How much to feed a puppy?

[dingo]

Hi,

My 3 month Rottweiler pup is eating about 2 lbs of raw chicken (Its mostly raw chicken, there is a bit of chicken liver, goat tripe, goat stomach and other entrails all raw). The diet is working well at the moment.

How much and how gradually should I increase its food?
Should it be fed more than 3-4% of its eventual adult weight over the coming months?
When should I lstart feeding it twice a day?

Thanks in advance for your valuable inputs.

Best,

Bhartan

[DaneMama]

How much does your puppy weigh currently? What is his projected weight (based on the size of his parents)?

I would mainly go from the body condition of your puppy to be honest. Large breed pups like Rotts should be on the lean side, for ease of load bearing on their growing joints. You should be able to see the last rib or two and feel the rest easily. You should be able to see a nice defined waist and well as a tucked tummy. Too much extra weight on puppies makes it really hard on their joints while growing.

I would start feeding him more than twice a day, considering puppies need to eat more than once a day while growing.

How long has he been on a raw diet? Is he getting raw bones with the chicken you are feeding?

Glad to hear that we have a new raw feeder! Welcome to the boards and thanks for posting! We would love to see some pictures of your puppy!!!

[rannmiller]

I'm just going to quote one of our other members on the forum for this one:

Begin feeding him 10% of his weight a day. Once 10% of his weight exceeds 2% to 3% of his IDEAL ADULT weight (not present weight), feed the 2% to 3%. All the time you are doing this you are conscious of his build and adjust the amount of food accordingly. The puppy will tell you how much to feed him by his build.

I'm glad your puppy is doing so well on raw!

[dingo]

Many thanks for you reply.

Bulu is 29 lbs at 3 months. Breeder said he will in the 110 to 120 lbs as an adult. His mom was pretty hefty.

He had a bout of diarrhea at when he was two months. I tried boneless boiled chicken at that time. Within a week I was feeding all raw with bones. Both the dogs love it and are keeping great health. Their joy at meal times makes me so happy.

He gets to eat three times a day but now my 22 month Doberman X GSD who ate twice a day wants to have three meals as well. This is the reason I wanted to switch to two meals for Bulu. It has been a month on raw for both my dogs now.

[DaneMama]

To figure out what Bulu should be eating lets look at the math:

29 X 0.10= 2.9 pounds of food a day

***0.10 is 10% which should be fed to a puppy until they reach the amount of food for their ideal adult weight.

Ideal adult weight is 120 pounds

120 X 0.02= 2.4 pounds per day

OR

120 X 0.03= 3.6 pounds per day

***average of the two is ~3 pounds of food a day.

At this point I would say that you should start feeding him just a bit more food since he is only getting approximately 2 pounds of food per day.

As far as how many meals you feed him, I would still stick to 3 meals a day with him. If your other dog is feeling left out during the third mealtime for Bulu, just cut your other dog's meal rations into 3 meals worth so that they both get to eat 3 times per day. If it were my dog who was acting jealous about the puppy getting an extra meal, I would ignore it. Why? Because I am the boss and I decide when my dogs eat. If you cater to your dog's wants all the time, you are letting them be in charge of you. That is not a great way to be a pack leader, which is 100% essential when owning a dog!

I hope all this information is helpful with your puppy!

[DaneMama]

I also see that you tried to upload pictures of your dogs onto the thread.

At the top of the text box is a row of icons.

The icon that looks like a yellow box with mountains in it is the picture icon. Click on it and a box will pop up asking you for a URL address to a picture. This means that your picture must be up on the internet somewhere, like on picasa, photobucket, facebook, or some other web based picture album website. Copy and paste the URL for the picture that you want to upload into the pop up box and it will insert the picture for you. Note that there is a limit to 4 images per post. Hope this helps!

[dingo]

Many thanks for the invaluable advice.

Just one query though. I know I'm being too concerned about numbers but still… Should Bulu not be fed more than 3 lbs (on an average) as he grows up? Does the 10% of body weight indication hold only as long as the 10% is less than say 3% of the expected adult weight?

It seems that he is growing by the day.

[CorgiPaws]

Many thanks for the invaluable advice.

Just one query though. I know I'm being too concerned about numbers but still… Should Bulu not be fed more than 3 lbs (on an average) as he grows up? Does the 10% of body weight indication hold only as long as the 10% is less than say 3% of the expected adult weight?

It seems that he is growing by the day.

You are correct.
I actually chose to feed 2-3% of my puppy's expected adult body weight, and stick with that amount and adjust as needed. So far it has been right on. So even thoughshe is only 38lbs right now, i feed her according to her expected 60lb adult weight.
It's just a starting point, what really determines the amount it your dog's body condition.

[DaneMama]

I would not feed him more than 3 pounds a day, unless after a week or so you see him losing weight. If at any time you see him losing weight, increase his daily food amount. The same goes for gaining too much weight. As I posted in my first response, young growing large breed puppies like your rottie should be kept on the thin side. You should be able to see the last two ribs, a defined waist and a tucked stomach. If you can see all of his ribs, protruding backbone and hip bones he is too thin.

I do not doubt you are seeing him grow daily! He is probably gaining close to 5 pounds a week for being a rottie! You eventually see a plateau in his growth, and then another growth spurt later in life.