How much do you feed?

corbinam said:
I agree with Jess. Free feeding to me means setting the food out and leaving it out until it's gone--regardless of quantity.

For me, there are a couple great things about NOT free feeding.

  1. I know when my dog is sick. If my dogs don't eat their food in less than a minute, something is seriously wrong. I didn't know Bentley was horribly sick until he took about 3 minutes to eat his food. I know that sounds crazy but we took him in immediately and he had surgery that same day for an obstruction. It was his only symptom at first. If they typically pick at their food, how do you know when something is wrong? Shelties are just so stoic that it can be the only indication.
  2. Along those same lines, eating the same time and the same amount every day means I can monitor their poop schedules. If they aren't pooping around the same time every day, then something is wrong and I know literally right away. If they pick at their food and eat whenever then they would poop at different times too.
  3. Traveling with a dog who eats immediately makes life so much easier. We can feed them right before we go, in the car, as soon as we get there, at night when we get home, and I'm not worried about them having time to eat enough, etc.
  4. Keeping weight off/on. If I know exactly how much my dog is eating every day, then it's super easy to adjust if they gain weight or lose weight. I wouldn't want to have to measure what has been left at the end of every day to determine how to adjust in the days to come.
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Yeppers...in our fast paced crazy scheduled lifestyles, it just makes it easier that my pups conform so I have less to bother with. They know what the expectation is and comply...I know when it goes in, and it is pretty standard when it will exit, and if there is an issue, then I am on it. :eek2:
 
Interesting thread as I am amazed at the difference in the amounts Brooke and Faith eat. They are probably within 1/2 inch in size. Brooke gets a rounded 1/2 cup of kibble twice a day, (and is a good weight - 23lb/16") and Faith, more like 2/3 cup twice a day, and she is still really skinny. No parasites or tummy troubles, either, she just burns it off like crazy because she is by far the most active Sheltie I've ever had!

I agree completely with Ashley's post. I want to know immediately if my dogs are not eating - that means they are REALLY sick.

And it's much easier to keep them on a potty schedule that way too.
 
Honey's on 1/4 cup twice a day, with veggies and lunchmeat as her primary treats. She's around 14.5 lbs and weighs between 21-24 depending on how active we've been. We try to keep it around 22.
 
Hanne said:
Minnie - 13 month - get 60 gram twice a day - 43 cm / 10.5 kg.
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You know us Americans are afraid of the metric system, right?? Just kidding of course. :lol: But I did spend a little too much time trying to figure out how much food that was. Then I remembered that grams is a weight.. and that people in Europe bake a little differently. So.. you measure out her food on a scale? I do that too, only because it's raw.
 
Jess041 said:
cut - Then I remembered that grams is a weight.. and that people in Europe bake a little differently. So.. you measure out her food on a scale? I do that too, only because it's raw.
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I'm sorry it had to go a little fast with my answer, Minnie demanded her morning walk to the beach and it is not easy to get around. :no:

No, I was not aware of you Americans are afraid of the metric system.:lol::lol:

I really wondered what a Cup are in grams. because a cup may weigh very differently after which food company you use. :confused2:

Well, to the case -
Minnie 13 months - gets 60 gr. = 0.13228 Pounds (lb) twice a day

- yes, I weigh her food, I do not want her to be too thick.

- I follow her weigh 1-2 times per month.

Her weigh! 10,5 kg. = 23.1485 lb / Height! 43 cm = 16.929" :yes:
 
A cup is a measurement of volume, not weight. I'm sure your dog food companies give you recommended feeding guidelines based on the dog's weight, correct? Well we get the same thing, except instead of measuring it terms of weight, we use volume. We can also look at how many calories per cup of food. Different foods will have different amounts of kcal/cup. So if I know my dog only needs 100 kcal a day to maintain her weight, and the food has 200 kcal/cup, then I know I should only feed my dog 1/2 cup per day. That's just an example of course.
 
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