# I've been overfeeding Coco



## KCsunshine (Apr 16, 2012)

I thought she was getting a little tubby.....I am such a dork. for the amount I've been feeding her she does not seem that huge though? She is very active, so probably got away with it.

I've been feeding her the right amount of NI, but her barking heads, I've been giving her the amount per portion instead of per day So she is about 4.5kg, and I've been giving her 50g per meal, it should have been 67.5g per day split over 4 meals. A thread on here a while ago got me thinking, when someone said their dog ate 60g odd per day, and I thought, hmm, that is weird? 

I double checked and rang barking heads, and I know there is even a thread on here about it, but I took it to be per meal. 

I'm obviously not the sharpest knife in the drawer

She has been gaining weight, but I can still feel her ribs, so it's not too late to put it right. Poor baby will get a shock when she see's her meal tonight! cor the greedy little thing was hooveing it all up regardless!


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

If she isn't fat I wouldn't worry too much. My dog eats 85g per day over two meals but he is adult and they do get less that pups. Poor Coco will not be happy with her meal tonight!


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## Cat 53 (Aug 26, 2012)

Whoops! Bless her, she will feel like Oliver Twist tonight! If shhe brings you her bowl, you will know why!


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## susanb (Jan 19, 2012)

I feed 150g of barking heads puppy days per day, split over 2 meals (50g for brekkie and 100g for tea), Gisgo eats it all and his weight is completely stable at 10kg which it has been for several weeks now (he is 11months old now)


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## colpa110 (Jul 5, 2011)

I've just replaced one NI meal per day with kibble and did exactly the same thing for the first couple of days...I thought it was strange when Betty was leaving a little bit as she usually always clears her plate...that's two blunt knives then!


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## Janev1000 (Oct 4, 2011)

Well that's 3 blunt knives then as I've been doing the same with Barking Heads! Honey gained 700g this week! But actually I'm really happy with that as she was definitely a bit underweight when she arrived at 2.2kg....even the vet said she was a bit 'ribby'.... and she's now 4.3kg at 14 weeks and feels just right to me. 

However, 67.5g a day doesn't sound enough to me, not for a growing puppy. I thought it was supposed to 15g per kg of body weight per meal? What did BH say? I would have thought it would have been at least 40g per meal. Honey came to us on James Wellbeloved and our breeder said to give her 120g a day spread over 3 meals and that was at 8 weeks!

I thought they were supposed to gain around 300-500g per week as a young pup? I have been weighing Honey weekly and so far she has gained about this amount. I have been adding a bit of yogurt/cream cheese/tinned fish in with her kibble so that's probably why she's gained more this week and I will sometimes give her more if she seems extra hungry. I think they best way to measure Coco's food is just to weigh her each week and either add or reduce her food according to her weight gain each week.

I do think Barking Heads are very confusing and their puppy quantities sound much lower than other makes of kibble.


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## Janev1000 (Oct 4, 2011)

Just rang BH and they said the same....60g per day!?? I said it didn't sound very much as my adult dog is getting more than that to maintain his weight at just over 10kg! They just said that every pup is different and it's just a guideline. I would have said 90g, spread over 3 meals sounds more realistic for both Coco and Honey. x


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

I have always fed Dudley higher amounts than Barking heads recommend, he had about 50g per meal i'm sure when he was young, his weight went up and down quickly and I could tell just by the look and feel of him if I needed to add more or cut back, I would just go by how your dog is and pretty much ignore the recommendations - if you look at the puppy days 12kg bag it is a huge jump for a puppy from one weight to the next -think up 12 then over - so it you take it too literally then you may suddenly almost double the food amount if they hit 12.01 kg!


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## daffodil (Jan 24, 2012)

It could have been worse. Flo had been with us about 3 days before I realised I had been under feeding her  I misread the Royal Canin chart and thought I should be feeding her for the weight she was at the time instead of the adult weight (if that makes sense). Anyway no harm done thank goodness. If I had a brain cell it would be lonely!!!


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## Janev1000 (Oct 4, 2011)

Also, their poo is a good indicator of whether you are overfeeding as it will become much looser if overfed. Honey only has about 3 normal sized poos per day and are all nice and firm, so I think she's getting the right amount of food. I did increase to 50g per meal over the last week and that is probably why she has gained a bit too much. I'm going to try 25g per meal and take it from there. x


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## susanb (Jan 19, 2012)

I read somewhere that you need to feed less BH because there are no fillers and so on....so they get what they need from less actual weight of kibble. I always fed more than 60 g a day though - even when Gisgo was little it was more like 100g a day, and his weight has always been just about right.


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## Janev1000 (Oct 4, 2011)

Yes, that's what BH said...it was due to the high protein content...and no fillers. I think your estimation of 100g is about right too, especially for a more active puppy, such as a cockapoo! x


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

Ok so I need some clarification here.. We worked out from the back of the packet that Lola should be getting around 100g per meal (2 meals). This is 200g a day. We have just started last few days swapping over to BH. I am worried that this is now not the right amount. Her weight is perfect at 5.7kg for her size and I want to keep it this way. Maybe I should ring them and get their advice. Any suggestions grateful.


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## susanb (Jan 19, 2012)

The BH packet guidelines say how much they should have per day, and is based on the predicted adult weight. Its almost impossible to predict how much they will weigh as an adult - our vet nurse insisted that Gisgo would be 15kg and yet he has levelled off at 10kg. I used the guidelines for a 10 - 12kg weight when I did my calculations. Previously on ILMC, we have found that some packets have slightly different guidelines.....but 200g per day for a puppy of less than 6kg seems like an awful lot! I emailed them about somethign else yesterday and they replied very quickly.


