Puppy feeding amount

[Lexicution]

Hi, I'm new here but have been reading these forums for a little while. I have a 14 week old chocolate puppy, JJ. The breeder was feeding her Puppy Chow, which I felt was too low quality of a food to keep her on so we switched her to Blue Buffalo Wilderness Puppy over the course of our first week with her. JJ weighs 22lbs now at 14 weeks, but doesn't look too skinny and the vet says her weight is healthy. Following the requirements on the bag, she's been getting 2 1/2 cups per day over three meals. Her poops haven't been great, and we're now switching her to Science Diet Large Breed Puppy. The bag says she should get 3 cups per day based on her age and weight. Reading through a lot of the threads here on puppy feeding, most people seem to be saying that's not enough food for a 14 week old puppy. Should we be feeding her more? Her weight does seem low for her age but she looks healthy. Thank you!!

[Labradorks]

It is typically recommended that you keep the puppy on the food the breeder sent her home on for about the first year. I'm assuming you did your research and chose a breeder that you trust, who knows her lines and what type of food they thrive on and whose advice you trust?

Getting on the food rollercoaster for a puppy is a bad idea. Find something that works and stick to it. I would not change to Science Diet, which is no better than puppy chow, but either go back to what the breeder had her on or switch to something similar but perhaps "higher quality" such as ProPlan. Many people, including myself, raised their healthy puppies on ProPlan Sport 30/20 and many people, including top-notch breeders, feed this food and have excellent results.

A quick Google search will bring up all of the issues that people face with Blue Buffalo (soft stool often being one of them) as well as the lawsuits from being a shady company, lying about their food to consumers. It's probably one of the last foods I'd ever feed my dog. And Science Diet? It's very expensive for what you get and the ingredients are nothing to write home about. Similar to Blue Buffalo, they have good marketing. If you're looking for something with less filler, this is not the food to feed.

How big were the puppy's parents? Lab puppies run the gamut. If she looks healthy, she should be fine. The bag instructions are a guideline. She is 14 weeks, so in two weeks when she is 4 months old, weigh her. Double that and you should have her approximate adult weight. She sounds like she is going to be on the smaller side, so the amount you're feeding her sounds fine. You may go up in food amount as she grows and becomes larger and more active, and then you might come back down when she is an older adult. Just depends on the dog.

[Maxx&Emma]

It is typically recommended that you keep the puppy on the food the breeder sent her home on for about the first year. I'm assuming you did your research and chose a breeder that you trust, who knows her lines and what type of food they thrive on and whose advice you trust?

Getting on the food rollercoaster for a puppy is a bad idea. Find something that works and stick to it. I would not change to Science Diet, which is no better than puppy chow, but either go back to what the breeder had her on or switch to something similar but perhaps "higher quality" such as ProPlan. Many people, including myself, raised their healthy puppies on ProPlan Sport 30/20 and many people, including top-notch breeders, feed this food and have excellent results.

A quick Google search will bring up all of the issues that people face with Blue Buffalo (soft stool often being one of them) as well as the lawsuits from being a shady company, lying about their food to consumers. It's probably one of the last foods I'd ever feed my dog. And Science Diet? It's very expensive for what you get and the ingredients are nothing to write home about. Similar to Blue Buffalo, they have good marketing. If you're looking for something with less filler, this is not the food to feed.

How big were the puppy's parents? Lab puppies run the gamut. If she looks healthy, she should be fine. The bag instructions are a guideline. She is 14 weeks, so in two weeks when she is 4 months old, weigh her. Double that and you should have her approximate adult weight. She sounds like she is going to be on the smaller side, so the amount you're feeding her sounds fine. You may go up in food amount as she grows and becomes larger and more active, and then you might come back down when she is an older adult. Just depends on the dog.

↑↑This! I hate to see a puppy go through food changes but I would absolutely change to the Pro Plan and get rid of BB. I would not ever even consider SD. I would also do the change slowly to not further upset the tummy. You may also want to start a probiotic. Sending good thoughts it works out well for your baby!

[Annette47]

Yes to Pro-Plan, and for what it’s worth none of my girl puppies have ever needed more than 3 cups of food a day even while in heavy growth periods - they tend to be in the 60-65lb range as adults. My boy however, did go up to 4 cups at one point (he was 85lbs), so much depends on the size of the puppy (and the eventual size as an adult).

