Help...food

[Abby’s Mom]

Our little Abby will be 6 months in a week. She is maybe 11 - 11 1/2 inches (it's hard for me to measure) and only just under 7 lbs. The vet says she will probably only be 10 lbs as an adult. We have been feeding her 1/3 cup of Purina Focus Puppy for small breeds 3 times a day since we got her at 8 weeks. Do we continue with the puppy food and for how long? Do we take her down to twice a day or stay at 3 times a day for a while? She is our first female and so tiny. Definitely does not look skinny at all, but you can feel her ribs. Our previous Shelties were males and porker butts!! LOL 35-45 lbs and tall and always had to be put on diet food/meds. So I feel a little lost now.

 

[Sharon7]

I believe it's standard to switch to twice daily at 6 months. I think I also switched to adult food somewhere between 6 and 9 months, but it's been so long since I had a puppy, I don't recall for sure. Others here will know. And yes, most Shelties will eat till they pop, so it's best to try and keep her lean, it is so much better for her joint health and overall health. Measuring her food is great. My adults eat 1/2 cup twice daily, but they are 16 - 18 inches and about 22 - 23 pounds.

Post a picture when you can!

 

[take4roll10]

Because your pup is a smaller sheltie, only 7 pounds, it wouldn't hurt to keep her on 3 meals a day of for another few months. I have a smaller sheltie. She's about 12-13 pounds now as an adult. she was 6 pounds at 6 months old. She ate 3x a day until about 9 months old and ate puppy food until a year old.

After she turned a year, she ate 1/4 to 1/3 cups of adult kibble 2x a day. The amount varied depending on how many treats and exercise she had that day.

 

[Ann]

I agree that I'd keep her on three meals a day, and stick with puppy food until she's a year old. We usually go to two meals at 6 months but there's no hard and fast rule, and some dogs need more growth time. I usually feed 1/2 cup three times a day to puppies, but perhaps 1/3 is enough for her since she's small. If you can feel her ribs, she isn't overweight so you can feed a bit more. When you do switch to adult food, I'd keep her on a "small breed" variety too.

 

[Piper's mom]

If you only expect her to gain another 3 pounds in the next 6 months (or until she's full grown) then I don't see why you can't start feeding her 2 meals a day now. I fed Piper kibble when he was a pup (he's almost 4 now and 13 3/4") and I started him on adult food (actually an all life stages food) at 6 months. The puppy food has more calories than the regular food and since they slow down on their growth they don't need all those extra calories.
Also, you want to be able to feel their ribs (and the back bone) with very little pressure. My 1 year old Finnie is 16" tall and is a very trim 25 pounds, the vet says he's the perfect weight (my mom, whose always had fat dogs says he's too skinny!).

 

[Caro]

Just to be different to everyone else - because I'm sure you're confused already. I remember switching Deska over to adult at 9 months. Mine were on 2 meals a day from much younger as I was working, so Tully was probably at getting 2 meals at 3mths. Can't remember when I switched Tully over to adult, but she'd often refuse her kibble breakfast anyway until I started giving it in a treat dispenser so I was probably giving her adult by 6mths.

Tully is a tiny sheltie but I didn't give her small dog food. Tends to be higher in calories and can be gulped down quicker. Mind you, Tully was such an active dog I had to feed her twice as much as needed and she still pooped the extra out.