# am i starving my puppy?



## coolstorybro (Nov 3, 2010)

hello. my puppy is now a little over 5 months. the vet says he is well over 6 months. his papers say he was born on july 8th. anyways, am i starving my puppy? i am feeding him 2 cups a day.. 1 cup in the morning, and 1 cup at night. is this too small? i use a standard measuring cup. my parents look at him and say he is nothing but skin and bones. his ribs dont show, but when you grab him, you get a lot of skin.

also, he always is near the heater. my parents say b/c he doesnt have any fat, he gets cold and goes to the heater. is this true? 

should i feed him another cup or so? he is a black labrador/mix. thanks.


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## malluver1005 (Nov 15, 2009)

Can you post a current picture of him? That will give us an idea on his body condition...


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## coolstorybro (Nov 3, 2010)




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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

He looks excellent to me. Thin is good. You should be able to see his back couple of ribs (I can't in the pics but its difficult on a black dog in pics). You should see a definite waste line behind his rib cage when viewed from above (you do). You should not see spine or hip bone (I can't see either in the picture.)


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## coolstorybro (Nov 3, 2010)

he finishes 1 cup of kibble within a minute. i am thinking he is hungry? should i feed him a bit more?


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## xxshaelxx (Mar 8, 2010)

No. He looks absolutely perfect.

When I brought Ryou home as a pup, I fed him the same amount for months, and he was never underweight, yet he would inhale his food within seconds. Literally, the first night I put food in front of him, it was gone within twenty seconds, and that was about a cup of food. Some dogs just eat that way.

You definitely don't want him to get overweight, especially as a puppy. Puppies that are overweight are more prone to things like hip problems, such as arthritis, and if they get hip dysplasia, it'll come quicker and harder.










And might I just say, that my theory for this picture featuring a lab is because 99% of the labs out there are far overweight. I think it's Purina's (gag for the dog food) way of saying that people have come to believe that heavier is what is healthy, especially with that breed.

And remember, many of us get the comment "Your dog is skin and bones!" Just remember that we know better than them. America is growing, and I'm not talking about the population, I'm talking about the width of the waist, and with it, so is the pet population growing. Too many animals these days are obese, and people are coming to see that as the norm. It's unhealthy, just as unhealthy as it is to be overweight (I'm not trying to offend anyone here, just saying...).



I do have to say as well, though...your dog is absolutely gorgeous!


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## cast71 (Sep 16, 2010)

Puppy looks great! He is very cute too:biggrin: The reason your family thinks your starving him is, because most people are use to seeing overweight dogs. When they see the few that are proper weight, it looks like the dog is starving. It really is a shame Keep up the good work. You might have to tweak the amount your feeding as he grows. Always go by how his body looks and not his weight.


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## shellbeme (Dec 8, 2010)

I just wanted to say what a wonderfully kissable face he has :biggrin:


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

I too think he looks great! People are so used to seeing overweight dogs that it is becoming the norm. You want to keep a growing pup on the lean side. Your doing good. :smile:


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## spookychick13 (Jan 26, 2010)

I think he looks perfect.
Most of our clients here at the clinic tend to overfeed.

People are used to seeing fatty dogs!


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

The pup looks really good from the pictures! You say you take him to the vet and if the vet thinks he's fine I would not worry!
I have two labs so I will tell you it is hard to get the weight off once they get it on. My labs always look hungry and I am having to get them down in weight which has been taking a while but its happening! So what I am trying to say is better thinner than fatter. Its horrible trying to get them to loose the weight versus gaining the weight which is so darn easy for them! So your dogs doing great! Keep him that way! I am in the other boat trying to get mine to loose the weight! And like I said its a very slow process but yep its working! So for you your doing great keep up the good work! Nice looking pup!


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## coolstorybro (Nov 3, 2010)

ty all! i was worried he wasnt getting enough food, but i guess i am doing just fine! the whole family was hooting and hounding at me, telling me to feed him more. well thats just not gonna happen, he seems perfect to all of us here. ty again!:smile:


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## cast71 (Sep 16, 2010)

coolstorybro said:


> ty all! i was worried he wasnt getting enough food, but i guess i am doing just fine! the whole family was hooting and hounding at me, telling me to feed him more. well thats just not gonna happen, he seems perfect to all of us here. ty again!:smile:


Don't let your family sneek feed him ahahahahaha


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