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## njml (Apr 21, 2012)

Its all very confusing. Ive been feeding Alvy 120g of BH spread over 2 or 3 meals for a while now. The pack says he can have between 120 and 250g and sometimes I do give him more more but he gets the odd treat as well. He's 8 months and weighs 8.9 kilos so he's okay in weight terms I think.


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## susanb (Jan 19, 2012)

He sounds ok to me - and that is the best guide to how much to feed them.


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## KCsunshine (Apr 16, 2012)

Thanks everyone for your replies, glad to see it's not just me, lol!!

I gave her the smaller portion last night and she was fine, she did not seem to want anymore so I'm going to reduce it and see how she goes...I took her for a walk with my friends dog this morning, and my friend called her "little tubs", lol, so yes I think the diet is in order, lol! 

I love the barkign heads food, but I do think their feeding guidelines on the bag are totally confusing!! I'm going to use my common sense (Bwahhhhh hahahaha, like I have any?) on this one and if she stays a good weight on less food keep it that way


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## KCsunshine (Apr 16, 2012)

RuthMill said:


> Ok so I need some clarification here.. We worked out from the back of the packet that Lola should be getting around 100g per meal (2 meals). This is 200g a day. We have just started last few days swapping over to BH. I am worried that this is now not the right amount. Her weight is perfect at 5.7kg for her size and I want to keep it this way. Maybe I should ring them and get their advice. Any suggestions grateful.


See, according to the 15g per kilo of puppy you should feed her 85.5 g per day, that would be only 43 g per meal (if you fed twice a day). But the directions on the packet vary wildly from this amount

I guess it depends, every puppy is so different. I think the 15g per kilo is a minimum amount to feed.


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

Ok I'm going to go with the 85g per day to see what happens.. Thanks everyone. Flip, I did think sometimes that the amount looked a lot. She is not one bit fat, so hopefully I won't starve her now. Dear oh dear...


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## Janev1000 (Oct 4, 2011)

How are the diet reductions going?!! I reduced Honey's to just above the recommended guidelines of 15g per kilo and have been giving her approx 25g. She was 4.3kg last week and is wait for it.....4.3kg this week! I don't feel she's been getting enough on their recommendationsl and she has been looking at me more as meal times approach. I was feeding her approx 25g per meal but I'm going to up it to 35-40g and see how she goes. She is very active and if I take her on an off lead 30 minute walk, she will run for practically all of it! She's definitely more like a working cocker so I would imagine needs more than a less active breed. How are the rest of you getting on?


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## KCsunshine (Apr 16, 2012)

Jane, I think you're right to up it a bit. I had reduced Coco's to the 22.5g a protion of BH (but remember I feed her 2 raw meals as well). Well, she weighs 5.4 kg today, she has lost her really chunky look quite quickly, so I'm going to now up her meal to 30/35g. she is sooo active and runs so much off lead.

The teller for me is that before her "diet" she was doing 3 MASSIVE poo's a day, they were completely solid though but very dark in colour. Sometimes she struggled to get the poo out (sorry, tmi!) I notice now her poo is just as solid, but has gotten smaller and changed to a more sandy colour, which is more in keeping with her raw diet and seems better to me. (remember the falafels!, we have more that now, lol!)


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## Janev1000 (Oct 4, 2011)

Oh I love falafels! 

Yes, you're right, the poo is a good indicator....Honey's have always been small and manageable, so she definitely wasn't being overfed and like Coco, she'd much rather run than walk! x


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## Kody&Beau (Aug 18, 2012)

Have to be honest having two I find it really hard sticking to the recommended amounts because Beau will generally sniff her food and walk away until she feels like eating it so I have to leave their kibble down all day and let them graze, Kody tends to eat as soon as the food goes down and seems to eat a fair amount but I wouldn't say over eats at one time if I think he's being a bit of a piggy in one sitting then I take the food up for a few hours but generally it seems to be working out ok just letting them graze throughout the day. X


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

Janev1000 said:


> How are the diet reductions going?!! I reduced Honey's to just above the recommended guidelines of 15g per kilo and have been giving her approx 25g. She was 4.3kg last week and is wait for it.....4.3kg this week! I don't feel she's been getting enough on their recommendationsl and she has been looking at me more as meal times approach. I was feeding her approx 25g per meal but I'm going to up it to 35-40g and see how she goes. She is very active and if I take her on an off lead 30 minute walk, she will run for practically all of it! She's definitely more like a working cocker so I would imagine needs more than a less active breed. How are the rest of you getting on?


Lola getting on great on 45g twice a day. Her poos are wonderful! Haha!


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## Skyesdog (Jun 7, 2012)

I've just upped Lola from 50g to 65g twice a day, she is 6.7kg now.


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

That's good to know Nadine thanks.


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## Chumphreys (Oct 1, 2011)

Ok so now I am totally confused(doesn't take much  Malie is 11 weeks an weighs 3.7k.I am wanting to start her on barking heads as well as feeding her raw.(she is really fussy with the raw).How do other people go about feeding both and how much barking heads should I be feeding? everyone is saying she looks like a barrel but I try an reassure myself that it is all fur and puppy fat 
XClare


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