Increasing dogs food amount Question

1370 Views 9 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Kathyy, Jul 3, 2009

boon4376

Discussion Starter · Jun 30, 2009

So my puppy is getting bigger, and i havnt increased his food intake in a while..

His poops this past week started getting REALLY small, like 2 small little things and so I assumed that its time to up his feeding.

I've been giving him about 1& 1/4 cups 3 times a day and his poops are always nice and solid, hes regular... I've increased it by 1/4 cup to 1.5 cups 3 times a day and now his poops are huge and very soft... Is it going to take him a few days to adjust to the increase in food? Or did I simply increase it by too much?

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Bellasmom

· #2 · Jun 30, 2009

It sounds like you incresed it to much. Was he loosing weight before? Is that why you increased it or just because of smaller poops? If he wasnt loosing weight I would go back to what he was eating. Otherwise increase it very lightly.

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Kathyy

· #3 · Jun 30, 2009

His poop was fine! Small and firm means he was getting everything he could from the food. Feed the dog not the bag [usually reads to feed more than the dog needs]or the bowl [of course the dog wants to eat more, it is good]or the poop. He needs to be slim even if he is a puppy. If the hip, back, shoulder or ribs are seen then the pup is thin. If you cannot feel them then the pup is getting a bit chunky and you don't need to feed more.

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boon4376

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jul 1, 2009

Bellasmom said:
It sounds like you incresed it to much. Was he loosing weight before? Is that why you increased it or just because of smaller poops? If he wasnt loosing weight I would go back to what he was eating. Otherwise increase it very lightly.

Well his weight was increased VERY slowly (less than 1lb a week, and that's at 4 months), by small poops, i mean the size of two ping pong balls, they have been slowly shrinking for a while, were this small for about 3 days so I figured it was time to increase.

So i upped by the 1/4 cup and as of now his poops are getting more and more solid every bowel movement and he seems to be more fulfilled after each meal... I guess next time i should increase it more slowly over a few days instead of jacking it up in one day.

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championlab1

· #5 · Jul 2, 2009

2 things to consider...... 1st, what breed dog, and how old......2nd, what kind of food...
If your feeding a grain free product...they will need less... and will eat less, at 4 months old, given the guide lines provided by manufacturers for feeding, 3 1/2 cups is alot..... my suggestion, feed twice a day, in greater portions, this will give you larger bowle movements, and i doubt you need feed more then reccomended.... up it by 1/2 cup a day if this doesnt seem to be working.... also..if you were unaware.... kibble should be served soaked in water.... this will expand the food some 50% due to absorbtion.. hope this helps

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Bellasmom

· #6 · Jul 2, 2009

kibble does not need to be served soaked in water

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championlab1

· #7 · Jul 2, 2009

allright.......dont take my word for it......... go to the following site
THE DOG FOOD PROJECT......there u will find a woman whom has some 20+ yrs of college study in canine and animal health... from a biological, chemical, stand point, as well as canine diet, myths etc......... i guess shes incorrect...?
i dont think so......... so in reply to your comment, your right, kibble doesnt have to be served soaked........yet the correct method for feeding kibble, re canines needs.... is to soak, or wet the food...... get off your high horse, do some research....and if you have a point to make....have some facts to back up your statement.....rather then mis inform others..

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pugmom

· #8 · Jul 2, 2009 (Edited)

championlab1 said:
allright.......dont take my word for it......... go to the following site
THE DOG FOOD PROJECT......there u will find a woman whom has some 20+ yrs of college study in canine and animal health... from a biological, chemical, stand point, as well as canine diet, myths etc......... i guess shes incorrect...?
i dont think so......... so in reply to your comment, your right, kibble doesnt have to be served soaked........yet the correct method for feeding kibble, re canines needs.... is to soak, or wet the food...... get off your high horse, do some research....and if you have a point to make....have some facts to back up your statement.....rather then mis inform others..

Can you point out where to find that information ?...I looked around that website but cant find it

ok so I ready the article.....(Though I don't see what it had to do w/amout of food feed)..

I don't think there is any harm adding some water to your dogs food....I would not soak my dog food ..I don't like the thought of them eating huge amounts at one time...

from what I read is seems that this is most important for w/dogs that have kidney issues....I would like to see how she came to this conclusion....have there been any studies that prove one is more beneficial than the other?....

how much water are we talking about?....

Champ...I have no problem with the Idea...I just take issue w/the way you posted it...you were a little rude to another member and that is not a great way to get your opinion across.....you asked another member to provide info with their post ..but your initial post where you suggested adding water had no link to anything to back it up.....yet you requested it from another member?

but thank you for bringing up an interesting topic...i will be looking into this more : )

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boon4376

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jul 3, 2009

Puppies need water in their kibble because they do not know how to stay properly hydrated, and dog food is extremely dehydrating. I always spray down my puppies food with some hot water so that its all nice and wet with just barely some "gravey" water swirling at the bottom, it seems to bring out the flavor and he likes it better that way.

My dog is about 32lbs right now, he'll get to around 70 when hes full grown, hes very active and is fed 3 times a day.

I'm already feeding less than what is recommended by the manufacturer by a slight amount, his poops have returned to the normal two ~5" (around that lol i don't really measure) solid poops like normal... I might cut down just barely bit to see get them a little firmer as they still seem a little too soft.

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Kathyy

· #10 · Jul 3, 2009

So it was just a little too much food all of a sudden then?

Back when I fed kibble I probably fed less than half the amount recommended on the bag. I guess it is better to suggest more food than too little. Don't want people starving their dogs because of a bag's feeding instructions.

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