underweight??

[thecooks]

Hello.. I have a question.. I got my baby boxer at about 6 weeks (long upseting story) and the "PERSON" that owns her parents had her on iams puppy chow.. after reading all the information on here I thought that she might have a problem with the corn and all the "yucky" stuff that was used in that food.. so we switched her to Canidea and both my dogs abosolutly LOVE it.. No more loose stool or tummy problems.. but she is still very skinny to me.. she is 10 lbs and is a little over 8.5 weeks old is that too skinny?? we are feeding her about half a cup in the morning and a full cup at night.. should we feed her more or is she ok??

I might just be worried for nothing.. but I know that we had to be VERY careful with what our mini dachshund ate when he was a puppy.. so I just want to be a good mommy to my new baby..

Thanks..

 

[Donna1969]

She sounds of average weight for the age she is.

My pups Echo and Carson were 8.5 pounds @ 8 wks for Carson and 10.7pounds for Echo.

She sounds fine. Be careful of overfeeding a pup. They don't know when to stop it seems and overeat, which can and often does produce runny stools and upset bellies :(

 

[Shakira's Ma]

Pups should be fed 3 to 4 times a day. Try feeding her in the morning, around noon, mid afternoon and then evening. It is good to have changed the food to Canidae. It doesn't sound like she is too too thin. My little guy weighed 9.4 lbs at 7 1/2 weeks and I believe he is perfect, he looks thin but boxers are susposed to be ribby. I think you are on the right track with the food but maybe a couple more feedings would help. Good luck with your baby.

 

[GoCougs]

You need to be feeding her smaller meals more often. She should be eating no less than three times a day, four would be better. Little pups require more food to sustain their growing bodies and high energy level. Those little bellies don't have the capacity to hold that amount of food fed in two meals. You run the risk of making her sick.

Aside from that, 10lbs at 6 weeks sounds right on target. At this age you shouldn't worry about trying to keep her at a "visual" ideal weight. She'll go through all kinds of phases where she looks really starved, and other times where she looks just right until she is 12-18 months....or later.

 

[gmacleod]

If you feel she is too thin, then I think you could increase the amount of food a little. Not a huge amount, but a little.

Thing is, at 10lb she is right at the maximum of the weight range that suggests 1 - 1.5 cups per day. With another ounce of weight, she'll be in the 1.5 - 2 cups a day range (though at the bottom of that, which suggests near the bottom of the feeding guideline also). Anyway, I don't think another quarter cup is likely to go astray there.

However, more than a greater amount of food, I think you need to feed more frequently. An 8 week old baby should be eating a minimum of three meals a day, and preferably more. Little tummies can only deal with small amounts of food at a time, and more than that, long periods between food intakes are likely to lead to low blood sugar or possibly even hypoglycaemia. Just like human babies, young puppies need frequent small meals.

 

[thecooks]

Thanks..

i will start feeding her more frequent smaller meals TODAY.. thanks sooo much for your halp.. you guys/girls here a BW have been a life saver.. thanks..