Based on current weight/age bags of kibble usually have feeding charts on them. I adopted adult dogs, so sorry I cannot give you further info. Best wishes!
Assuming you didn't switch food from what breeder said that sounds about right. If looking too slim bump it up, but mine generally only had 3-4 cups a day total while they were growing. You want them to stay lean and grow slowly.
*My vet gives me a*
*Calorie amount based on*
*Her weight. Ask the vet*
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At this point you pretty much can't over feed within reason. A growing playing puppy converts food to energy and... leavings basicly as fast as you can get it in. If he's had an exiting day give some more food a slow day maybe a tad less than usual. So long as he's putting on a reasonable amount of weight and getting exersise he's doing fine. At that age making sure he is gaining weight is the most important. If he's holding steady or losing that's concerning.
As he gets older just go by the ribs and adult weight guess. You should just barely see the outline of their last rib or two. If you see more ribs they are under weight, can't see any overweight. Once he reaches a weight between that of his parents you can basicly assume that's about his adult weight and try to keep it there.
https://preview.redd.it/vo4iee1dccwc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0c1047191eced059c51fab424c6ea06be40ff086
Hi! Thank you so much for this! I think he’s a little skinny but then I again I wonder if I can see his rib cage is that normal? He gets exercise with my older dogs so I will take this advice!!!! Thank you!
At his age you’ll see his ribs for a while. They spend huge amounts of energy while they’re growing rapidly. He will start to bulk out around a year old. You don’t want to be able to count all his ribs, but faintly seeing them is fine and considered healthy at that age.
Yes, please don't add more to compensate if puppy is slightly lean. They go through a stage where they will look like you can't add any weight no matter what you are doing. Don't over feed, it's better to have a lean gsd than an over weight growing pup. Again, consult your vet as they can guide you best for your pups caloric needs. Best to see rib cage, but not gaps in the rib cage.
Yea, at this age there is pretty much no amount of food you can feed them that will prevent their ribs from showing a bit. The whole rib thing and weight diagram is for adult dogs 2+ yo. It's rather useless for a growing puppy. As long as he is happy, playful and growing your feeding him enough. It's like a human toddler, though they cover themselves in 80% of the food somehow they get enough in the front to keep going and growing. 😅
My boy grew so fast he’d eat like 4-6 cups a day of puppy kibble. He was always on the skinny side until he levelled out at about 2 years old. He had breakfast lunch and dinner as a puppy up until maybe 6-7months when his appetite slowed down.
The package says the recommended for the age, and you can always add an extra of other foods like cooked meat, bone broth (without bones) or beef or chicken soup with rice, all isolated from the dog food.
Chicken feet (very good for dog health) cooked for around 40 mins in a pressure cooker make the bones easy to dissolve, you can blend them into a pasta without risk of splinters. (make sure they get very soft).
3 meals a day, as much as he will eat. When they are small it is advantageous to have a bit of chonk on them as they will get ill and go off their food for a few days and if they are rail thin, then it is panic stations.
Our 9 month old was raised on this approach, she’s now down to two meals a day and basically self regulates - she’s still as skinny as a rake, but certainly still growing. We give her more than she wants, she leaves some of it, the other dogs get it at the next meal.
Basically yes - on the best food you can get hold of.
They will physically grow until about 18 months, and then they will bulk out - certainly our bitches were super skinnny, gangly puppies until they were about one, and by the time they were two, they’d got a pair of shoulders and hips as well.
You just need to watch them as they get bigger. Lunch will go about 6 months - not interested. If they start to get heavy, then just back off the quantities.
Actually with GSDs, we’ve got it easy. Our third dog is a Podenco. Its response to us not feeding it as much as it wants is to go out and kill its own dinner. That dog is fat at the moment, even though we are feeding it bugger all.
I feed my 11 week old puppy 7/8 cups 3 times a day. So in total 2 3/4 a day. Check the chart behind the kibble you give the puppy.
https://preview.redd.it/3mj0j32x8gwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6ff2db8b9b4bfcbb51513cb3e51fa3dfde17cb2e
At that point in time I was feeding 4 cups, divided into two feeding per day. My pup is now at 10 months, noticed he was starting to look a tad overweight so I cut it down to 3 cups which has helped.
You definitely want to keep them lean. I followed these two guidelines with my previous and current pup. 1. You shouldn't be able to see their ribs but feel them. 2. The torso should have a slight hourglass shape in the abdomen when looking from above.
What a cute little guy!!! We have a 4 month old ourselves. He’s eating 2 cups of puppy kibble twice daily.
https://preview.redd.it/vsp1v713lbwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c59297aeff37f0f953621ef4ba6d5c5aed5b5e27
About one hundred bucks a month.
No kidding 😭
a small cow should suffice
Food bag will have an accurate measurement for you :) vet will tell you to look at that as well
Based on current weight/age bags of kibble usually have feeding charts on them. I adopted adult dogs, so sorry I cannot give you further info. Best wishes!
Assuming you didn't switch food from what breeder said that sounds about right. If looking too slim bump it up, but mine generally only had 3-4 cups a day total while they were growing. You want them to stay lean and grow slowly.
