Results 1 to 7 of 7
  1. #1
    Puppy
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    VA
    Posts
    13
    Thanked: 6

    How much food should I feed?

    Jojo is a year old (15 months) and I can't seem to figure out how much food I should be giving her.

    She's eating Orijen and when she was on Orijen puppy, she was eating 3 cups a day. After I switched her to Orijen adult food in October, I still gave her 3 cups a day and before long we all noticed she was starting to get a little chunky. Oops. I never recalculated based on the adult feeding guide so we did and we lowered it to 2.5 cups a day instead. She was 60 lbs then.

    In December when she went for her spay surgery and checkup, the vet said that she was feeling a little "fluffy". You had to push down to feel her ribs. She weighed 64 lbs at that point and the vet said she should probably be only 60 lbs. So we went ahead and cut her food down to 2 cups a day (but with a smattering of leftover chicken/veg several times a week too).

    Well, now, two weeks later, she looks noticeably thinner. Now I wonder if we cut back too much and the poor girl is starving. I guess I could try to go 2.25 cups a day but I was wondering how much do you feed during a weightloss period and how much do you feed during a maintaining period? And how much are you all feeding your labs? 2 cups seems so little but then again, Jojo isn't a big lab.

    Thanks!-img_0528-jpg

  2. #2
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Carolina in my mind..
    Posts
    6,391
    Thanked: 4178
    My dogs both eat about 2 cups of food per day and their food is around 400-430 calories per cup. Chase is the bigger one and gets rounded cups so he's probably getting a little more than Lark, who gets level cups. Neither is super active and seem to maintain their weight within a few pounds at that amount. One weighs about 65 and one weighs about 85 pounds. A little more or less here or there usually brings them into line if they get off their usual weight. You can add unsalted canned or frozen green beans to their food if it makes you feel better that they're getting a bit more into their tummy. If she gets a lot of treats, some have more calories than others, too. There are treats with very few calories in them you could look for and raw baby carrots, blueberries or other things like those can be used (not grapes).

    It's hard to compare what one dog eats against what another eats, since there are foods of all different calorie levels and dogs of all different activity levels. I do not often have to adjust their food levels. If there's a Petsmart near you, you can take your pup in and put her on the scale near the vet area without being charged for a vet visit. My pet food store has a scale where you can weigh your dog and I'm sure my own vet would allow me to walk in and weigh my pup without blinking an eye, in case you want to see what her weight is doing now.

  3. #3
    Puppy
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    VA
    Posts
    13
    Thanked: 6
    Thanks for the reply! I do need to take her to get weighed, thx for the tip about Petsmart.

    Sounds like 2 cups isnt too small of an amount if it works for your 80 lb dogs too. Thanks!

  4. #4
    Senior Dog
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Central NJ
    Posts
    2,603
    Thanked: 2277
    My two younger dogs eat a food that is about 430 calories a cup, and they eat slightly less than 2 cups a day on average. (I fill a cup and pour off a little bit, so more than 3/4, but less than full). On two full cups, they start to get fluffy, on 1.5 cups, they are too thin. They weigh about 50 lbs, and 55lbs each, but are only 19 months so might still grow a tiny bit.

    My older girl (she is 7.5) eats a food that is much lower in calories (350 a cup) but can only get 1.5 cups a day before she starts getting fat. She is very active, she just has a very efficient metabolism. She weighs about 63lbs.

    Generally, I don’t worry about scale numbers, but I do check their ribs (to see how easily felt they are) a few times a week. If they are getting puffy, I cut back for a few days, if they are getting thin, I give a tad more for a bit. It’s not an exact science, but they stay in pretty good shape.
    Last edited by Annette47; 01-13-2017 at 03:35 PM.
    Annette

    Cookie (HIT HC Jamrah's Legally Blonde, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015
    Sassy (HIT Jamrah's Blonde Ambition, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015

    Chloe (HIT HC OTCH Windsong's Femme Fatale, UDX4, OM6, RE) 6/7/2009

    And remembering:

    Scully (HC Coventry's Truth Is Out There, UD, TD, RN) 4/14/1996 - 6/30/2011
    Mulder (Coventry's I Want To Believe, UD, RN, WC) 5/26/1999 - 4/22/2015

    And our foster Jolie (Windsong's Genuine Risk, CDX) 5/26/1999 - 3/16/2014

    Hidden Content

  5. #5
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    8,136
    Thanked: 5108
    I feed more in winter, we are more active then. Maybe that could be why you see a bit of loss now?
    Hidden Content

    Castilleja's Dubhgall Oban, the Black Stranger of The Little Bay
    Oct. 15, 2007 - June 13, 2021
    Oxtongue Rapids Park. Oct. 2019 Hidden Content

  6. #6
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    2,598
    Thanked: 2588
    Managing their weight is on going. Know that vets are typically going to tell you your lab is too heavy, even if they are perfect. They are supposed to have a little meat on their bones. While the standard says they shouldn't have "excess fat" they are meant to be cold water dogs, so a little layer on the ribs isn't a bad thing.

    If the dog looks too thin on 2 cups, up it to 1 nicely rounded scoop per meal and then play it by ear....

  7. #7
    Puppy
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    VA
    Posts
    13
    Thanked: 6
    Thanks! I had thought that I should stick with a certain amount of food a day and not deviate but it sounds like it's a much more fluid process. Upping her food to two rounded cups sounds like a good plan!

 



Not a Member of the Labrador Retriever Chat Forums Yet?
Register for Free and Share Your Labrador Retriever Photos

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •