how much to feed?

[mgchua]

just got a few questions about raw. i've been feeding my one year old frenchie about 4 % his body weight. just increased it to 6%. i want him to bulk up a bit. he has a longer lean body type. my new 12 week old pup started on 4% then he lost some weight (about 1/2 lb). just increased him to 6%. do you guys think 6% is too much? and at what point do i start feeding them adult portions (2-3% of their body weight)? also i want to be able to give them other things to eat like eggs, yogurt, yams, etc... what do you recommend (how much to give and what to give).

[gmacleod]

You know, I really find the whole % of body weight thing is rather more complex than it needs to be. For a 2 month old pup, for example, you would feed around 10% of the body weight and gradually reduce the percentage as the dog grows until you get to around the 2-3% mark. You adjust somewhat according to whether the dog is over or underweight (not much point in feeding a fixed percentage of an incorrect weight).

Still, 6% of current body weight actually sounds rather low for a 12 week old pup. For your 1 year old, it sounds rather high...

Another way of doing it is just to guestimate what the dog is going to weigh at adulthood, and feed around 3-4% of that. Probably dropping back to 2-3% once maturity is reached and the metabolism slows down a bit.

[franp]

If your dog has a long lean body type, feeding it more may just make it weigh more..Not make it more "Bully"...

To make a dog more muscular , allot of excersize and play is required.. Just like a human..and heredity and genetics play a large role here..
By one, your dog's body type is established..not really allot to do about it..

And if you are successful in putting on more weight (read muscle) it may not go in the areas that you feel are deficient..

Look to the dam and sire of your dog.. That will give you a pretty good idea of what to expect as far as size and bulk..

It is really important to keep our dogs at the proper weight; both for orthopedic reasons and cardiac reasons..