# Feeding



## leebeelee (Mar 5, 2014)

Marty (15 weeks) seems always hungry! I give him the amount it says on the bag, divided into thirds, at 6.45am, 1pm, and by 5pm he's making what we call his 'rooing' noises and pawing at the cupboard. I give him the last third, which, as he always does, he wolfs down in seconds! Should I be giving him more? He's very unsettled in the evenings, doesn't seem to know what he wants, can be a bit snappy, paces around etc until he puts himself in his crate at 9pm. I'm worried he's unsettled because he's hungry. Any advice?


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## dio.ren (Jan 18, 2013)

Does he get lots of exercise?? I always feed on the lower end that is recommended cause I don't want Molly to get fat. She walks an hour a day but as a puppy i fed her 3 times a day. 7am, 12pm and 5pm. I wouldn't feed her too late cause didn't want any accidents. Maybe give him a small snack in the evening if he is hungry. Molly would get freaky at night but it was always cause she was too tired. Weigh him regularly and your vet will know if he is a good weight!


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## leebeelee (Mar 5, 2014)

The vet said his weight is fine, but to feed him more if he seems hungry. The trouble is, I'm not sure he'd know when to stop! I'm actually sitting on my own with him in the kitchen this evening. He's much more settled, sitting chewing a hide stick at my feet, but obviously not a solution if I want to see my kids in the evening!


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## leebeelee (Mar 5, 2014)

I should have added, Dio.ren, yes, I think he's getting enough exercise, 3 twenty minute walks a day, and lots of play/running around in the garden. I have wondered if he's overtired in the evenings. After lots of pacing around, getting into things he shouldn't, chewing people's slippers/fingers etc, he generally puts himself to bed in his crate around 9pm. He does seem much more relaxed in here with me tonight though.


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## Cat 53 (Aug 26, 2012)

So are you leaving him on his own in the kitchen when you are seeing your kids? If so that is why he is unsettled. Is there a reason he can't be with the family, after all he is a member of it?


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

I would up his food at morning and evening feed. Remember it is only a guide.... and your pup is growing and burning calories. Dot used to go in her crate for an hour or so in the early evening and then she was out and calm with us til 10 when we put her to bed.


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## Grove (Oct 17, 2012)

He may be having too much exercise in terms of walking. An hour a day for a 15 week old is a lot. He might be hungry because he's burnt off the calories with all the walking. And then he might be overtired in the evening and not know what to do with himself. I would reduce the walking time and replace with stimulating his mind either at home with training/games or out at a cafe or something, where he gets to watch the world without doing all the walking.


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

yes I would try more, I gave quite a lot more than the recommended among, just keep an eye on his weight, I found it really easy to tell by looking and feeling him and his weight seemed to go up and down quite easily, I just cut down when he was looking like he was starting to fill out a little too much, I think dogs are like people, some burn off their food much easier and quicker than others. What food are you feeding?


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## leebeelee (Mar 5, 2014)

Thanks everybody. No Cat 53, there's no way I'd leave him on his own in the evening, but I realise looking back that I wasn't clear about that in my post. The problem has been that he's with us all in the living room in the evenings, but is really unsettled, wants to go out, then in, then out, paces round the room, gets nippy with everyone etc. I just brought him through to the kitchen tonight to see what he did, and sure enough he's been lying peacefully next to me like a little lamb! It's not like we're a particularly noisy family or anything, maybe it's just the living room he doesn't like!
DB1, Grove and Marzi, that's useful info. He doesn't seem to find the walks tiring, but that sounds sensible in terms of him burning up all the calories, I think I'll try giving him a bigger evening feed, maybe he'll be a bit calmer in the evening then. I'm just feeding him dry puppy food, although he had his first taste of cooked chicken tonight; I think he thought he'd gone to heaven!


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

Most of the pups seem to have a mad moment in the evenings when they are not very good at settling themselves and realising they are tired, I wondered which food as some have a few additives in which are not good (some which have been banned in children's food!).


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## leebeelee (Mar 5, 2014)

The food is 'Arden Grange'. It was the food the breeder recommended, but I'm about to get to the bottom of the sack she bought for us, and they don't sell it at any of my locals, so I'll be changing it soon anyway. Do you have a recommendation? He's just fallen asleep by the way, after a very peaceful evening! Maybe the living room with TV is too stimulating for him? I'll up his rations tomorrow and see what happens.


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## Cat 53 (Aug 26, 2012)

Think that's supposed to be a good make. Maybe by evening time he just need quiet then. Agree with the others, up his feed a little. Have to say I forgot to defrost the block of raw tripe and feed mine, so gave them both some of the dry puppy food Phoebe came with. They were so thirsty. It was a revelation to me. So glad I made the decision to feed raw.


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## Grove (Oct 17, 2012)

leebeelee said:


> The food is 'Arden Grange'. It was the food the breeder recommended, but I'm about to get to the bottom of the sack she bought for us, and they don't sell it at any of my locals, so I'll be changing it soon anyway. Do you have a recommendation? He's just fallen asleep by the way, after a very peaceful evening! Maybe the living room with TV is too stimulating for him? I'll up his rations tomorrow and see what happens.


