How much does your BC eat?

[Samson]

Samson only really eats in the morning when I put him in his crate before work. I put food in his bowl when I get home but he doesnt touch it until the following morning. He still goes #2 at least 3 or 4 times a day. Is that normal that he only eats once a day?

 

His food is in his crate (which he's not 100% fond of yet) so I'm thinking that maybe that is why he only eats once. I dont know. Nothing serious, just curious. Thanks

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

Hmm. I guess it depends on what kind of food and how much you are feeding him. Oh, and how old is he? I'm no expert, but from conversations with my vet an adult dog should only go #2 twice a day. Of course that depends on what they eat. But basically the more they go, the more likely it is that they aren't drawing all they could be from their food. ie, the food has more "filler" than nutrients. I feed Daisy just under 1 cup of a good quality kibble in the morning and in the evening (I put a little bit of warm water over it to make her eat it right away, works like a charm!) and she goes twice a day. Not to get into analyzing stool or anything, but you might want to check it out. If it's soft and really smelly and he's going that much, you might want to change foods. But that's MHO and what works for my dog...

 

Julie

[mbc1963]

My dog eats 3/4 cups of Canidae in the morning and 3/4 cups at night. He does manage to squeak out 3 - 4 poops a day.

 

Mary

[M.L.]

Willow is about 30 lbs. and ate 3/4 cup of Canidae in the am and pm.

Bailey is about 40 lbs and ate 1 cup of Canidae in the am and pm.

Ginger is about 55 lbs and ate 1.5 cups of Canidae in the am and pm.

 

I feed them twice a day. All of them normally only poo twice a day, after eating.

[aBC4me]

Blaze eats at night, he's 39 pounds and I give him about 3 cups of dry cereal a day. I don't give him soft food, but will mix pumpkin in it sometimes. There are times on the weekend that I will make breakfast and when I do he gets scrambled eggs with us, and sometimes when i make Lasagna he gets cottage cheese, if it is one of those days we will only give him 2.5 cups. He goes # 2, 3 times a day still. Once in the morning, once in the afternoon and once before bed.

[Kenbo]

All 4 BC's eat twice a day. About 1 and 1/2 cups each time. They are about 35 pounds and look skinny. But they stay outside and run most of the day.

[MyMace]

maceo eats 2 cups of kibble in the morning...and #2's twice a day...

he is about 46# but seems kind of skinny lately...any way to tell if his weight is ok without a trip to the vet??

[Michelle K]

any way to tell if his weight is ok without a trip to the vet??

 

This is a chart like the one my vet has hanging in his office...

http://www.placervillevet.com/canine%20body%20condition.htm

 

I've always gone by the "you should be able to feel the ribs and see a waist, but the ribs should not be protruding".

[silhouettestable]

Lightning, 3 yr. old 64 lb lean muscled BC/lab - 1 1/2 cups twice daily, sometimes 3x if he asks

Thunder, 2 yr. old 62 lb muscled mix - 1 1/2 cups twice daily

Rain, 10 1/2 month 43.5 lb average build BC 1-1 1/2 cups twice daily

Storm, 10 1/2 month 50+ lb average build BC 1 1/2 cups twice daily

Flash, 2 yr. old BC/ACD(?) mix of questionable weight (used to be about 45 lbs then he kind of became a sausage on legs) 3/4 cups twice daily (I think he was cleaning up Rain and Storm's puppy food if they didn't finish when they were younger and eating that)

Noah, 6 yr. old rough collie, a whopping 93 pounds last time weighed 3/4 cups twice daily

and then there's Flurry, but he's only 9 1/2 weeks.

 

I feed them all (except Flurry) a large breed kibble (I think it's 23/13 or 26/13 or close to that), and the dogs that are in training for sledding get high protein, high fat (30/20) mixed half & half with their regular food on working days. Right now Rain and Storm are back onto eating puppy food mixed half & half with their regular kibble, just because they try to eat Flurry's and he tries to eat theirs, so those three are all getting a mix. When the dogs are training regularly I also often cook them up a soup or stew that I add in to their food with warm water. Extra fat and protein, plus it helps to keep them hydrated and ensures everybody eats up quickly so I know they all got their own food. The 2 fat boys don't get the extras, just a little bit of broth so they don't feel like they're missing out on something.

