[stratkidp38]

I probably should have posted this in the other thread I had going, but I was just curious how many cups I should feed a 7 week old? I am feeding him the large breed puppy chow as well, and I read the thread regarding that so I guess I will stick with that formula.

 

[Mikey T]

Every dog food and dog is different there is no magic formula but a good place to start is on the bag of food. It should have a chart based on the dogs age and size the amount to feed. Keep in mind it is in the best interest of the petfood company that you overfeed, I find the reccomendation are general high I personally start with 25% less than the reccommendation provided the dog is not underwieght to begin with. Make a conscious effort to view the dogs weight and adjust food intake accordingly every 2 week.

So how do you judge a puppy weight? see: Puppy Body Condition

Keeping in mind owners consistently underestimate there dogs BCS (body condition score)
see Owner impressions of three premium diets fed to healthy adult dogs

Purina® Study Confirms Link Between Body Fat and Certain Health Conditions

Other Purina research found that most owners couldn't accurately assess their dogs' body conditions. When owner and expert scores were compared, only 28 percent of owners characterized their pets as above ideal body condition, while 79 percent of the experts scored those same animals to be above ideal body condition. Dr. Larson says this gap is serious because pet owners are not likely to recognize that their pets are overweight and even moderate excess body fat may lead to problems.

[ January 07, 2006, 11:12 PM: Message edited by: Toughynutter ]