Acana puppy food! Our puppy underweight??

[nadialilb]

So I written a post a couple weeks ago regarding our puppy food being switch for one of our boxers pups who is 9 weeks old. We fully switch him to the acana puppy food. He has been on it for at least a week almost now and were noticing he is very ribby. I do know boxers are ribby anyhow, but some people are asking us why he so skinny and we are noticing that he is starting to show a little hip bone in his lower back area. Not too noticeable but enough to know it was not there a week ago. We are feeding him according to his weight on the bag but idk if he should eat more and give it to him because with acana if you do overfeed that food it can give them runny poo sometimes because it is a rich dog food. Anyone have any suggestions we have another week to go until our first vet appointment with him. We do know that a lot of our friends also say our male boxer who is 10 months is really thin but our vet says he shows no bones or ribs so he is fine he is just lanky and will bulk out eventually. Will our 9 weeks old boxer pup do the same soon or do you think it could be not enough food? I just want some input on how maybe we can feed him more or is it just a stage he is going through?
Oh and btw the puppy food for acana puppy and junior says for his weight he should be eating 1 1/4 cup a day....

 

[Bathel]

Oh and btw the puppy food for acana puppy and junior says for his weight he should be eating 1 1/4 cup a day....

Acana puppy and junior food is for dogs that at full maturity will be under 55 lbs. That weight would be at the low side for a female in the breed standard and well low for a male. Are the parents of your pup small boxers?

The feeding guide is just a starting point. You may need to add more or take some away depending on the pup.

Pups tend to go through growth spurts and will become ribby for a week or two as they fill out... then they'll shoot up again and be ribby. My suggestion is to weight your pup weekly and make sure the pup is gaining weight and not losing weight. Add a bit of food for now, maybe a 1/4 cup and see how it goes. Also, another way of getting some more calories in your pup without "over feeding" is to add some training treats into their diet. You should be trying to teach your pup to sit/stay/laydown and if you do that daily with some treats, it's an easy way to both accomplish some training and get some meet on your pups bones.

 

[nadialilb]

His mom was 65 and dad was 92 pounds. When i bought the puppy acana the other puppy acana is for small breed and another for large breed. But everyone says dont put him on large they aint a large breed. Kinda confuse at the moment. :S

 

[Jan]

I would do as Bathel suggested and up the food by a 1/4 cup and see what happens. You could also try adding some things to his food like cottage cheese, cooked eggs etc.

Good luck!

 

[Bathel]

His mom was 65 and dad was 92 pounds. When i bought the puppy acana the other puppy acana is for small breed and another for large breed. But everyone says dont put him on large they aint a large breed. Kinda confuse at the moment. :S

I used an all stage life food, which Acana has. I've used the Pacifica and the Duck/Pear. Read the package fine print on the feeding, it will describe how to adjust the food to your dogs age.