[Labradorable]

How much food should an almost three month old pup be eating? Dozer is on Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy and I'm giving him 3 1/2 cups of food per day. I put the 3 1/2 cups in his bowl at the beginning of the day, at 6:30-7:00AM his dish is put down for him for 15-20 minutes and he eats what he wants and then I pick it up again ... same thing happens at 1:00PM and again around 6:30PM. Last week he was getting only 3 cups of food (same process) but he was still acting hungry at the end of the day so I upped it 1/2 a cup. A friend of mine seems to think that's an awful lot of food for a puppy, but I figure he's a growing boy and as long as he's not getting fat it's a-okay.

Does this seem like a reasonable amount of food?

 

[jzgrlduff]

3 cups a day is average, but I don't think 3-1/2 will hurt him any right now. I stopped the 3 per day feeding at around 4 months.

 

[nicole]

The total amount is ok but that's a strange way to feed it. Just put 1-1.25c in the bowl each feeding. The way your doing it, he's probably getting a smaller meal at night so he is hungry.

 

[cinderbay]

Okay your Lab pup has a food bown for 15-20 minutes and does NOT finish the food! ALL my dogs have their food down in SECONDS! LOL
Even Sully who eats 4 cups (8months old) can eat it in less than one minutes.

I say 3.5-4 is average for this age. I split it in two feedings. Sully has been eating about 4 cups a day since 4 months. Two in the AM and two in the PM.

 

[Bob Pr.]

My Puff steadily increased her consumption up to 5 cups/day when she was about 8 months old but then began cutting back, skipping meals, until she got down to 2 scant cups/day.

£

 

[Labradorable]

Okay your Lab pup has a food bown for 15-20 minutes and does NOT finish the food! ALL my dogs have their food down in SECONDS! LOL
Even Sully who eats 4 cups (8months old) can eat it in less than one minutes.

I say 3.5-4 is average for this age. I split it in two feedings. Sully has been eating about 4 cups a day since 4 months. Two in the AM and two in the PM.

I know! It's CRAZY! Cybil would have had it all gone in four seconds flat. He is very good about it. He rations his meals too. Smallest amount at breakfast, and then a bigger amount at both lunch and dinner.

It is a weird way to feed him, but that's how the breeder did it with their dogs and pups, so we just continued. I will change him to X amount of cups a day soon. It's easier to keep track that way.

Thanks everyone.

 

[mrmmorin]

Is this per feeding time or all day. Because my new lab puppy, who is also my first, only gets 1.5 cups each meals time but he eats 3 times a day. I'm confused. The last time we had a puppy was 10 yrs ago with our beagle (who is the greatest dog in the world) and i was really young. Jack was my bithday present.

 

[labby]

I'm with the others. The food goes down for no more than 5 minutes. What doesn't get eaten is what they get at the next meal....period. No food gets added until the bowl is empty and then they only get additional food at the next scheduled feeding.

I have to say, except for Seamus who is the sloooowest eater I've ever had, the food usually lasts 3 seconds. Then everyone runs to Seamus' dish and tries to eat his.

The amount your feeding sounds good, but I would change the routine.

 

[Labradorable]

If I left it down for only five minutes he would eat close to nothing. He is the slowest eater I have ever seen. If he eats faster I pick the food up sooner, but it definitely takes waaay longer than 5 minutes. He loves food, but he just likes to savour it. LOL

 

[Tanya]

If I left it down for only five minutes he would eat close to nothing. He is the slowest eater I have ever seen. If he eats faster I pick the food up sooner, but it definitely takes waaay longer than 5 minutes. He loves food, but he just likes to savour it. LOL

I'm just curious - he's actually eating the entire time just chewing slowly? Or does he take a few kibbles than walk away and come back a few minutes later?

I did have one dog that would take like 5 pieces of kibble from the bowl, drop them on the ground a few feet away then eat them one by one there LOL.

 

[windycanyon]

Have you asked your breeder these questions? Are you feeding the same food?

I'm sure I'm not alone here, but I don't feed any of my dogs "just" dry kibble. I put water over it. To me, it'd be like eating a bag of potato chips after a bit otherwise. With my 9 wk olds, I actually still heat the water a bit (which would make your next meal mush!), but it sure doesn't take them anywhere close to 15-20 min to eat their meals either. Anne

 

[Labradorable]

I never thought to ask my breeder (first time I've ever had a breeder). LOL I'll shoot them off an email or phone them tomorrow. His next vet appointment is on July 9, so I can ask my vet then too.

My dog will get dry kibble and that's it. He definitely LOVES the food and does not have any trouble with chewing it or anything. Unless there is some medical reason I need to do that to his food, he won't be getting any special favours ... My cockapoo was raised (by my Nana before she passed away and left me the dog) to have her food mushed up with water and she had bad teeth, was a picky eater and it was a pain in the arse.

He takes little mouthfulls and goes to eat it. We keep telling him its rude to walk around with food in his mouth, but he just wags his tail and carries on. LOL I timed him today and each meal time is only taking him about 10 minutes now. As he's growing he's getting faster about it. That's a goodish time, I think. Today with 3.5 cups of food left in his dish he still had probably .75 cups left after he ate his dinner segment.

 

[windycanyon]

Bloat may be a concern w/ dry food, if they then drink a bunch of water. I've always been told that floating the kibble (it is not mush it since they should be eating it!) is much better for digestion.

 

[BigBrownDog]

I add hot water to my dogs food and feed them twice a day (a specific amount each time) and I use anti-bloat bowls (with a raised area in the middle). The puppy - because he wolfs his food down so fast - gets 1/2 at a time for each feeding.

I lost my beloved dutch shepherd to bloat last September. Puppies develop bloat too! I would never feed a puppy that much food in one sitting - you are asking for a problem.

 

[Labradorable]

LMAO -- I think Dozer must have read this thread, because yesterday he decided it was better to eat his food fast. NOW he eats like a lab. Good thing on Saturday I decided to start only giving him 1 1/3 cup (as per your advise) at a time or else I'm sure he would have been over filled.