how much? how often?

[cscarro]

Okay - we just brought home our 8 week old pup, Stella. She went to vet and weighs almost 9 pounds. The breeder was feeding her Purina Puppy Chow and I'm trying to switch her over to Wellness. I've been adding it in slowly all week with the hopes of having her completely on Wellness by Sunday.

The issue is that the Purina bag says 3 cups per day and the Wellness bag says 1 3/4 cup. So, I'm confused on how much I should give her...Also, I've been feeding her 3 times a day, but she never finishes her food. Should I switch to twice a day?

Thanks!!

 

[Madea]

Congratulations on your new puppy. I feed tyson 3 cups a day and he is 6 months old. I would go by the wellness directions. If she is not eating it all it maybe too much. Try 2 times a day. Tyson would never finish all of his either when I first started feeding him 3 tines a day. When I went to 2 times a day much better. You will eventually figure out what is right for her. She will let you know. Good luck

 

[jaxsonsmom]

feeding...

I am no expert, but my 10 week old pup is just starting to eat 1 cup at each feeding, although when I brought her home she was already 13 pounds! I am switching foods also, and have been doing a half and half thing, and she seemed fine with that, still had a little bit of upset tummy, but nothing terrible.

Tammy, Jaxson & little Rumor.

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

At 8 weeks she needs to be eating 3-4 times a day, just reduce the overall amount you're feeding. So if you're giving 3 cups a day (that's A LOT for that age and weight!) then still give 3-4 meals a day but reduce that 3 cups to 2 1/2 cups and slip that up over the 3 times and that should help. At that age they need to make sure that they are eating small frequent meals so she absolutely needs the 3-4 meals, but the overall amount is probably too much, so just cut back at each meal and you should see a difference. And then just keep reducing until she's finishing each meal but still growing and maintaining/gaining weight at a healthy rate.

Good luck!

 

[cscarro]

Thank you! That is helpful. I think I will cut it back a bit (amount) and maybe try going to twice a day. I think it is too much.

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Thank you! That is helpful. I think I will cut it back a bit (amount) and maybe try going to twice a day. I think it is too much.

I would HIGHLY urge you to not go to twice a day. 12 hours is a LONG time for a baby to not eat. Not much different than human babies, they have trouble regulating their blood sugar levels and such and without eating those levels are not maintained. Not to mention their tummies are TINY that's a lot of food to shove into a small stomach all at once. Not much different than human babies and kids...small frequent meals is always a better option, just make those small frequent meals smaller in amount. But at 8 weeks they've just barely started regulating their own body temperature. 12 hours is WAY too long to go without them eating for their little bodies...to the point of being dangerous IMO.

 

[TwoDogs]

Alot of people get confused when trying to transition between two foods with a huge difference in the recommended daily portions. You always hear that it is best to go 75% old food with 25% new food for a couple of days, then 50%/50% for a few, then 75% new with 25% old for a few days, then 100% new food.

The part that confuses people is that these are percentages of the recommended portion for EACH food. So a 75% old/25% new meal would be 75% of the old food's recommended portion mixed with 25% of the new food's recommended portion.

In the case of your two foods, a 75% old/25% new mix would be 18oz. Puppy Chow/3.5 oz. Wellness, 50%/50% would be 12oz. Puppy Chow/7oz. Wellness, and 25% old/75% new would be 6oz. Puppy Chow/10.5oz. Wellness. These totals are for an entire day's feeding. You would need to split each mixture into 2-3 meals depending on how many times you are feeding.

 

[Sansal]

At 8 weeks I do think that feeding 3 times a day is probably better than only 2 times. When I brought my puppy home she also almost never finished her food. I switched foods (from Artemis to TOTW) and started to mix in a spoon or two of wet food. Worked for me.

 

[LauraLou]

I have an 8 week old puppy, Beaux; he weighs just under 10. The breeder had him on Purina as well and even sent us home with a bag, so he's still on it. At first we tried the 2x a day routine, but it just wasn't finishing it. He is growing so fast, I just feel like he needs to eat more often! I was doing 1 cup twice a day. Yesterday I began trying 1/2 cup 3x a day and it's perfect. He seems to enjoy actually finishing what I put in front of him! Good luck and enjoy your puppy!