 

If the dogs are fit and not carrying excess weight and act hungry (Lightning will paw or bang his bowl that's in a stand asking for food), I'll give them extra, but not the overweight ones no matter how sad they look. In the summertime though in the heat I find that everyone's appetite tends to drop off and my dogs will often only eat once a day then.

[Samson]

Thanks for all the great info. He's about 11 months old and is eating Purina One adult dog food - 26 protein and 16 fat. Does that sound about right for a dog his age

[Lewie'sMom]

Lewie's at 6 cups a day, 2 cups 3 x day. I'd been feeding him Science Diet regular puppy food but when he went off the chart at 45# at 4 months I started mixing the regular w/large breed puppy SD. I should probably qualify this by saying he is a mix but I don't know with what. He had pretty big honkin' big feet as a little baby that's he's finally growing into. His weight gain seems to have slowed down a bit being 50# at 6 months. I'm watching him to make sure he doesn't chub out. He still has a nicely defined waistline so I'd say we're doing OK.

 

Now if mom could just get her waistline more defined!

[Aquarius89]

Jersey was getting 2 cups a day (morning & evening), but is transferring to once a day now at 1 1/3 cups dry. Mickey and Molly both get 1 1/3 cups in the evening with some wet or sometimes veggies.

 

I feed my dogs Pedigree.

[Beth G]

With all the fillers and by product ingredients in Purina, and Science diet dog foods, dogs fed those two foods, would tend eat more, and to go alot more often as there is less good stuff in their food that their bodies can use.

[Dixie_Girl]

My dogs get Purina one lamb and rice. They are free fed and only see them crap once a day. Because I have a doggie door, they probly go more, but I just make sure they go at least once and to see that it is not the runs. Their health is great, their weight is perfect and they have plenty of energy and muscle mass. That's all I know.

[Lewie'sMom]

With all the fillers and by product ingredients in Purina, and Science diet dog foods, dogs fed those two foods, would tend eat more, and to go alot more often as there is less good stuff in their food that their bodies can use.

 

Wow Beth, I never thought of that. I assumed that since SD is considered premium and has been recommended by my vet it's a good brand. Maybe it's not what I should be feeding him. My last two guys were on SD. Is there something else I should be considering?

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks.

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

I have just come across some info that may be appropriate for this topic. I have one of those kind of "A-Z" info on healthy dogs books, with info on what to do if this or that happens to fido (bee sting, broken leg, vomiting etc.). I was leafing through it and I noticed that it had a section on Pet Food Labels and this is what I found out;

 

1- For a product to be called "Chicken" it must contain at least 70% of that product by weight

2- For Chicken "Dinner", "Entree", "Formula" and on it must contain at least 25% of that product by weight

3- To be called "dog food with chicken" must only contain 3% of that product by weight

4- To be called "Chicken Flavoured" must only have a detectable trace of that product.

 

There is more info at this site: (long/boring, but worth the read if you love your doggie!!)

http://www.fda.gov/cvm/petlabel.htm

 

Every one's opinion of what is good will be different, but if you can understand what to take out of a pet food label you have a better chance of feeding your dog right. I don't want to bash "Big Box" name brands or make someone feel bad for feeding it to their dog, but since the whole melamine recall incident you can't be too careful! I feed Daisy ACANA made by Champion Pet Foods right here in Alberta and I have even had email conversations with the owner about their food/ingredients and humane taste testing and those facts alone make me feel confident that I am feeding my dog a good quality food. And for the most part all those foods that you can get at your local "Big Name Here" stores probably have too much filler and not enough of what your dog needs. (JMHO)

 

Julie

[MaggieDog]

Pedigree actually rates one of the lowest by the dog food project: 1 star only because they can't rate it lower - its full of crap fillers imo.

 

I feed both girls 3/4 cup Evo kibble twice/day - Z is a 12mo corgi mix weighing about 23lbs and Maggie is a BC/ACD cross weighing 33lbs; both are on the light end of normal due to my performance work with both.

[Maizy]

Julie - thanks for that info and website. Very good.

 

I was feeding both Tess and Keegan 1 cups twice daily of Canidae. They were getting a little chunky so they are on a diet. I had a baby recently so we were all a little less active. So now they eat 1/2 cup twice daily of Canidae. Their stools are fine.