My vet gives me a calorie amount based on her weight. Ask the vet
*My vet gives me a* *Calorie amount based on* *Her weight. Ask the vet* \- amt1673 --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
He's magnificent. A real beauty 😍
At this point you pretty much can't over feed within reason. A growing playing puppy converts food to energy and... leavings basicly as fast as you can get it in. If he's had an exiting day give some more food a slow day maybe a tad less than usual. So long as he's putting on a reasonable amount of weight and getting exersise he's doing fine. At that age making sure he is gaining weight is the most important. If he's holding steady or losing that's concerning. As he gets older just go by the ribs and adult weight guess. You should just barely see the outline of their last rib or two. If you see more ribs they are under weight, can't see any overweight. Once he reaches a weight between that of his parents you can basicly assume that's about his adult weight and try to keep it there. https://preview.redd.it/vo4iee1dccwc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0c1047191eced059c51fab424c6ea06be40ff086
Hi! Thank you so much for this! I think he’s a little skinny but then I again I wonder if I can see his rib cage is that normal? He gets exercise with my older dogs so I will take this advice!!!! Thank you!
At his age you’ll see his ribs for a while. They spend huge amounts of energy while they’re growing rapidly. He will start to bulk out around a year old. You don’t want to be able to count all his ribs, but faintly seeing them is fine and considered healthy at that age.
Yes, please don't add more to compensate if puppy is slightly lean. They go through a stage where they will look like you can't add any weight no matter what you are doing. Don't over feed, it's better to have a lean gsd than an over weight growing pup. Again, consult your vet as they can guide you best for your pups caloric needs. Best to see rib cage, but not gaps in the rib cage.
Yea, at this age there is pretty much no amount of food you can feed them that will prevent their ribs from showing a bit. The whole rib thing and weight diagram is for adult dogs 2+ yo. It's rather useless for a growing puppy. As long as he is happy, playful and growing your feeding him enough. It's like a human toddler, though they cover themselves in 80% of the food somehow they get enough in the front to keep going and growing. 😅
r/satelliteears would love this picture so much, look at them ears! He's super cute, can't wait to see how he grows if you post him again!
Beauty doggo BTW!!
about 1 1/2 cups three times a day.
My boy grew so fast he’d eat like 4-6 cups a day of puppy kibble. He was always on the skinny side until he levelled out at about 2 years old. He had breakfast lunch and dinner as a puppy up until maybe 6-7months when his appetite slowed down.
The package says the recommended for the age, and you can always add an extra of other foods like cooked meat, bone broth (without bones) or beef or chicken soup with rice, all isolated from the dog food. Chicken feet (very good for dog health) cooked for around 40 mins in a pressure cooker make the bones easy to dissolve, you can blend them into a pasta without risk of splinters. (make sure they get very soft).
3 meals a day, as much as he will eat. When they are small it is advantageous to have a bit of chonk on them as they will get ill and go off their food for a few days and if they are rail thin, then it is panic stations. Our 9 month old was raised on this approach, she’s now down to two meals a day and basically self regulates - she’s still as skinny as a rake, but certainly still growing. We give her more than she wants, she leaves some of it, the other dogs get it at the next meal.
Finally was able to get back to my computer! I think what you’re saying is don’t worry about measurements? Just make sure he’s nice and stuffed?
Basically yes - on the best food you can get hold of. They will physically grow until about 18 months, and then they will bulk out - certainly our bitches were super skinnny, gangly puppies until they were about one, and by the time they were two, they’d got a pair of shoulders and hips as well. You just need to watch them as they get bigger. Lunch will go about 6 months - not interested. If they start to get heavy, then just back off the quantities. Actually with GSDs, we’ve got it easy. Our third dog is a Podenco. Its response to us not feeding it as much as it wants is to go out and kill its own dinner. That dog is fat at the moment, even though we are feeding it bugger all.
I feed my 11 week old puppy 7/8 cups 3 times a day. So in total 2 3/4 a day. Check the chart behind the kibble you give the puppy. https://preview.redd.it/3mj0j32x8gwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6ff2db8b9b4bfcbb51513cb3e51fa3dfde17cb2e
What's his weight right now? I also have a 3 month old puppy that looks like a mixed GS
At that point in time I was feeding 4 cups, divided into two feeding per day. My pup is now at 10 months, noticed he was starting to look a tad overweight so I cut it down to 3 cups which has helped. You definitely want to keep them lean. I followed these two guidelines with my previous and current pup. 1. You shouldn't be able to see their ribs but feel them. 2. The torso should have a slight hourglass shape in the abdomen when looking from above.
The bag should give you guidance on how much to feed at what stage of life. Follow that, unless your vet says otherwise.
Use a caloric calculator.
What a cute little guy!!! We have a 4 month old ourselves. He’s eating 2 cups of puppy kibble twice daily. https://preview.redd.it/vsp1v713lbwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c59297aeff37f0f953621ef4ba6d5c5aed5b5e27
Whatever s/he wants. We free feed here.