When to change amounts of Canidae?

[MarleysMama]

Marley is 6 1/2 months old now, and he's been getting Canidae ALS since we got him.

On the back of the bag, it shows a chart saying to feed him a certain amt. under the puppy column, and then at 6 months to move to the "adult" column. At his weight we should have moved from 4-5 cups to 2-3 cups.

We only give Marley about 3 1/2 - 4 cups a day.. as that was all he would eat, but we've noticed now that he's only eating one of his 2 meals a day. He's just as active, nothing else is different...just doesn't seem to be as hungry.

Just not sure if:

1.)everyone's rottie did this?
and
2.) When did you decrease his Canidae? 6 months? 1 year?

Thanks in advanced!

[brutus'mother]

I think most members will tell you not to follow the suggested feeding amounts found on bags of kibble. Feed according to how your dog looks. If he is nice and lean (meaning you can feel the last few ribs and he has a noticable waist when looking down at him) continue the amount you are feeding. If he starts to pork up feed less. I(f he starts to get too thin feed more.
If he is eating less food and is otherwise healthy and "normal" and looks good-lessen the amount and see how he does.
Good Luck

[MarleysMama]

Thank you very much for such a fast reply!

I will continue to do that. Marley was underweight for a very long time..and has just managed to catch up, and he looks perfect. I will continue what I am doing, thank you!

[brunie's mom]

He may just be regulating himself. Continue to split up the food into two meals per day...try feeding him a bit less. I don't think I ever fed more then 3 cups in total of Canidae to my pup when he was growing. If you add in training treats, the occasional raw bone...the calories add up. Canidae is just a bit less then 500 calories a cup....so 4 cups would be close to 2,000 calories per day.

If they are not growing as fast they don't need all of that food...till they hit a growth spurt.
I think I leveled back on the food when he was about 12-15 months old...when he was neutered.

Gina

[MarleysMama]

That's very true, I actually just introduced an occasional treat to him (other than training treats) and thats about when this started. I can't believe something so simple that I was doing just got by me like that! LOL

Thank you!