How many feedings a day?

[MikeT66]

I am new to the forum. I have a 10wk old Rottie named Ryker. Just lost my long time friend Dakota just before Xmas so me and my wife wanted another Rottie. We are currently feeding Ryker Canidae. He seems to be taking it very well now as he wasnt before. We just had him weighed and he weight 24.1lbs at 10wks. My questions is how many feedings should he be getting a day and how long should the feeding last? I currently am feeding him at 7am (give him his Canidae and a little canned Canidae with it). I leave it down until he seems to be done and I pick it up. His next feeding is around 5pm (just dry Canidae) and once again I leave it down until he seems to be done. And according to the bag for his weight he should be getting about 2cups of dry a day. So he is getting a cup maybe a little more at each feeding. Is this enough? Just want to make sure I am doing right. I get him weighed regularly and each weighing he as put on about 2-3lbs. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for the help.............THANKS

[keith3582]

well we had the same question basically.. Your rottie is 24lbs at 10 weeks?!

[jazzking1971]

from the time my dog was 8wks I've feed one cup in the morning and one cup in the evening. He's in awesome shape.

[brunie's mom]

Puppies should be fed 3 times per day...till they are about 5 months old.
The amount of food sounds good, just split it up to 3 times per day. How much canned are you adding?
Leave the food down for about 10 minutes, and take it away if there is any left in the bowl.

He should be gaining on average about 10 lbs a month.... slow and steady weight gain and growth are very important in this breed. A lean puppy is much better than a chunky pup.

Gina

[OnyxGold1]

I don't know about the protein contents in Canidae vs other high quality foods......we feed Orijen.....however when my pups are young.....between 8 weeks to around 5 months we typically feed three times/ day initally and then gradually wean them back to twice a day....we feed at 7am and 5pm also....but typically throw in a noon feeding as well for a youngster of his age. It has worked in the past for us....puppies have a high need for energy at that age and we haven't seen any significantly heavy puppies....however around 5 months of age is when I typically start to notice that their "tucks" are not quite as tucked as they should be and then they get cut back to 2 meals / day. I think as long as your puppy doesn't seem inordinately thin and has good shiny coat/good energy, don't really worry about his weight per say. Only start worrying if he looks the the pillsbury dough dog with rolls of fat at his age......then you are looking at potential hip/joint problems. Thinner is better with a fast growing pup

Heather Peters

[warriec]

So many people have there own suggestion with a feed plan but I have noticed that breeders knows the best regime.

Ideally a puppy should attack its food each time you serve. normally this gobbling last about 10mins and then they start eating because they are greedy.

I have tried many feeding techniques for puppies which I will explain here.

1) leaving food out thru out the day - some may think you will end up with a fat puppy but i have seen that this only makes the puppy thin and teaches bad habits. Plus lots of food get wasted.

2) 3 times a day - 10 mins each time - this is good, puppy should be allowed to eat there max in 10 mins. This works best for pups under 4 months.

3) twice a day - 10 mins each time - for 4 months plus. and you can follow this regime.

This is for an average breed size pup. the method changes based on the breed. If you work around it you will be well off.

[MikeT66]

Thanks for all the advice. I will go to the 3 times a day (splitting his 2 cups into 3 meals, 7am, 12pm, 5pm) as far a the canned food. I give him about a teaspoon full on the first feeding of the day just to change it up. I am feeding him Canidae for everything. Is 24lbs for 10wk, 11wks on Thursday a good weight. Once again thanks so much for all the help. Me and Ryker appreciate it :)

[jcs52]

We feed twice a day, first one about 7AM and second around 6PM. He gets treats during training sessions around lunch time and in the evening after dinner as well.

He is 4 months and weighs 38lbs.

[Static'sMum]

We fed Static three times a day up until he was around 4 months, and now at 15 months he gets fed twice a day. He has only dry food at breakfast, and has dry with 'extras' for dinner. Static weighed 16lbs at 11 weeks, but he was 24lbs by around 13 weeks. As he is the first Rottie we've had, and the runt of the litter I couldn't say if 24lbs is good/bad. Sorry!

[Nishasmom]

We still feed Nisha three times a day (she is 1yr. now). My boyfriend wont let me switch to twice a day. He says "People should eat six times to keep up their metabolism...Nisha should eat three" I don't argue...pick and choose your battles right?

[jcs52]

I guess your boyfriend brings up a good point regarding humans, but not sure how that directly relates to dogs..... I am no expert but very much cosumed with the fitness and nutrition world of humans so I totally agree with the eating 6 small-moderate meals per day. However, there are other factors that go into that equation. For example, the exercise level, or specifically the heart rate affect that to an extent. If you lay around all day with little to no exercise and have a slower metabolism, you can eat 6 times a day, or 2 or 3 and I promise you will gain weight, and not good weight (FAT!). Humans need to find the perfect formula that works for each of us, same for dogs. This can't just be a broad/general comparison to dogs. They are a different species and shouldn't be confined to human habits.

If you visit your vet they should be able to tell you fairly accurately whether your pup is overweight or under. We aren't 100% confident on whether our 2 times a day feedings @ a little over 4months is perfect for the pup, but we observe and feel the situation one day at a time to see. Grizzly gets about 2 walks per day and plays fetch a few times as well. His energy level, attentiveness are great so far, so we are sticking with that regiment.