[Beth G]

Yeah there are several great dog foods. For instance see here:

 

 

http://www.bichonfriseusa.com/ref/wdjfood.htm

 

And feeding better foods actually saves you money as the dogs eat less (poop less)and get more out of it.

[Michelle K]

With all the fillers and by product ingredients in Purina, and Science diet dog foods, dogs fed those two foods, would tend eat more, and to go alot more often as there is less good stuff in their food that their bodies can use.

 

It depends on which Purina, though, because Alpo and Mighty Dog are going to rate much lower than Pro Plan. That's just what I've always found. I don't like SD at all...never have. I feed Pro Plan, but it works for my dogs. As I've stated on other posts, 2 of my dogs have extremely sensitive stomachs. None of the high quality foods that I tried (Innova, Solid Gold, Canidae, Eukanuba, etc) worked for them. They had horrible diarrhea and vomiting (with some). Mine are doing great on this food...firm stools, beautiful coats, skin that isn't dry and flaky, good weights, etc.

 

I assumed that since SD is considered premium and has been recommended by my vet it's a good brand. Maybe it's not what I should be feeding him. My last two guys were on SD. Is there something else I should be considering?

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks.

 

Something I was told a long time ago made sense. The vets sell SD, so naturally they'll promote it. If they don't promote it, then they get no money for their clinics. I know that my vet sells SD, but he actually feeds his own dogs Purina Pro Plan.

 

I'm definitely not saying that Pro Plan is the best food, because it isn't. All I'm saying is that it works for my dogs. You have to find what works. Just because it works for mine doesn't mean that it will work for yours. It's just like with us, some foods agree with us and some don't. Seafood is supposed to be great for us, but I'm allergic to shellfish and don't like the taste of fish, so it doesn't work for me. Make sense?

[Guest SweetJordan]

Wow Beth, I never thought of that. I assumed that since SD is considered premium and has been recommended by my vet it's a good brand. Maybe it's not what I should be feeding him. My last two guys were on SD. Is there something else I should be considering?

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks.

Vets receive very little schooling in nutrition, but what they do receive comes mainly out of the mouths of people from SD. The same is true for vet techs.

I've also heard that they provide funding to schools, but I don't know if that has any veracity. The only vets I would trust to provide me w/ info. on nutrition for my dogs is a holistic vet.

The last time I had a puppy the vet I used at the time said to me just keep feeding him what the breeder was feeding him. He didn't even ask me what the breeder had been feeding him.

[Chesney's Girl]

Chesney eats about 1lbs (of raw food) per day. He is 3 years old 40 pounds and goes poo 1 time a day (about the size of cat poo), usually in the morning.

[Lewie'sMom]

Sounds like I have some research to do. Lewie's two-two's are stanky! and big! Sometimes I think his black and white coloring comes from the Holstein cow!

[juliepoudrier]

Just to point out the other side of the coin, when I feed Canidae my dogs' stool volume goes *way* up. I still keep it in the rotation, but I certainly don't feed it because it's a premium food and creates smaller stools. I know folks whose dogs do well on junk, those whose dogs do well on mediocre food, those who tried premium foods and still had problems. I personally think you should feed the best that you can afford to feed, while taking into consideration what *your* dog does well on.

 

J.

[PSmitty]

Excellent point, Julie. I realize we can't all feed premium foods, so we just do the best we can.

 

Patty, IMO, for what you're paying for Science Diet (and I won't bash it, but will say it wouldn't be something I'd feed), you could feed a much higher quality food. I'm amazed at what Science Diet and Iams cost, when you could feed a true premium food for close (or maybe less, since you end up feeding less of a better food). And with Lewie getting as big as he is, he doesn't need puppy food. Actually, puppy food isn't really necessary at all. You can start puppies right on an "all life stages" food, FWIW.

 

Of course I have to give my favorite doggie nutrition food site: www.dogfoodproject.com. Please give it a read, you'll learn lots!

 

OK, back to the OP's question, my dogs:

 

Lilly (lab mix) 37 lbs, eats 2/3 cup of Evo twice a day.

Jack (BC mix) 50 lbs, eats 1 cup of Evo twice a day.

Alex (BC) 32 lbs, eats 2/3 cup (actually a bit more, but I eyeball it) of Evo twice a day.

 

They also get yogurt and pumpkin daily and their meals are usually supplemented with some raw meat or whatever healthy we're having for dinner that we might share. And I never counted, but they usually poo a couple of times a day.