We use Lily's Kitchen dry puppy food chicken & salmon. It's all good quality ingredients and no nasty fillers. Different people find that different brands suit - This website may help you out with finding out more about the ingredients: www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk 

You could very well be right about the living room being too stimulating for him. Pups can't really manage what they need and I would think his desire to be with you might override his awareness of needing to rest (which may not be a great awareness anyway), so if everyone is in the living room then that is where the puppy will want to be even if it is too stimulating. if you think about a toddler being overwhelmed either because they are tired or hungry etc it often comes out in a tantrum! The world is overwhelming sometimes and so much sleep is needed for growing puppies. But the lack of ability to assess what they need is also why they don't know how much walking they need. They would just keep going and going until they physically couldn't, which as they are growing so fast could be damaging for their joints. There's a 5 min per month rule so as your pup is almost 4 months that would be almost 20 mins.

Have we seen a picture of him yet?


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

So mine at that age spent most of their days sleeping (maybe that's why they grew so fast). I also didn't feed them the recommended amount on the food I started with as I think it said to give them 2 cups a day per their expected adult weight. Anything over 1 cup a day and my two poop massive amounts and turns to mush. So honestly I adjusted based on the other end how much I gave. 

As for sleep, they needed an early evening nap for about an hour after I fed them (I also stopped at 5 as I didn't want accidents). Then they woke up and played for an hour then they fell asleep around 7. Now they would wake up at least once a night and then up at 5. But they slept more than they were awake. 1 hour of play usually equals 2-3 hrs of sleep. I think at that point 20 minute walk would mean sleep for 3-4 hours. And yes that last hour before they fell asleep was madness running around and playing with each other. They still have a burst of energy right before bed in the back yard. 

My two were pretty good at regulating sleep themselves by 14 weeks but it could also be the routine where I would put them in their crates to nap so they didn't over tire. The routine was really helpful but much easier as I didn't have other human beings' schedules to deal with. 

Though doesn't it melt your heart when he sits next to you like that?


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## leebeelee (Mar 5, 2014)

Thanks for all your recommendations. I hadn't heard of the 5 minute per month rule. Is that per walk or per day? I've seen Lily's Kitchen locally so I'll give that a try. Here's a picture of Marty, a few weeks ago going on his first walk.


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## RangerC (Jan 23, 2013)

Just a thought with the food- Barney used to wolf his food down in seconds and the puppy trainer we went to said it was bad for them because they are not digesting their food properly so will be hungry. She advised me to slow him up by finding a large stone in the garden and putting it in his bowl. He then has to work a bit harder to get at the food. (You can buy special bowls with spikes that do the same thing but this idea was cheaper!). Similarly, you can vary it by putting his food in a kong so he has to work harder to get it out. 

Barney was on Barking Heads (which he loved) but I wanted to switch over to raw and once he started having frozen chicken wings, he had to slow down. He still eats his food in seconds but is old enough now to realise that he doesn't get anything else - apart from a little treat just before bed so he doesn't have a completely empty tummy and start throwing up bile.


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## leebeelee (Mar 5, 2014)

That's really interesting. I have felt that wolfing it the way he does can't be good for him, I'll try both of those suggestions, the kong and the stone - thanks!


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## Tinman (Apr 23, 2013)

leebeelee said:


> That's really interesting. I have felt that wolfing it the way he does can't be good for him, I'll try both of those suggestions, the kong and the stone - thanks!


The stones should work - I didn't think of that or get a good tip like Barney's trainer - I did buy a slow feed bowl for Ralph, with the three prongs in the middle, it worked brilliantly.


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## Mazzapoo (Jul 28, 2013)

Poppy needs more than the recommended feed too and can also get hyper in the lounge - when she was the same age it would be like a mad rampage of chewing, biting,running and just never ever settling. I do think lounges are massively stimulating, soft furnishings, people, space and TV .... well look at what it does to our brains!! She would settle really well with me in the kitchen though, so very similar to you. We tried lots of things but really I think she just grew out of it a bit to be honest. 
Nowadays she likes another little snack around 8pm and will then settle at about 9pm but she's had a bit of a teenage regression just lately which is resulting in some more daft stuff!
A carrot or a chicken stock ice cube (home made) can be a good snack, takes a while to get through which tires them out too.
If she's not overweight I'd say give her more, good luck xx


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## leebeelee (Mar 5, 2014)

Poppy sounds just like Marty! Have used the stone in the bowl for the last two days now, and it really slows him down! Don't know if it's related but since we started doing that, he's gone through the night without pooping. Yay! Enrolled him for puppy classes starting next week, hope that helps get a handle on his behavior - he's still driving us mad in the evenings!


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

Both of mine get more than what is recommended and they are on the fine side.


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## dmgalley (Aug 19, 2012)

Ozzy would eat until he exploded if I let him. He has breakfast. He eats before the other two. Then he has second breakfast, when they eat. He has lunch and dinner and is still walking the kitchen floor, nose down, looking for food. 

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