it's bad for them. arggh. thanks so much, i need all the advice i can get.


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## Dylansmum (Oct 29, 2010)

shari313 said:


> ugh, why do they make dog food if it's bad for them.


To earn profits! You care about your dog. The dog-food industry doesn't. The hype and photos of happy healthy dogs is just marketing - you have to read the ingredients to see what you are getting. If the ingredients are mainly artificial then that's not a good sign. Also best to avoid cereal products and go for a high percentage of meat/protein. Read lots of labels or use the site that Enneirda suggests and pick the best rated food that fits your budget. Good luck!


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## barrelman (Oct 2, 2010)

My boy Stanley is 11 months weighs 9.7kg. He has two 90g measures (180g/day) of Arden Grange puppy light. His weight has stayed the same for two months, he is lean and muscular so we feel we've got it just right


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

Has anyone heard of Autority, I can't find the one that I feed Lady on any sites...there is an Authority brand on there but not the one I use...mine is from Petsmart. I was told it is good....I am currently hunting down Orijen. but in the mean time.


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## Kel (Feb 1, 2011)

lady amanda said:


> Has anyone heard of Autority, I can't find the one that I feed Lady on any sites...there is an Authority brand on there but not the one I use...mine is from Petsmart. I was told it is good....I am currently hunting down Orijen. but in the mean time.



We give Chloe Orijen but is the Authority this one? It looks like the same one on Petsmart.com.

http://dogfoodchat.com/category/authority-dog-food/

If not, just pretend I didn't say anything


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

HUMNH!!!! It might be....I am not sure...the ingredient list doens't look too bad...maybe tho I should just err on the side of caution and get the Orijen....what one does Chloe eat?? and aprox how much does it cost?


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## Kel (Feb 1, 2011)

lady amanda said:


> HUMNH!!!! It might be....I am not sure...the ingredient list doens't look too bad...maybe tho I should just err on the side of caution and get the Orijen....what one does Chloe eat?? and aprox how much does it cost?


It is Orijen Puppy and I don't know how much it was, sorry! My husband bought a BIG bag of it a few months ago and it is just about gone now. It's not cheap, that's for sure, but maybe they eat less of it than the cheaper brands. I am still not convinced that it is the right food for Chloe though. I wrote a post a while back about it and she is still having some random vomiting which may or may not be related. I also wonder if the protein % is too high? The more I google...the more confused I get about it! Anyway, I will never switch foods cold turkey again so I will be buying at least one more bag of Orijen.

I wish it wasn't so complicated (to me)!


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## Dylansmum (Oct 29, 2010)

Kel said:


> I also wonder if the protein % is too high? The more I google...the more confused I get about it!


Don't worry about that - dogs are supposed to eat mostly protein. 85% protein is great for them.


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## shari313 (Apr 8, 2011)

Dylansmum said:


> To earn profits! You care about your dog. The dog-food industry doesn't. The hype and photos of happy healthy dogs is just marketing - you have to read the ingredients to see what you are getting. If the ingredients are mainly artificial then that's not a good sign. Also best to avoid cereal products and go for a high percentage of meat/protein. Read lots of labels or use the site that Enneirda suggests and pick the best rated food that fits your budget. Good luck!


i'm so glad to have you guys. i've been to the regular stores, and all the brand name foods seem to have just junk in them. urgh! the "meat by products" just gross me out to read now. 
i stopped feeding her the beneful... but i still have the pedigree pouches to finish off... (so she gets 2 a day) and i need to research foods i can buy from like petsmart or petco... that aren't crazy expensive. thankfully, it seems from what you all write, the food will probably last longer, being more filling with less junk.

i also, have given her a raw egg to see if she'd like it, and am working on learning other foods that are good to give her. she's such a great dog. we're still working on her not begging like crazy, if she gets people food (like the egg) it's in her bowl. or as treats (like the baby carrots and brocolli stems) she seems to have lost weight from being with us, and that actually seems good, as i know she had a horrible diet where she was before, lol.


