One Quarter is Too Much?

[chowder]

I'm still trying to figure out this whole amount thing now that I'm not grinding. My husband wants me to just start grinding it all again. I told him 'go ahead, you do it' so of course that's not gonna happen!

Rocky will NOT eat a whole chicken quarter. He eats half of it and leaves the leg behind. Then he wags his tail at me until I pick up his leftover leg and put it back in the fridge. He gets the leg the next meal and seems just perfectly fine with that. Naturally he is my skinny boy.

Shade eats an entire quarter in about 2 minutes and looks for more. BUT, Shade is getting fatter instead of losing weight! He has gone from 'pudgy' to plain fat.

Is half a chicken quarter enough for these guys if I start cutting the legs off before I feed them? Will Shade choke to death (or starve to death) if I give him just a leg by itself? These are pretty big chicken quarters. I think some of them were ostrich's by mistake! They would end up with about one chicken quarter a day total food.

BTW.....Shade is really a happy boy with this new 'whole meat' routine. You should see him when someone says the word 'chicken' now! He can make a chicken quarter disappear before Rocky can even get started on one.

[naturalfeddogs]

Mine do that sort of thing sometimes, and when they do I take it as they have had enough and are full. I do like you did and put the leftovers in the fridge. I think Aussie would eat him self sick and not stop. But when Copper has had enough she walks around with the leftovers in her mouth and whines, like she is looking for somewhere to hide it for later. So, in the fridge it goes!

[xellil]

Are you weighing? If not, maybe you should try that. I know Rebel gained I think 7-8 pounds in a week when we first started - they can really pack it on fast with this food.

Also, are you feeding more than once a day? Maybe you can cut that down and feed more at one time.

I feed quarters, parts of quarters, even wings and necks to Rebel - but he doesn't swallow things before he chews them.

[chowder]

Are you weighing? If not, maybe you should try that. I know Rebel gained I think 7-8 pounds in a week when we first started - they can really pack it on fast with this food.

Also, are you feeding more than once a day? Maybe you can cut that down and feed more at one time.

I feed quarters, parts of quarters, even wings and necks to Rebel - but he doesn't swallow things before he chews them.

I feed twice a day, mostly because Rocky is just not a big eater. He has never liked to eat a large amount at a time and since I had the two chows that died from bloat, I feel more comfortable letting him eat smaller amounts at a time.

I haven't actually weighed any of the food but I suppose I really should start doing that if I want Shade to lose weight. I have a digital postage scale and I could just plop the food on that in a ziploc baggie. Rocky is a fanatical chewer and I'm not worried about him chewing just legs. Shade is a pretty good chewer so I think he will be just fine chewing up the quarters if I start cutting the legs off. He's just going to give me the 'sad' eyes when I cut his food down. I cut the skin off his chicken last night to try and take some of the calories off it for him, the poor baby!

[twotonelover]

Are you feeding Shade based on his CURRENT weight or his IDEAL weight? Make sure your percentages are based on his ideal weight :)

Also, when I feed something that is more than my dogs daily ration, I just cut back the next day. My dog gets 6oz a day, shes 22lbs but a bit over weight. The chicken quarters I got average about 7-10oz. I just feed them whole and adjust the next days meal accordingly :)

[Caty M]

How overweight is he? Do you have any pics of his whole body?

[Tobi]

Could be, Waggles often times leaves his food and he's been getting a quarter since we got him, and he'll leave the leg, or the back probably about 3 oz of food and he'll come back to it a few hours later.

Rocky may be a self regulator, he may just feel he doesn't need or want anymore, if shade is getting fat just cut him back, some of those quarters can be excess of 1.5lbs i've noticed so excluding a drummie from them may not be terrible.

[malluver1005]

I would go ahead and weigh Shade's food for some time, and if Rocky is doing fine, leave him be.

ETA: One chicken quarter should be fine for Shade for the whole day. Is he getting enough exercise?

[KC23]

I really think you should weigh everything for now. My 2 male dogs gain easily, so I depend on the scale. It's easy to misjudge portions.

I do often cut the legs off from the quarters--I just did it today. None of my dogs have ever had problems w/choking. I feed 2x per day, so sometimes it's nice to just give the leg earlier than the rest later on. Normally though, I feed one bone-in meal and one boneless meal per day. Cutting the leg quarters gives me more bone-in meals to use during the week. I guess a lot of it depends on the size of the quarters though. When they're smaller, I just feed them whole. If they are large, I cut them to make more appropriate portions for my dogs.

[magicre]

both of my dogs gain weight easily and i believe it's because i cannot exercise them as much as i would like to.

i weigh their food and they are not thin, but they are not fat, either. i'm okay with that.

bubba would eat the entire refrigerator and i think malia would walk away when she is full.