how often do you feed your dog

[waterfaller1]

My dog is 83 lbs and gets 3/4 cup Orijen in the morning, and evening. Two tiny grain free dog biscuits when he comes in from outside. I would watch his stool for tapeworms. Regular worming does not eliminate tapes. The dog will slough off 'pieces' of them every few weeks in their stool. They look like moving rice, and that is only a fraction of the worm, which can be many feet long. One specific pill kills tapes, and must be purchased from the vet. This would make him thin, and always hungry, because the worms are getting all the nutrition.
Someone mentioned they give their dog pork bones. ALL bones are dangerous for dogs, with the exception of shanks that don't splinter, or raw. You might give your dogs bones for years without incident. Then that one time a piece of splinter goes through the esophagus, there isn't a whole lot you can do. Just a friendly reminder.

 

[BraveheartDogs]

Try this: (Don't press hard with finger)

1. Make a fist. Now run your other index finger over your knuckles. Top of knuckle then down, back up to top of knuckle. You can actually almost place the fingers of your other hand in the "valley" between your knuckles. If your dogs ribs are like this ~ then yes he is too thin.

2. Hold out hand flat. Run finger across top of knuckles now. See how you can still feel distinct top of knuckles? If your dogs ribs are like this ~ Perfect!

3. Now flip your hand over to the palm. Run your finger across "the bottom of your knuckles" (the same place on your palm that coincides with your knuckles on top) See how you can't really feel ribs? If your dogs ribs are like this ~ too heavy.

Some dogs will only eat until they get full. Some will actually eat until they get sick, then eat more. You should check the bag. It will list weight ranges/types of dogs and have a range of how much to feed your dog. Choose the middle (It might say 1 to 2 cups - so give 1-1/2cups) USE A MEASURING CUP and measure out food. You can feed once or twice a day. Only give one treat a day. Treats are like Candy bars - very high in calories.

Being over weight can cause big problems for your dog.

You can also just run him by your veterinarians office. I'm sure that they would weigh him for free and tell you if they feel he is too thin.

Good for you in trying to learn what is best.

I've always shown people how to do the little test I wrote out above. I hope you can understand it. If you can't I could do some photo's for you.

This is a really good way to help people understand it. I always have a hard time explaining to people that you should feel the ribs but not see them. This is great!

 

[Archiesmom]

I feed Fia 1/2 cup of food. She gets to eat in the morning and generally will eat half of it, then she goes in her kennel until I get home from work. Once I am home and she has gone and done her busines outside, she is offered the rest of her breakfast which she usually finishes. Before going to bed, I will also give her a "snacky poo" which is usually a milkbone or some kind of biscuit. And despite my regulation of her food, she is STILL an overweight puppy. Its not all fluff, hehe.

 

[Danita]

Another thought, (it may have been mentioned already) is that it is winter. Their appetite increases.
I took our dog to the vet a couple of weeks ago, that was one of my concerns, anyhow, that is what the vet said.

 

[Bokkapooh]

Twiice a day with snacks in between.

The more energy and excercise you or you animal does the more energy (food/snack) you or your animal will need to maintain health. An active animal(birds, cat, dog, etc) ishould eat (be allowed to) eat more than an animal that doesnt do much.

 

[southernbirds]

Take the dog to a Vet if you feel the ribs. Discuss nutrition and how many times to feed. We give our dogs wet food in the morning so we can see that they eat. They get their dired food in the PM with snacks in between. How are his teeth? Have they been cleaned. There are so many aspects to your question, that I think the dog should go to the Vet. Sounds like you do think do. Glad you sent this thread to everyone and have a great Christmas.

 

[Annie]

Another thought, (it may have been mentioned already) is that it is winter. Their appetite increases.
I took our dog to the vet a couple of weeks ago, that was one of my concerns, anyhow, that is what the vet said.

No wonder my puppy pulls out his food tray! I asked the trainer and said he might still be hungry.

 

[Sharpie]

Point 1: On a dog with a healthy weight, you SHOULD be able to feel ribs. You should not have to dig for them. You don't want their hip bones sticking out or anything, but it is healthy to be able to feel ribs and see the last one on short-coated dogs. The knuckles explanation given earlier is one of my favorites.

Point 2: How much is a bowl? Is it 1 cup? Is it 10 cups? My 58lb dog gets 2.5 cups a day split into morning and evening meals. My 83lb dog gets 4 cups split into two meals. They don't get treats or other food except when we're training. They eat it all when they are fed. The end. If they don't eat it within 5 minutes, it gets put away till the next meal time.

Point 3: Not all wormers kill all worms. And many wormers need to be given two or more times for them to be effective.

Point 4: In an adult dog, worms rarely cause malnourishment. Is the dog having diarrhea? Vomiting? Acting sick in any way? Limping? If an older dog is being fed a reasonable amount and still losing weight, get thee to the vet! There are a million and one things that can cause older dogs to lose weight despite eating enough so that they should be keeping it on, or to cause them to lose their appetite so that they DON'T eat enough. You need a vet to figure out what's going on and hopefully, treat it.