Puppy Weight & Feeding (Please Help) Worried Parent

[adkmehrman]

My little man Koda is now 5 months old and weighs in around 21-22 pounds. He is a little bit portly but I can easily feel his ribs and he by no means looks like an obviously fat dog ( He seems to carry most of his weight in his chest and front half). But I was reading an older forum and most people were saying that there dogs were between 16-18 pounds. We are currently feeding him 3/4 of a cup of IAMS dry food twice a day 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). 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. So my question is am I feeding him to much and am I going to have a very large Corgi on my hands.

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.

[adkmehrman]

I am sorry I ment to say most people were saying their dogs were between 16-18 pounds at 5 months not ingeneral.

[corgimom]

It has always been my understanding to never follow the "recommended amount" on a food bag for a Corgi.

I will tell you that when Cody was 5 months old, he weighed 19 pounds and at 6 months he weighed about 23 pounds. Once he hit the 6 month age, the rate at which he gained weight dropped significantly. Cody gets fed about 1 cup of food a day and it is broken up into three meals. He also gets some treats and fruits and veggies at times.

He is now 10 months old and weighs 26 pounds. He has been maintaining this weight for quite some time now. I don't think you can judge what your dog should weigh based on what others weigh because of the various different sizes of Corgis that we all have and the different activity level they may have.

How much exercise does he get?

[Dillydoodle]

DIllon is a rather large corgi ( comes from somewhat larger stock) he is now 14 months old and is about 28 lbs- I took dillon off the puppy food at about 4 1/2 months of age ( I talked to my vet and Dillon's breeder about best times to take them off the puppy food to avoid him gaining too much weight and that was their recommendation. I never believe what i read on the pet food bags, they want you to feed way too much. This is what dillon eats ( and incidently has been eating same amounts since i took him off the puppy food- he gets a mixture of 1/2 cup of Wellness lamb and sweetpotato dry mixed with about 2 tablespoons of wellness lamb and sweet potato canned food mixed with about 2 tablespoons of organic lowfat plain yogurt and he gets this twice a day. I don't give him a lot of cookies or treats- and his cookies tend to be little pieces of his dry food. I am trying not to let him get overweight becuase of the issues that corgis can have with their backs when they are too heavy. When viewed from above you should see a definate waist, hour-glass figure.
Emilie

[adkmehrman]

He actually gets quit a bit of excercise because he goes to work with me and has to walk for about 15 in minutes in the mourning and the afternoon in total between the walk to the ferry, and then the 5 block walk to and from my office. And then he gets a after dinner stroll with mom for about 20 minutes. There are also other dogs in my office in particular Marty (Cairn Terrier) and those two romp pretty hard together for a couple of hours a day.

But Since I am feeding Koda about twice as much dog food a day as you are I am feeling that maybe I am feeding him to much (he does not get much if any treats throughout the day though, he has no intrist in dog biscuits)

[adkmehrman]

Originally Posted by Dillydoodle

DIllon is a rather large corgi ( comes from somewhat larger stock) he is now 14 months old and is about 28 lbs- I took dillon off the puppy food at about 4 1/2 months of age ( I talked to my vet and Dillon's breeder about best times to take them off the puppy food to avoid him gaining too much weight and that was their recommendation. I never believe what i read on the pet food bags, they want you to feed way too much. This is what dillon eats ( and incidently has been eating same amounts since i took him off the puppy food- he gets a mixture of 1/2 cup of Wellness lamb and sweetpotato dry mixed with about 2 tablespoons of wellness lamb and sweet potato canned food mixed with about 2 tablespoons of organic lowfat plain yogurt and he gets this twice a day. I don't give him a lot of cookies or treats- and his cookies tend to be little pieces of his dry food. I am trying not to let him get overweight becuase of the issues that corgis can have with their backs when they are too heavy. When viewed from above you should see a definate waist, hour-glass figure.
Emilie

I definetly see the hour-galss figure he kind of looks like a cartoon body builder. The ones that have a huge uperbody and then a teeny waist and legs.

[corgimom]

I am not sure what to tell you in regards to lowering the amount of food that he is getting; but maybe you could start feeding him about 1 1/4 cup a day into two meals and see how it goes. Pups will be a bit pudgy and then once they hit the 10 month mark, they seem to slim down and you should be able to see a definite waist.

I know with Cody, he gained weight at a steady pace of about 1 pound a week until he was 6 months old and then weighed 23 pounds. Is your Koda sort of gaining at that same rate?

If so, then by 6 months, he could easily weigh around 26 pounds.

Cody gets two walks a day - about 2 miles in the morning and about 1 1/12 miles in the evening along with some play time during the day and I still try to stick to the 1 cup a day, with maybe 2 dog food biscuits a day. Some days I give him veggies and fruits also(just a few) and other days, plain yogurt also) I switched him to adult dog food at 8 months old. I think Cody will end up being around 28 pounds as an adult.

I think vets will have various opinions in regards to when to switch your dog to adult food, but I don't think many vets understand the Corgi appetite and how easily they can become overweight.

[Michael Romanos]

Unless the human parents take the necessary steps, a fat Corgi is just like a fat human baby - they don't change when they get older and will both end up overweight. Human babies and Corgi pups should also be the same - they both should be slightly chubby until they get out of their baby/puppy stages.

'Wet' chicken and brown rice (both cooked and without salt) are excellent food for dogs - and my Taylor almost always gets these as part of his daily dinner. And he far prefers these things to dry food (kibble). If you are concerned about Koda's weight, feed him with raw lean beef or lamb and cut right down on the dry food. If you take all the food elements I have suggested, that is what Taylor gets on most days - and he has a 'generous' length and weighs in at 12.9kg ( 28-29lbs) as a three year old. But of cousre the amount and quality of exercising your Corgi is all part of the equation.
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.

[adkmehrman]

Thank you all for the great advice, we hav now cut his portions down to about a half cup of dry food with a little chicken & rice wet mixed in and he eats the entire meal (he used to leave some behind or eat it over the course of a hour or so) but does not beg for more. I am a little curious as to feeding dogs a human cereal. 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.

[corgimom]

Do you mean 1/2 cup of food twice a day or just 1/2 cup for the entire day?

[adkmehrman]

1/2 Cup with some chicken & Rice wet mixed in twice a day

[Michael Romanos]

You've got it. Your Corgi was not eating his food quickly, because even he was telling you - it's too much, and (maybe) too boring.
There are a lot of excellent and important vitamins and minerals etc in cereals and of course, the right kind of milk is excellent for calcium and puppies need calcium for good, strong bone growth.
I wouldn't give a dog a run of the mill cereals- such as corn flakes, puff rice , etc etc (many contain sugar and salt and other elements that are not particularly beneficial, but there are three excellent types of cereal for human babies and for Corgi puppies. In order of preference - Complan, Farex and Baby Rice (Robinson's - if the brand name is available overseas). Grain food is great for dogs - and my Taylor sometimes gets a whole piece of toasted (but not buttered) grain bread.