Feeding Puppy

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chorbs
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Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2011 7:37 am

Feeding Puppy

Post by chorbs »

Jamie is just over 3 months old. She's a dachshund/smooth fox terrier mix (basic mutt !!)

I'm feeding her Purina Puppy Chow. But when I give her just that she sniffs and walks away so I've been adding it to maybe 2-3 tablespoons of a canned food. She's eating that pretty good. And I've learned that she eats it at eating time (giving her maybe 15-20 minutes) and then take it away. But I'm not exactly sure how much to be feeding her at each sitting or how many times a day. Shelter owner told me puppies actually will eat more than a grown dog.

So maybe 2/3 - 3/4 cup of mixed food 3 x's a day ??

And, I've seen recipes on here and I had an idea. Is it possible to save table scraps (meat, dairy, vegies) mixed together in a container in the freezer and then scoop some out to thaw and give to her mixed in with her dry food?
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Mattie
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Re: Feeding Puppy

Post by Mattie »

I always soak the kibble for a couple of hours before feeding my dogs, it avoids them getting dehydrated, even when there is water down all the time they can still get dehyrated, this happened to one of my dogs and is one of the reasons I started to soak it.

For amount I can't say because I can't see your pup, if she is putting weight on then reduce it, if she is loosing weight, increase it. Look at her ribs, how much can you see? Same with the backbone, how much can you see? Puppies do have a better covering than adult dogs but not too much. Adult dogs need a waist, a lot depends on the breed how good the waist is. Dachshunds have long backs and don't show a good waist like other breeds, a Fox Terrier will show a good waist. Nobody knows your dog better than you do, we can only generalise.

I add things to my dogs kibble, sometimes it is a teaspoon of tinned meat, today they are getting raw minced lamb, another day they could get sardines, tuna, mackeral, raw meaty bones, these keep their teeth in good condition. I don't have much food left over as there is only me but I do give it to my dogs as long as there is on onion in it. Yesterday I had a lamb steak, couldn't eat it all so the left over was divided between my dogs.

Veg is good for dogs as well, mine love veg both raw and cooked, same with many fruits, Bonnie has just pinched a pear core when my back was turned. :evil: If you are lucky you may have a dog that won't overeat, my Dolly doesn't, she only eats when she is hungry. I would leave out the dairy food though unless you are using cheese for rewards, to may dogs cheese is a very high reward but they should have too much.

I don't know Purina Puppy Chow but if cereals is the first ingredient I would change it to one that doesn't have this. Dogs are not designed to eat cereals.
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Sarah83
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Re: Feeding Puppy

Post by Sarah83 »

I don't know Purina Puppy Chow but if cereals is the first ingredient I would change it to one that doesn't have this. Dogs are not designed to eat cereals.
It's crap to be perfectly honest. Same goes for every Purina food I've looked at, they all seem to have an ingredients list as long as my arm! I'd change to a better quality food (if you need suggestions just let us know what country you live in :D ). They may seem more expensive at first but most people say they feed less of a high quality food than they do a low quality one. Can't help with how much to feed as all dogs are different. When Rupert (lab size) was younger he needed 1kg of food a day to maintain weight, these days he's down to 600g. He's always spent most of his day sleeping. My border collie mix was extremely active yet needed just 100g of food a day.

I don't mix anything in with Ruperts food as I find he just picks out whatever I've mixed in, eats that and leaves his food. If I pour gravy over it he'll pick out each piece of kibble individually, suck the gravy off it and spit the food on the floor. If I give him scraps they're given seperately. He gets a roast dinner every Sunday instead of one of his meals (started out coz I was hopeless at judging how many potatoes and how much veg to do for me and my hubby and has carried on coz it's no hardship to do a couple of extra potatoes and some extra veg). I have to be very careful about what I do give him as he can't have corn or wheat but if there are leftovers he can have then he gets them. He loves apple, banana, broccoli, cabbage, peas, carrots, green beans and most other fruits and veggies I've given him. He doesn't like lettuce or tomato though.
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Mattie
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Re: Feeding Puppy

Post by Mattie »

If I pour gravy over it he'll pick out each piece of kibble individually, suck the gravy off it and spit the food on the floor.
Clever boy Rupert Image ImageImageImage
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Sarah83
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Re: Feeding Puppy

Post by Sarah83 »

He's certainly a character :lol:
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