Is he eating enough?

[sharona1973]

Mocha is 7 months old and has never been a heavy eater. He is probably one of those dogs that will graze all day and never get overweight, but I won't be able to know or test that because Mishka, my 6 year old sheltie is the total opposite and she has even gone after Mocha's food.

I usually feed both of them twice a day. I have read the dog food thread/stickie and have learned that I have not been feeding my dogs the best of foods (hangs headin shame ), I honestly was not educated on that.

Mocha usually never finishes his food because he takes forever to eat it and he usually will not eat it unless I'm closeby...I feed him in the kitchen and if I step away too far, he wants to be near me and will ignore his food until he goes back to it much later. I've tried leaving the food on the floor for him, but Mishka usually sneaks back there and ends up eating it all. So i have to take it up after a while. I thought that if I did that frequently enough, Mocha would catch on that he needs to finish his food when it's time to eat, but that hasn't happened yet.

I'm guessing that he eats about maybe 3/4 cup of his Purina puppy chow per day at the rate that he eats.

Mishka is on the diet Beneful to help her lose weight and gets about 1 1/2 cups per day.

I know those brands are horrible and I have to switch them to a healthier brand....my question is, when I pick a new brand, can I feed them the same food? Mocha is still a puppy...does he need a puppy formula still?

Thanks a lot and go easy on the scolding please.

[Shalva]

I am not going to scold at all.... you know you need to change foods so whats hte point in scolding....

three things....

first I would feed your thief in his crate so that mocha can eat in peace without him stealing the food....or feed mocha in his crate so he can eat in peace..... I have one dog who could be a free feeder and the others drive him nuts so we feed cuinn in his crate (its always cuinn).

second.... you may not have to feed as much... I dont go by weights with food.... I feed and see how they do... if they gain or look fat I cut back and if they lose I increase..... I dont go by strict measurements....

third I am not a fan of puppy food, I do prefer a high quality adult food..... now of course that does not include anything made by purina... and everyone will have different opinions about what high quality means and what food you should switch to.... pretty much I tell my puppy folks that they can use whatever kibble they want as long as its on the whole dog journals list of good kibbles..... personally I dont feed kibble at all...... so that is where I stand on puppy food.

hope this helps
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[mrsgrubby]

Good answer Shalva. Feeding the dogs with one in a crate is a good idea.

If your puppy is hungery he will stay at his bowl and eat even if you walk away. So the fact that he walks away when you do leads me to believe he is full. but feeding him in a crate will encourage him not to follow you.

It has been suggested in several places that food only needs to be available for 20 minutes at a time, after 20 min feel free to pick it up.

Yes, I would agree, change foods. And yes, you can probably feed the same food to both dogs if you find a good balanced meal. If you haven't looked at it yet, Karen K wrote a sticky at the top of one of the catagories about quality food, it was execellent!

[iloveamlet]

i wouldn't worry about how much you're feeding, unless he's starting to eat tons and gain weight. amlet is the same way, he'll follow me all the time and forget about his food. i switched him from proplan to a royal canin puppy formula and he likes the stuff so he has no problem eating now. he may end up really liking the stuff you switch him to and he'll eat it all right up. also, it almost seems like amlet has developed his own eating schedule. i put the food in there twice a day, but he eats twice a day like an hour after i put it in there each time. i think he really just eats when he's hungry. your pup realy may not be as hungry as you think he should be, and if he does not look skinny, he should be fine. my vet actually told me that measuring dog food is less important for smaller dogs (unless they are overweight) but for large breed pups it can be more important.
i agree with the crate feeding too, i've heard it works before. i have to basically hand feed my dog if i bring him to my parents because their dog is spoiled and will steal food.

[sharona1973]

Thanks for the advice. Yes I did read the stickie that Karen put up, hence the change in doggie food.

Unfortunately the thief is my 6 year old sheltie and she won't fit in the crate anymore! She has gotten better as I have been keeping an eye on the doggie food when I can and she stays away as long as she knows I'm watching.

Mocha is not skinny, but he sure feels like he could eat more. He never was a little piggie and I guess I was just worried about him because Mishka was such a pig herself. I think that if I change the doggie food, he might eat more...maybe he doesn't like the purina.

Anyway, thanks for not scolding. I love my dogs and only want the best for them and we're all learning.

I could try to feed Mocha in his crate, but he hasn't been crated for almost 3 weeks and Mrsgrubby, I have tried the 20 minutes thing before...I guess he just isn't very hungry all the time!

[Shalva]

bathrooms make great crates for dogs that don't fit in their crates anymore..... really it is just a matter of keeping them seperated for a certain amount of time.... so that Mocha can eat in peace.....
good luck wtih your kids.
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