she's a bottomless pit! :-)

[sjtorr]

I've been making food for my pup since we brought her home. I've been trying to figure out the right amount of food to give her - the approach I've been taking is that if she licks her bowl clean, she probably needs more food - I can still see most of her ribs, so she's certainly making use of it!
Standard day of food is:
Breakfast: 1/3 cup puppy kibble and 3/4 cup homemade food
mid-morning: 1/2 cup steel cut oats with an egg yolk
lunch: 1/3 cup puppy kibble and 3/4 cup homemade food, with a bit of yoghurt
dinner: 1/3 cup puppy kibble and 3/4 cup homemade food with nutritional yeast and ground flax seed.

plus treats for training.

I've read in other forums about feeding three cups a day, but I think that was straight kibble, and I think I'm on the right track with what I'm doing. Any thoughts from anyone who's been home cooking?

 

[Cami]

the approach I've been taking is that if she licks her bowl clean, she probably needs more food

I don't know if I agree with your approach!
If I fed my dog more when she continued to lick the bowl she would never leave the kitchen. She would literally eat until she exploded. Don't take them licking the bowl as a sign that they need more food. Base your feeding on age, weight, energy level, caloric and fat intake, etc...just don't let the dog decide how much it should be fed. :D

Three cups of kibble could be correct or it could be way off. Just depends on the type of food fed and what the needs of the dog are.

 

[Caney Creek]

I agree with Cami... don't let an enthusiastic eater fool you into thinking that he/she needs more food! Boxers are supposed to be lean... even as adults it's normal -- and actually desirable -- for a few ribs to be visible (not spine or hips though). Puppies tend to be more on the skinny side and boxer puppies are notoriously ribby. It doesn't necessarily mean that they are underweight.

Also agree that three cups per day could be too much, too little, OR just right -- depends on the type of food and the expected adult weight of the puppy.

What does your homemade food consist of?

 

[sjtorr]

The homemade food is chicken, chickpeas, sweet potato, lentils, carrots, cottage cheese, some olive oil, and a bunch of herbs.
I've done some more reading and discovered that she needs about 1600 calories a day at this age, and considering what I'm feeding her, that's about what she's getting. She eats well, but she does know when to stop. I can still see all her ribs, so if anything, I'm probably still not giving her quite enough calories in a day.

I'll do the research to figure out the caloric value of the homemade and somehow figure out how close I am to what she needs. Kind of amazing that she needs almost as much as a full-grown human!! But she is only 12 weeks and has lots of growing to do. Her favourite still remains a bowl of steamed veg. second place goes to the oatmeal and egg. She eats the homemade and kibble if the other two options aren't around