GSD how much food?

[VinceG]

Hi People.

We've got a GSD and she's now exactly 10 weeks old.

When we got her we were told to feed her 1/2 a sachet of pedigree puppy food and 1 cup full of dried kibble 4 times a day.

She's now on 1 full sachet of pedigree puppy food and a handfull of kibble 4 times a day.

She's growing like mad and has increased in size I would say by about 2 inches since we got her (two weeks)

Trouble is.... with this feeding routine above (now more than she had when she came to us) she seems hungry. Is it just because she's growing?

How much food should we be giving her? I don't want a fat dog. Don't get me wrong, all the food she's eating is not putting her any weight on (no fat that is)

Any help would be really appreciated.

 

[yuckaduck]

First off you could find a much much better quality food then Pedigree.

GSD pups should be fed either a large breed puppy food or even better a good quality all lifestages adult food. Regular puppy food will cause your pup to grow way too fast and cause skelton problems later in life.

 

[GSDMom]

FEEDING

All dogs should be fed twice daily. The amount will vary for age and sex of puppy. The following is general, but will give you a basis to start.

German Shepherds are fast growing dogs; you will not want them too fat or too skinny. As a rule, you want to be able to almost see a shadow of rib cage.

German Shepherds do not need a high protein food, they do very well on 22-24% Protein.
If you feed higher than that level, you may run into problems. Too much excitement and stress can cause diarrhea with a new puppy. Also, do not feed a lot of canned dog food, use just a little to taste, too much not only spoils your puppy, but also may cause diarrhea. We have found they do extremely well with a little unflavored yogurt being added to their food.

FEEDING SCHEDULE FOR YOUNG PUPPIES

8-9 wks of age: ½ cup kibble fed twice daily.
9-10 wks of age: ¾ cups kibble fed twice daily.
10-12 wks of age: 1 ½ cups kibble fed twice daily.
12-16 wks of age: 2 cups kibble fed twice daily.

 

[DanL]

Vince, your pup should grow like mad, thats how they are when they are young. Ours doubled his weight the 1st month. 6 weeks and he was 12lbs. By 10 wks he was 24lbs. 16 weeks he was 44lbs. After that he gained about 10lbs a month till 6 months, and from 6 months @ 67lbs to now, @ 9 months, he's right around 80lbs.

 

[JR0579]

Yeah ... their early stages they grow so fast .... it's unbelievable. At around 6 months of age their growth rate slows down. I have a 7-month old male GSD and I feed him Iams Smart Puppy large breed mixed with MediCal soft food. He eats twice/day; 3.5 cups of kibble and 1/4 of MediCal can each meal.

 

[yuckaduck]

Wow at 8-9 weeks you only fed twice a day. My guys must have thought they were in heaven. I fed 4 times a day until they were 4 months and then 3 times a day until they were 6 months and now twice daily and I will stick with that throughtout their life.

 

[GSDMom]

the FEEDING SCHEDULE I posted is just a guideline
At 8 weeks old I start feeding twice a day, is much easier to train a puppy who is only fed twice a day

 

[Denaluvscorgis]

I've always been under the impression also that puppies need to be fed more often then twice a day also. I think 8 weeks is quite young to start a twice daily feeding schedule.

 

[yuckaduck]

I was under that same impression that since they were so young they could not eat enough in two meals, they require more meals but small portions.

Learn something new everyday! Thanks GSD mom that will make it so much easier for me I will not have to feed the pups in the rescue so often.

 

[Saje]

Hi People.

We've got a GSD and she's now exactly 10 weeks old.

When we got her we were told to feed her 1/2 a sachet of pedigree puppy food and 1 cup full of dried kibble 4 times a day.

She's now on 1 full sachet of pedigree puppy food and a handfull of kibble 4 times a day.

She's growing like mad and has increased in size I would say by about 2 inches since we got her (two weeks)

Trouble is.... with this feeding routine above (now more than she had when she came to us) she seems hungry. Is it just because she's growing?

How much food should we be giving her? I don't want a fat dog. Don't get me wrong, all the food she's eating is not putting her any weight on (no fat that is)

Any help would be really appreciated.

She's a puppy. You don't need to worry about obesity until she stops growing. I'd put her on a quality food and feed her three times a day or so. Depends on your schedule.

 

[oriondw]

It really depends on the type of food and the amout of activity your dog goes through.

 

[oriondw]

She's a puppy. You don't need to worry about obesity until she stops growing. I'd put her on a quality food and feed her three times a day or so. Depends on your schedule.

You still have to watch not to overfeed her.

If you feed too much protein then the muscle mass will grow faster then bone structure and a pup can hurt itself with big weight and weak bones.

 

[Saje]

You still have to watch not to overfeed her.

If you feed too much protein then the muscle mass will grow faster then bone structure and a pup can hurt itself with big weight and weak bones.

that's why you need to feed a quality food. I've never seen an obese puppy.

 

[yuckaduck]

that's why you need to feed a quality food. I've never seen an obese puppy.

Me either with the way they run and play they burn off that fat.

Good quality adult all lifestages food is the way to go in my opinion.

 

[Mordy]

If you feed too much protein then the muscle mass will grow faster then bone structure and a pup can hurt itself with big weight and weak bones.

actually the problem isn't "too much protein". it's the amount of calories the food supplies altogether, and fat supplies 2 1/4 times the amount of calories of protein or carbs.

protein is the most important source of building blocks for many body cells and is required for good health and growth.

the background for how the "high protein is bad" myth came around is that the fat content in all traditional formulas increased along with the protein content - e.g. 22% protein, 12% fat, 23/13, 24/14 and so on. once you got to the ones with really high protein content, you'd also be looking at a fat percentage of 18% or more.

the logical answer is restricting the overall caloric content of the feed rations so that a large breed puppy will not grow at the maximum possible rate, but slowly and evenly, and still get the necessary amounts of nutrients for proper development.

 

[fillyone]

I fed Dante 3 times a day until about 5 months, then 2 times a day.
I'm now feeding 3 times a day again so I can feed smaller amounts at each meal. Helps with "sloppy" poop