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## shari313 (Apr 8, 2011)

i've been searching what Petco carries that's good, and they carry Innova, and Wellness, which seem to have 5 and 6 star ratings... woohoo! i'll try the Wellness and see how she likes it.


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## weez74 (Feb 9, 2011)

Can you do internet orders? I think that's what we'll end up doing with Rosie, if we find another food that suits her, because I can't see any of the good food in the shops near us.


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## Enneirda. (Mar 5, 2010)

My sister has used Wellness before, it's a very nice food.  I hope she likes it!


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## shari313 (Apr 8, 2011)

weez74 said:


> Can you do internet orders? I think that's what we'll end up doing with Rosie, if we find another food that suits her, because I can't see any of the good food in the shops near us.


i noticed that petco.com did do it all online, and had like flat rate shipping, and free over a certain amount... plus it does recurrent orders at a discount.. like you can make it so you get a shipment a month or whatever, automatically.

it had innova, and wellness... and i think there were others that were a good amount of stars... 

i've got a petco by us, and it's a fun outing for me and my boys, so i probably won't have to do shipping. woohoo. tomorrow is the day we'll be going to get her new foodies.


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## Georgiapeach (Feb 12, 2011)

Enneirda. said:


> My sister has used Wellness before, it's a very nice food.  I hope she likes it!


Get Wellness Core if you can - it's grainless. It's expensive, but you can feed less of it. There's a great low fat version, if your dog tends to be chubby.


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## shari313 (Apr 8, 2011)

i ended up getting the Wellness Small breed... but i also got some of their canned 95% meat line... like lamb, salmon, chicken, turkey...

the bagged dry was more than the main stream brands... but she wasted a whole bag of beneful, so ha ha, it's better this way. the cans are a LOT more expensive, but if i can get them to just supliment her dry, that will work well.

the small breed has the best tiny kibbles... and she doesn't even care that i'm mixing it in her old pouches right now... i'm going to keep mixing it in her old pouches until they're gone, and then, mix the new Wellness canned in with the Wellness kibble. 

she's pretty young, and i'm not really worried about weight as long as she's not chowing on people food anymore. ha ha. i will probably stick with the small breed dry for now, because she just seems to ignore larger kibble. i'll see how things go.  thank you all so much for all your advice. <3


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## shari313 (Apr 8, 2011)

does anyone use the dog gravy? like the Vita Gravy?


so, she's really liking the Wellness..
i'm mixing a few tablespoons of the 95% canned meat, and 1/3-1/2 cup of the dry.. and she seems to be doing well.
she really chows it all when it's mixed well.


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## Jesarie (Sep 9, 2010)

I have been feeding Axle Evo since forver but recently I have had to switch to Dog Chow which I am not happy about but Evo was $20 a bag and I need to save money at this time for some upcoming expenses.


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## Mrs Stevo (May 2, 2011)

the raw food is that the BARF diet? If so do you have any advice about starting it, cheers, Liz x


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## Dylansmum (Oct 29, 2010)

Mrs Stevo said:


> the raw food is that the BARF diet? If so do you have any advice about starting it, cheers, Liz x


Hi Liz,
I have fed BARF to my previous dog and now to Dylan. Most people base the diet on a staple such as raw chicken wings or chicken carcasses or turkey necks. You need to add other things such as an occasional raw egg, raw or tinned oily fish (or fish oil supplement) apple, carrot etc. There are lots of books and online info available if you google BARF.
I used to do it that way, but when I got Dylan I found a supplier who delivers a complete, balanced BARF diet to your door in frozen packs which saves all the effort. If you are interested, the website is:
http://www.naturalinstinct.com
They are very helpful and the price is reasonable - it costs me 70-80p per day.
I also give raw beef, lamb or pork bones as recreation, which I get from a local butcher. You can also give rawhide chews or pigs ears or anything else natural rather than processed. For training treats I use dried liver or cooked, frozen liver or liver cake. I never give biscuits or commercial treats.
I find it just as easy to feed BARF as any other diet, and am very happy with the benefits it brings. Good luck!


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