Puppy Weight & Feeding (Please Help) Worried Parent

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by adkmehrman

My little man Koda is now 5 months old and weighs in around 21-22 pounds.

And that's about right where he should be.

( He seems to carry most of his weight in his chest and front half).

That's where corgis carry most of their weight.

...with a little chicken and rice wet food mixed in because he wont eat it other wise (He was sick to his tummy for a week or two once and the vet put him on a chicken and rice diet so he wont eat his regular food anymore without it).

Yes, he will if you insist. Put his food down for 20 min. If he doesn't eat it you pick it up. No treats or food till the next meal and do the same thing. He will eat. No healthy corgi has ever starved him/herself to death.

Like some other people I thought he was not getting enough food because the dog food bag said he should be eating almost three cups a day.

They're in the business to sell food.

Side note, he often times does not eat all of breakfast and will eat his dinner over the course of an hour or two. He is by no means a typical corgi who will eat ravenously until it is all gone.

If he's not finishing his meals then you should cut back on how much you're giving him. And cut the amount of time he has to eat it.

Peggy

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by Michael Romanos

And he far prefers these things to dry food (kibble).

Most dogs will prefer human food or canned dog food to kibble. That's typical.

I believe in giving pups up to nine months old at least three meals a day with a breakfast cereal type meal and the dinner divided into two portions to be given as lunch and dinner.

Most breeders would disagree with you, as they don't need three meals a day past the age of three or at the most 4 mos.

And they only need the "cearal type meal" as tiny puppies, when you're weaning them from momma to solid food. After a week or so they should be on soaked kibble and no longer getting any cereal food.

Peggy

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by adkmehrman

I am by no means a dog expert but in general do not understand feeding dogs greains at all. Grains and proccessed foods (cereal) are not part of a dogs natural diet and I am kind of wondering as to what the health benefits are.

You're right. There are no benefits to feeding a dog grains. They don't need them. Grains are in dog foods as fillers to hold the other ingredients together. There is no reason to feed them as a seperate meal. No benefit to the dog's health either.

Peggy

[MagnoliaFly]

I think switching to a better quality food as suggested earlier should be your first step. Innova EVO is a great one. Cutting the time down to eat should be done since in the wild, it isn't natural for food to just hang around until the dog is finished eating. They've gotta eat quick and get that food down or another predator is going to take it away. It also helps dogs be less picky since you'll come to an understanding of "eat what I put before you or you won't get anything until next mealtime".

I feed my pup for about 20-30 minutes. She's on Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lovers Soul and she gets about a cup and a half a day split into two meals. Lately her appetite has changed and she's not eating all of it, I'll probably begin cutting it back to a cup a day.

She does get Mother Hubbard cookies (3-4 a day) and if we do a clicker training session she won't get a meal since she'll have eaten many treats (I use Natural Balance tube food cut into squares).

She weighs about 19-20 lbs at 6 months old. She looks like a skinny string bean my friends tell me, but she's a good weight. She walks anywhere between 2-5 miles a day and more on the weekend when we go hiking.

You definately want to put him on a good quality food first. He might lose weight just due to that. Grains shouldn't be a major ingredient in any dog diet.

[CorgiMum]

deleted...

[CorgiMum]

deleted...

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by CorgiMum

My dogs do eat the odd 'training Cheerio' though .

That's different, it's not a "meal". If it is you're doing an awful lot of training. LOL!

Peggy

[CorgiMum]

deleted...

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by CorgiMum

Peggy, serious training is done with poached chicken breast pieces or cheddar.

Ah, yeah, they'll work better for the really good stuff!

Peggy