Question:My husband and I need to know what is a normal amount of food to feed a 12 week old german shepherd/ lab mix. We have been feeding her whenever her dish is empty and she seems to be hungry. She is getting a little pudgy and we need to know how much to feed her and how many times a day to feed her.
We are currently giving her dry puppy food. Should we also give her can food??
It has been a long time since I have had a puppy.
Answers:
Depending on the type of food you are feeding, 3-5 cups a day is generally recommended for a dog that size and age. Split this amount of food into 3 feedings each day until she is about 4 months old, then you can go to 2 feedings per day.
The bag of food should have directions for how much to feed based on age and weight as well, so that you know about when you should increase the amount of food.
Have fun with your new puppy!
i would say feed her 3 or 4 times a day. i work at a vet office with 14 week old pups. i wouldn't give her wet food because of all the recalls. good luck. enjoy your puppy!!
what BRAND of dry food are you feeding? chances are its something with by-product in it and the puppy isn't getting fully when it eats. i would recommend checking the back of the food bag for 1) its ingredient listing and 2) recommended feeding guide lines for your puppies weight and age. try to stay away from science diet, iams, purinia or any other brand you can pick up at your local wally world or grocery store.
Hmm, no, I wouldn't keep her dish constantly full. Three times a day for a 3 month old puppy sounds about right. One bowl each time.
purina and iams are both crappy food
some brands I reccommend are:
chicken soup for the pet lover's soul
merricks
innova
evo
california natural
eagle pack
solid gold
wellness
newman's own
wysong
timberwolf organics
natural balance
canidae
She is only 12 weeks and still growing, Use the guidelines that is on the back of the bag. What type of food you feed will depend on how much she needs. Better foods have more nutrtion and takes smaller amounts, poor quality foods like pedigree are mostly filler and she ends up needing more kibble to get the proper nutrtion. If she's getting a lil pudgy, time for some exercize, which is also important to puppies. I wouldnt reccomend putting a puppy on a diet, you dont want to compromise nutrition that a growing puppy needs! Puppies do go thru a stage where they look "pudgy" anyways, in a month or two she will go thru that akward "teenage" stage where parts of her seem to be growing too fast, and other parts havent quite caught up yet!
I have been going thru the same thing with my pup! She is about 15 weeks old. I am feeding her the Iams smart puppy. She loves it! Most puppy and dog foods have a suggested amount food chart somewhere on the bag. Iams says that for my puppy's weight she should be eating 4-1/3 cups a day. I always feed her twice a day half in the morning and half in the evening.However I am still noticing that she is hungry after that. So I have upped her food amount to 5 cups a day. Puppy's will tend to eat more than they really need. I would personally refer to the bag of food you are feeding her.
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