help from people who feed wellness

[bluecarrex]

i'm feeding my 4month old male wellness super5mix chicken and i give him 3cups per day. I was wondering at what age/weight do i increase the amount and how much ultimately should i be feeding him.

[brunie's mom]

That seems like a good amount of food for a 4 month old puppy. How much does he weigh at this age? It's better to feed less and keep them lean at this age.

I would not be increasing the amount yet....and probably never feed him more than 4 cups of food in total.

How many calories per cup in the Wellness food? It should say on the back of the bag.

Gina

[bluecarrex]

He weighs 30lbs. The bag says 3, 570 kcal per kilogram or 407 kcal per cup.

[CanineCoach]

You will get more specific advice from others on here, but I can tell you not to go by what's on the back of the bag (or by how "hungry" he tries to convince you that he is)! Dog food manufacturers are trying to sell dog food. Getting him the proper amount of nutrition is important, but I'd much rather see an "underfed" dog than an overfed one.

[brunie's mom]

Originally Posted by bluecarrex

He weighs 30lbs. The bag says 3, 570 kcal per kilogram or 407 kcal per cup.

30 lbs for a 4 month old male is a bit on the lighter side. Better to be on the lighter side...then a fat, overweight puppy.

If he is eating 3 cups, that means he is eating over 1,200 calories per day from the Wellness. Do you also use training treats or give bisquits,etc?
I would leave him at 3 cups for now....depending on how he growing. If he starts to look a little too lean...feed him half a cup more per day. By about 6-7 months he may need to be eating 4 cups...it all depends?

You could also add some fresh food type of toppers to his kibble for some extra calories...such as a spoon of natural plain yogurt, or spoon of cottage cheese, or a sardine or two (split a can for him), or scramble up an egg and add it on, or some left over lean meat and steamed veggies from dinner,etc.

The back of the bag is just a guideline....the company wants you to feed more so that you will buy another bag of food.

Gina

[bluecarrex]

Is he really underweight? What weight should he be? Maybe I should start feeding him 4 cups now. I had no idea I was underfeeding him.

[brunie's mom]

Originally Posted by bluecarrex

Is he really underweight? What weight should he be? Maybe I should start feeding him 4 cups now. I had no idea I was underfeeding him.

I did not mean to say that he was underweight. On average a male Rottweiler puppy weighs about 40 lbs at 4 months of age. Your pup may be lighter boned, or had rougher start...or it could be genetics?

If you feed him too much, he will NOT grow faster....he will just grow fatter. You don't want to do that.

Slow and steady growth is so much better for a Rottweiler puppy, it helps prevent orthopedic problems in the future.

Keep up with the 3 cups for now, add a bit of fresh toppers if you want...then gradually as he grows add 1/2 cup more kibble.

Gina

[bluecarrex]

I guess I shouldn't be too concerned then. I'll go ahead and add toppers to his food. I don't think it's genetics cause his dad was huge. What do you think about that whole let him eat what he wants for 15 min approach? Do you think that's a good rule to follow?

[AngelBunny]

Originally Posted by bluecarrex

What do you think about that whole let him eat what he wants for 15 min approach? Do you think that's a good rule to follow?

To feed any other way is free feeding and free feeding is not something many of us recommend.

Best approach is to leave Fido's bowl down for 10, 15, or so minutes and whatever the dog leaves at that point is picked up. The next time the dog gets food is at its next meal.

In all my years of Rottie ownership I never had a Rottie take 10 minutes to finish his or her kibble meal--it was gone before that time elapsed.