Georgia (11-13-2017)
Just wondering how much to feed my female Lab Sunny. She is 60 lbs, a small girl. Gets lots of exercise.
I feed her a cup of kibble every morning & at night she gets homemade beef stew, just meat. she gets treats throughout the day, just a few though & bones.
she's always hungry, I know that is a Lab trait but just wonder if she should get more.
Sunny donating blood
Georgia (11-13-2017)
Don’t go by her hunger, go by her body condition. If she is at a healthy weight (i.e. you can feel her ribs with a very slight padding but not her spine or hips) she is probably just fine.
Different dogs have different requirements, and it’s hard to know the equivalents between different brands of kibble let alone between kibble and your beef stew, so best to feed to the dog, not to the measuring cup.
For comparison though, my girls all get .75 cups twice a day plus training treats and tastes of our food. Chloe is the biggest at 63lbs but is on the lowest calorie kibble. Cookie and Sassy are about 57 and 53 lbs respectively and get the same kibble, which is more middle of the road calorie wise (Chloe is on a Lean formula). They’re also younger, but not necessarily more active.
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
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JenC (01-26-2018), windycanyon (10-16-2017)
As Annette suggests, the reason it's hard to say exactly how much to feed is that different foods have different calorie contents and dogs have different needs. One food I have is 350 calories per cup, the other, same brand different formula, is about 427. I usually feed kibble at one meal and a whole can of food at the other. The cans I buy are around 400 calories but I've also seen 250 or so calories in a large can of other brands. I'd say Lark gets around 800 calories per day and weighs about 70 pounds. She might benefit from a little less, actually. My 85 pound boy ate the same to maintain his weight. This is less than any of the bags or cans recommend for a dog of their weight but if I fed more, she'd pork up. So, for Sunny I'd go with how her shape is, using Annette's parameters, and go up or down a little depending how she meets them.
Agree with the above. Heck, for a long while 40pd Penny ate the same amount of food as 80pd Rocky (same food!). But she was young and more active (though walks were the same; she ran around more).
Go by weight not her "looking hungry". If she is currently at a good healthy weight and is stable, then keep doing what you are doing. Monitor to ensure it stays stable. If she needs to loose a few pounds, then cut back (more to loose the weight then stabilize at an amount a big less than you are feeding now). There are some low cal things you can add to bulk up the food if that becomes an issue (make her feel full without adding calories). Like green beans (not canned as that tends to be salted)
Ivy
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My 65 pound black lab eats 1 cup 2 times a day and my 55 pound yellow eats up to 2 cups 2 times a day. I dont feed by weight, I feed by body condition. My smaller lab bounces around all day, she needs the calories vs my black lab who is couch potato
Sunny is pretty fit right now. She was a bit porky when I got her & my trainer said she had to lose weight. So I went from 3 cups of dry a day to 1/2 cup dry & full cup of stew. She drop a good amount of weight. I think she looks good now. Lately she just seems like she always wants food. Not a surprise because after all she is a Lab. Maybe it's because she is a adult now? She will be 3 in December.
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
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I always fed my Toby at least three cups per day, maybe a little more...
I always felt I would rather him be content than hungry...Labs are supposed to be a little "stocky". I think your girl looks great.
If she is acting hungry, she probably is hungry.
Definitely depends on body condition and activity. To maintain both of mine get around 1800 calories/day plus treats. They are fairly active and unaltered.
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Sorry duplicate post for some reason
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