[Abulafia]

We also feed ProPlan here (which is Purina, so it might be closer to the Chow she came home one); I wouldn't touch BB, and Science Diet was the one explicitly named by our breeder as a food to avoid. It was in the only one she named in her send-home feeding advice:

"Do not feed Science Diet or any grocery store brand of food. My recommendation is Purina Pro Plan Sport Chicken and Rice 26/16, or the Pro Plan Salmon formula."

Feeding amounts really depend upon the line. At her most rapid growth period Hoku was eating ~6 cups a day and gaining a steady 2 - 3 lbs a week (less food than she was getting would not have sustained growth). Then, around 6 months or so, her growth slowed down, we realizesomeone (my husband) had been giving her extra treats in her Kong, and suddenly she was a bit chunky. Ahem.

We very quickly cut down on her food—she didn't miss it—and her growth slowed down immediately, back to ~1 lb or so that first month, as she equalized. She now eats a bit under 3 cups of kibble a day, with cooked yam, spinach, occasionally a bit of salmon w/ skin thrown in to top it up to 3. She does not beg, and does not get snacks. I am not sure what she weighs (we'll weigh her this week when we get that spot on her ear looked at); her dam was ~90 lbs (but also considered "a bit fat" by the breeder), so I anticipate a good adult weight for her will be around 80 lbs.

This would be in line with the breeder's dogs. It is also large for a female Lab. (By comparison, I think Hoku was about 36 lbs at 14 weeks; she was about 41 lbs at 16 weeks, which would indicate a final weight of about 80 lbs.)

Female Labs can be just as perfect and healthy at 20 lbs less, depending upon the line. What is most important here is the sire and dam and their size and body types. What do you know about these?

But mainly ditto above on the food roller coaster. Don't do it!

Best of luck to you and your baby.

[JenC]

If you don't like Purina puppy chow, go for Pro Plan Puppy. It's very close but better. Then STOP changing foods. Puppies will get the runs just about every time they try something new, even healthy good things, so changing food is screwing up their digestive system.

I would aim for about 1 cup each meal, and 3 cups a day. Skinny puppies lose bone. I find it easier to let them be a little chubby because of all their growth spurts.

[mhb]

I made the same mistake when we brought Cassie home 9 years ago this coming summer. I foolishly thought the food the breeder (a good one) had her on wasnt good enough and switched her. We went through many many months of torture with soft stools. It was horrible. I bothered all the fine people here with my woes at the time.

Now with Tobey we have kept him on the food (pro plan large breed) the breeder used (different, but excellent breeder) and his stools are great, he's great, the vet says he's great. Lesson learned.

[silverfz]

GIGI came home from a farm from what is termed a farm breed dog . Her parents where a chocolate lab , golden lab/germen Shepeard mix. We went to the farm and was greeted by the mother walking freely around and very very friendly.
she even let us check out the diary milking area and the baby horse the farm had. We did not meet the father but assume he was chocolate lab as the 10 puppies were all chocolate. So we have no clue. so she was from a amish farm in pa.
she smelled like farm too.

She came home with some puppy chows, we had her on wellness and changed to purina puppy chow now due to a lot of pooping. she is a bit on the skinny side at 23 lb in 12 weeks but tall . I am hoping she is her mom size and temperament.
that dog was awesome. Some days she looks like a lab but her face is a more of a german lines . I also wish she is trainable like her mom was.

[ZoeysMommy]

My now 9 month old puppy was eating 3 cups per day of Proplan at 14 weeks. She went up to 4 cups at about 18 weeks and she is back down to 3 cups now

3 cups a day is about the normal for most lab puppies

[windycanyon]

A very old general rule of thumb is 1C per month of age up to ~4C for females, 5C for males. This so depends on how much exercise your pup is getting too though, and may I suggest a digestive enzyme/ probiotic so the food is better used?

I too would stick w/ the Purina since sourcing wise, the ingredients are likely going to agree w/ what her system is used to. I personally feed my pups Eukanuba LBP and have always had great stools and growth on that. Just switched a couple adults back to their premium as Canidae didn't have quite enough fat for them. Anne