My 7 week old boxer is currently on BB. They recommend she eats 1 cup a day.. She is fairly skinny (can see all the ribs and some of the back of the hip bone) I dont know if thats normal. I will be seeing a vet soon but i just want to put my mind to ease. Also I have no idea how to put her on a schedule eating because she sleeps alot
. My desired schedule is 7am-noon- and5-6ish eating schedule. But she doesnt wake up in time or has no appetite. What can i do to get her to a strict routine?
Boxers are supposed to be lean ... but at 7 weeks she should still have a little puppy fat on her. It sounds as if she is a little underweight if you can see all of her ribs plus her hip bone. Have you wormed her ? She should have been wormed at 6 weeks, then every 2 weeks until she is 16 weeks old- at least that's the regime my vet follows here.
Sometimes a new puppy takes a little while to settle and can be a bit picky about eating. My Luna was also very small and skinny when we got her as she had had coccidia . She would eat her breakfast, and dinner, but she wasn't at all interested in lunch ... forget trying to fit in a fourth meal at that point ! .... and I wanted her to eat well and get some weight back on, so badly !
In the early days, I used to hand feed her her lunch ... why she would eat out of my hand and not the bowl, I have no idea, but it worked
It has the double benefit of also getting them used to your hand being allowed in their food bowl from the get go.
You may also need to experiment a bit with the consistency of the kibble. When Luna was very young I used to make a hot gravy with canned wet puppy food and a some hot water to soften the kibble, so that I could mash it a bit with a fork ( let it cool obviously ! ) She wouldn't eat it, if the kibble was left whole.
I am not sure about the correct amount to feed BB, but the feed guide is just that, a guideline - each puppy is different. Initially I used to offer more than I thought she should eat, in her bowl at each feed, and let her decide when to stop ... you get a good idea of your puppy's requirement after a few days. As she grew and started to eat every little scrap, then I would up the quantity slightly. I judged if she was eating the right amount by the way she looked and weight gain progress.
Choose the meal times that suit you best, but try to keep them evenly spaced throughout the day. Your little one is still young, so 4 meals a day would be better at first, if you can manage that. I used to wake Luna up for her meals, simply because life had to go on, and couldn't revolve around her snooze agenda
.... but potty her when she first wakes, and have a bit of a play with her, by which time she will be wide awake enough to eat. You will be surprised that in next to no-time she will know the clock better than you and come looking for her food when it's time
Hope this helps ... and would love to see a photo of your baby.
Jinny