Feeding amount

[nadialilb]

Our little boy is now 9 months old and im wondering if im under feeding him. He is eating the pacifica acana and it is great food and does good with his allergies . We feed him twice a day two cups a feeding but seems to always want food and eats the food like he is starving. His ribs are not showing but he is slim and our vet said he is a good weight and not overweight. Does anyone have any suggestions on when to cut them back on portion sizes or if i should be feeding him more till he is a year old. I do know they like food all day long sometimes but i feel like i am unsure of what to feed him since the dog food gives amounts for adult dogs not puppy stages.

 

[Bathel]

Our little boy is now 9 months old and im wondering if im under feeding him. He is eating the pacifica acana and it is great food and does good with his allergies . We feed him twice a day two cups a feeding but seems to always want food and eats the food like he is starving. His ribs are not showing but he is slim and our vet said he is a good weight and not overweight. Does anyone have any suggestions on when to cut them back on portion sizes or if i should be feeding him more till he is a year old. I do know they like food all day long sometimes but i feel like i am unsure of what to feed him since the dog food gives amounts for adult dogs not puppy stages.

How much does he weight?

My guess is that at 9 months, two cups per day is fine. According to the feeding chart, at 2 cups per day that would equal to a 30ish lbs puppy at 9 months. (Note that for a 9-11 month old pup, you multiply the chart by 1 1/4 to get the feeding amount per day).

My little girl would go through spurts where she would act like she was starving... she would normally shoot up in size and become "ribby" around that time. If her weight looks good now, start weighing her weekly to make sure it continues to move up and doesn't go down. Use the chart as a guideline... but it's not an "in stone" amount. I would give my girl a little bit more food at the times when she started acting like she was starving...

 

[nadialilb]

He is nine months and weighs 58 pounds but he is very tall and not filled out anywhere on his body. The vet says he looks like a long legged baby deer very skinny . He has been that weight for a month now and has not gained any since i cut back his food.

 

[Bathel]

He is nine months and weighs 58 pounds but he is very tall and not filled out anywhere on his body. The vet says he looks like a long legged baby deer very skinny . He has been that weight for a month now and has not gained any since i cut back his food.

OH.. I see where you're feeding 2 cups per feeding for 4 cups per day... that would be equal to about a 60 lbs pup at 9 months. That's one big boy!

Boxer tend to grow UP in height for the first year and then fill out from year 1 to 2.

My girl would get very ribby at periods during the first 14 months when she hit a growth spurt.

If he looks healthy now, just keep checking his weight to make sure it's not dropping. You can increase his food if you want, but make sure he stays lean.

Here are some links to some boxer images so you can compare how they look to your boy. Boxers are supposed to be very lean.

http://www.glenauldboxers.com/images/9t085d-030_sue.jpg

http://desertboxers.com/picture_library/Sum4.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Rj_boxer.jpg

 

[Bathel]

BTW, Acana Pacific does have all stage life instructions on the package. Look at the fine print under the feeding chart. For a 9-11 month old pup you feed 1 1/4 x the chart amount.

IE for your pup... at 58 pounds you'd feed roughly 3 cups for an adult, but for a 9 month pup you'd feed 1.25x that amount... or roughly 3.75 cups. So at 4 cups you are pretty near the guideline.

At one year, you'd start going by just the chart with no multiplier.

Again, the chart is a guideline and your pup may need more/less than what is recommend. It's easiest to just check his weight to make sure he's not losing weight... while keeping him lean to the eye.

 

[nadialilb]

Ok thanks so much ...I guess by how fast he eats its common for boxers to scoff their foods down fast, my vet said he has seen a few which eat fast too they just love their food i guess . We will just keep him at the 4 cups because I tried giving him a little extra for two days and it made his stool softer so I am guessing he was getting too much of that food. Thanks for the information cant wait for him to bulk out a little he surely gets called a long legged baby deer from everyone lately :D