Help with feeding new puppy

CinnamintStick · 07-25-2008, 11:40 AM

Hi I am new here. I just got a new puppy on Saturday. He is a 10 week old Neapolitan Mastiff/Border Collie. From looking at him you can't tell he has Border Collie in him. He weighs 26 lbs now. I have three adult dogs. One is a fat senior dog. I did not know what to buy so I picked two bags at my local PetSmart. Both are the Blue Buffalo Co brand. One is the Wilderness High Protein-Low Carb and the other is Large Breed Puppy formula. Has anyone used any of these or have a opinion about them. I am feeding the puppy 1 cup 3 times a day but I not sure what food to give him. Should I give both or just one? My adult dogs are feed twice a day. I am working on more exercise for my fat older dog. Do you think I should not be feeding him the Wilderness food? I thought maybe a low carb might be good for him but I see it is 586 calories a cup. So far they like the food and I have no problems. Before they where eating Purina Beneful Healthy Radiance with salmon that was 375 calories a cup.

Here is the website to the Wilderness dog food. http://www.bluebuff.com/products/dogs/wilderness.shtml

This is the Large Breed Puppy formula http://www.bluebuff.com/products/dog...py-chick.shtml

briteday · 07-25-2008, 12:42 PM

You could feed your overweight dog the same food, just less.

Kathyy · 07-25-2008, 02:49 PM

That is what I did, if the dogs were getting chunky I just fed a little less. They never noticed the difference. You can play with the food to get more exercise in too. Train tricks and/or obedience, chase the kibble, simply hand feed it, or food balls all spread out the meal so the dog is happier about the amount of food it is given.

CinnamintStick · 07-25-2008, 06:31 PM

Going to a nutrient dence food is kind of a shock anyway to my fat old pooch. He is a 11 year old English Setter pound dog. We have a huge fenced yard but we stopped letting him run when he had a few seizures when he ran. We later found he also had them in his sleep so he is back running again.

He was eating 3 1/2 cups of the Beneful. He is now getting 2 1/2 cups of the Wilderness food a day. Does that sound like enough food?

musicmom116 · 07-26-2008, 08:54 PM

Wow, that is one big puppy. We have a 12 1/2 old puppy who weighs 20ish pounds. I can't help you with your question, but I have a uestion for everyone. We are spreading her food into 3 meals a day. When should we drop down to 2 times a day? I did check out past posts on feeding dogs/puppies. It seems we've been feeding our dogs crap food for the past 13 to 14 years. Wow, I never had a clue.

Willowy · 07-26-2008, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CinnamintStick

He was eating 3 1/2 cups of the Beneful. He is now getting 2 1/2 cups of the Wilderness food a day. Does that sound like enough food?

That might be a bit much....I have an 80-pound mutt that gets only 2 cups a day of Chicken Soup (or whatever similar-quality brand I get that time). And Wilderness is a very calorie-dense food. How much does he weigh? How much (approximately) SHOULD he weigh? What is the recommendation on the bag for a dog his weight? In general, the amount listed on the bag is too much for most dogs, but it's a good place to start.

This is how I determine how much my dogs should be eating: I try a certain amount for a few weeks, and if he's at a healthy weight and doing well on it, I stick with that amount. If he's getting too skinny, I up the amount I'm feeding him, if he's getting too fat, I cut back.

CinnamintStick · 07-28-2008, 11:16 AM

I am sure my over weight dog is at least 80 lbs. He is to big for me to weight. I will cut back to 1 1/2 cups a day. He has not been acting hungry so I think that is good.

I can see the Mastiff/Border Collie puppy growing. In less than a week he has gained 4 lbs. He is 29 lbs at almost 11 weeks old. I worry that he is gaining to fast but maybe it is because he just got wormmed and is on good food. He gets 1 cup of the Blue Large Breed puppy formula three times a day. This is a picture we took of him with my Grandson last week when he was 25 lbs. My Grandson is 22 lbs and 26 months old.
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CinnamintStick · 08-10-2008, 01:10 AM

I wanted to give a update on my dogs and puppy. My over weight dogs senior dog is now getting 1 cup of Blue Wilderness twice a day. He is not hungry all the time like he was before. He has lost weight but I would still like to see him get alot more fit. He is running pretty hard everyday for a old dog. It had to tell with all his hair but I think 10 more pounds should be good. What do you think?

I can notice alot more shine in all my dogs coats. Even people in my puppy class talked about how soft and nice he looks. The puppy is growing good. Not fat but gaining nice. He is 33 lbs now. He is 12 weeks old and he get 4 cups of the Blue Large Breed Puppy food devided into three meals.

DogsforMe · 08-11-2008, 03:15 AM

It's important to not grow large breed puppies too quickly to avoid joint problems later in life. At 13 weeks/3mths is the time to cut back to 2 meals per day. In the above pic he looks ok. Also take is easy on the exercise. Have you considered a raw, natural diet. Here's a link to myths that some believe pertain to feeding dogs raw food. After all dogs are carnivores & don't need carbs. etc.
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html
The site wouldn't load, so hope its only a small glitch & will be back on line soon.

CinnamintStick · 08-11-2008, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DogsforMe

It's important to not grow large breed puppies too quickly to avoid joint problems later in life. At 13 weeks/3mths is the time to cut back to 2 meals per day. In the above pic he looks ok. Also take is easy on the exercise. Have you considered a raw, natural diet. Here's a link to myths that some believe pertain to feeding dogs raw food. After all dogs are carnivores & don't need carbs. etc.
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html
The site wouldn't load, so hope its only a small glitch & will be back on line soon.

I hate having to explain why I don't feed raw when I am not having a problem with my food that I am feeding. I don't think raw is for me. To me the raw diet is the newest fad diet for dogs. I don't think of it as the way dogs have been feed for thousands of years. I do believe man has been feeding carbs to dogs since the domestication of dogs. Dogs are not the same as there ancestors. Maybe dogs don't need carbs but I do think there is many nutritional advantages to feeding soluable fiber from oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and vegetables not to mention the vitamins and miconutrients that might be a advantage to the dog for fighting modern day disease. I am one that believes meat protein triggers cancer growth (Read the China Study). I also do not believe with out man that dogs would have evolved to the many breeds we have today. My dogs do not have to hunt for there food. They are house hold pets that don't have to keep there self warm when it is cold out. There just so many things that make them different from worlves. Our meat is also different today from the animals that lived on grass and seeds. There ratio of esential fatty acids have changed so much it is nothing like the food they use to eat. Thats why so many dogs are thriving on a fish and fish oil that is not a natraul part of their diet. I do believe most kibble is a better diet from what we know right now. I am sure things will change as we learn more just like human nutrition. On my bag of Blue Large Breed Puppy it says..
"Meal Frequency
3 meals per day until 6 months old
2 meals per day 6-18 months of age"
I think the more frequent small meals would be better for keeping blood sugar stable without storing fat.