Puppies

[johnmum]

I was wondering whether anyone could give me some information on how much a puppy should eat, we bought 2 Jack Russell x Foxies yesterday. I have read the back of the food label but it doesn't really explain just says to feed them 3 times a day.

Thanks
Tanya

[KarniF00l]

Hi Tanya,

Firstly which dry food are you using ? Lucky dog/Pal or other ?

On most packets their should be a weight chart to determine just how much you should give them daily.

I've looked on the back of our Pal puppy packed and i'm assuming that your dogs will grow up to 5-12kg's once adult dogs. Well thats whats predicted anyway on the chart. So 2 - 3 1/3 cups daily and maybe make up some rice and stir in a can of wet dog food. Give them a cup of that daily aswell. I halved that and fed my pup twice a day instead of 3 times.

I hope this helps!

[Mum2Tyla]

Hi,
I am a vet nurse ,dogs really vary, with jack russells and foxies they have a tendancy to be overweight so it is definately something you want to look out for, different brands of food will effect how much to feed, if you are feeding a supermarket brand of food you are going to need to feed more than if you get a food from your vet and you also have to take into consideration if you are feeding anything else with the biscuits. Feeding guides are usually inaccurate and are based on a highly active dog if I fed my dog how much they recommend she would be the size of a house, the other thing to be careful of is that with two dogs , one will be dominant and may eat both lots of food so keep an eye on that. Supermarket brands are okay but if you are going to buy from there go for something like supercoat or optimum they are your better choices, look at the ingredinet lists and make sure chicken is one of the top ingredients, alot of the chepaer foods are bulked up with fibre so you have to feed more which means you have to clean up more. Hope this helps. If you have anymore questions don't hesitate to ask.
Kelly:ecomcity:

[johnmum]

Thanks for the replies I am going to the vets tomorrow to buy some food, I suppose my big concern was definately how much they don't appear to be eating much at all. We have only had them for a day so I suppose it's all so new to them. Also where we got them they had been giving them puppy milk is that ok? Don't seem overally keen on the water should I maybe take the milk out and only give them water?

Tanya

[kea's mum]

HI Johnsmum, i'm a vet nurse too like Kelly Renton, and her advice is spot on. With regards to the puppy milk, if they are used to it, keep them on it for a little while and slowly wean them off it until they drink water only. You can water it down each time until it is just water.To avoid trummy troubles,it's a good idea to keep feeding them for a little while on what the original owners were feeding and gradually change them over to what you want them to eat. If they are on a good brand of puppy dry food, you dont have to worry about any supplementing with calcium or additional vitamins/minerals, so try to get the best you can. If you are worried that they dont seem to eat enough, weigh them every few days to make sure they are gaining weight.But dont overfeed when they get older as they can be prone to obesity later on if they dont burn it off.:)

[johnmum]

Thanks again to all for information, I went out today and purchased Hills Puppy Food so I am slowing weaning them onto it. Thanks again

Tanya