Feeding Recommendations on Bags

[ghostrunner]

Question: Why do the feeding recommendations that appear on the back of dog food bags typically advise feeding more food than a dog really needs?

One immediate thought is that the companies are just trying to get people to use more food, and thus purchase more product. I would believe that theory for a big corporation, but what about Champion, which many people regard as the paragon of virtuous dog food makers.

Thoughts?

[SubMariner]

Question: Why do the feeding recommendations that appear on the back of dog food bags typically advise feeding more food than a dog really needs?

One immediate thought is that the companies are just trying to get people to use more food, and thus purchase more product. I would believe that theory for a big corporation, but what about Champion, which many people regard as the paragon of virtuous dog food makers.

Thoughts?

Actually, I've found that the "guidelines" are pretty much that, guidelines. You really have to balance the food against the activity level of your dog. Also, it very much depends on the quality of the food. Better quality food tends to be higher in protein & nutrients which means you feed less of it than the poorer quality products.

[buddy97]

i can honestly say that in the last 3 years, i have never once looked at the guidlines on any bag of dog food. i usually already know rhthe calorie count, so ill base what i need to feed from that, then make adjustments up or down based on body condition.

i generally think the recommendation are pretty high...people must follow them because every time i go to the vet, at least 9 out of 10 dogs are fat or obese.

[ghostrunner]

Buddy- that's what got me thinking about this. I was walking around my neighborhood and bumped into a colleague with a noticeably obese dog. I'm sure he has no idea that he may be overfeeding his dog even though he just "going by what the bag says."

@SubMariner: I agree with you that they are all just guidelines, but my question is why is it that all of them are way overboard? I know that not all dogs are alike, and activity level is a big factor, but it just seems odd that they would start their recs at such a high level.

[SubMariner]

Buddy- that's what got me thinking about this. I was walking around my neighborhood and bumped into a colleague with a noticeably obese dog. I'm sure he has no idea that he may be overfeeding his dog even though he just "going by what the bag says."

@SubMariner: I agree with you that they are all just guidelines, but my question is why is it that all of them are way overboard? I know that not all dogs are alike, and activity level is a big factor, but it just seems odd that they would start their recs at such a high level.

Ghostrunner, I've had a particular brand say to feed just X amount, but because my dog is a high-energy GSP, I actually wound up feeding him XX amount. However, when I switched him to a better quality food, the recommended amount is good for him during hunting/trialing season, but I think a little too much for this time of the year. So I give him just a little below that amount.

That being said, he is going to be training on birds early Sat morning & putting out tons of energy. So I expect to either give him more of the good food or mix in some other protein like cooked chicken or hamburger with it.

I guess in my experience I haven't found that "all of them are way overboard". I think it is quite a variable thing. Basically, you have to learn about your dog's nutritional needs and be flexible when it comes to how much to feed him/her.

[kevin bradley]

Question: Why do the feeding recommendations that appear on the back of dog food bags typically advise feeding more food than a dog really needs?

One immediate thought is that the companies are just trying to get people to use more food, and thus purchase more product. I would believe that theory for a big corporation, but what about Champion, which many people regard as the paragon of virtuous dog food makers.

Thoughts?

Send Champion an email. I bet you get a valid reason.

My guess is that they have to err on the side of the most active and caloric requring Dog out there...IE-working Dogs/hunting Dogs.

Just my guess.


But I do agree...all guidelines I've seen are too high.

[ghostrunner]

Those are both very good points - I realize that most of the foods we all feed (and discuss) are "high performance" foods, even though they are suitable for no-active dogs. In that case, it seems reasonable they would gear the recs for working dogs. Seems completely right.

[killertomato]

ok, so how do you figure out how much to feed your dog? I just assumed go by the guidelines. This is my first dog since I was a kid so I'm still new to this. I have a 34 pound pitbull/boston couch potato that will go run some crazy laps around the back yard for 10 mins a day. She's all muscle no fat on her and she's eating Wellness CORE. I have been feeding her 3/4 a cup in the am and pm. Too much? Too little?

[buddy97]

She's all muscle no fat on her and she's eating Wellness CORE. I have been feeding her 3/4 a cup in the am and pm. Too much? Too little?

if she is not fat and not too skinny, then that must be a good amount. keep an eye on body condition and adjust as needed.

[kevin bradley]

ok, so how do you figure out how much to feed your dog? I just assumed go by the guidelines. This is my first dog since I was a kid so I'm still new to this. I have a 34 pound pitbull/boston couch potato that will go run some crazy laps around the back yard for 10 mins a day. She's all muscle no fat on her and she's eating Wellness CORE. I have been feeding her 3/4 a cup in the am and pm. Too much? Too little?

all muscle, no fat...pretty good combination

supports my theory that animals and humans for that matter will thrive on an exercise regiment of short, intense bursts of output/exercise as opposed to 10 mile/low intensity 3 hour sessions.

IE-you wanna look like a sickly marathon runner or a 100 yard Olympic Sprinter? (no offense to long distance runners, they just look pretty sickly)