How much should I feed my dog?

labro · March 2014

I'm probably going to talk to my vet about this at our next appointment but I thought I'd reach out to you ladies here.

I have a 40 lb. lab/border collie mix who is a year old. She is extremely high energy and up until the past month or so we've kept her active by taking her on longish (3 to 4 mile) walks and playing frisbee and soccer with her for usually at least an hour total per day. Plus she sees my parent's two golden retrievers 3 days a week and sprints around the yard with them whenever they get together. We also take her to the dog park when we find the time and she'll occasionally run and wrestle with other dogs but she prefers to chase a ball or frisbee for hours on end instead.

I've started taking her on runs over the last couple of months and we're currently doing 4 miles at a medium paced jog (about 10 minute miles). She currently is getting 1 cup of Fromm Surf & Turf grain free food twice a day (2 cups total). Should I be feeding her more based on her activity level? She doesn't look "too" thin. She's always been skinny with really developed muscles...especially on her back legs...but I also feel like her ribs are easy to feel if not quite prominent. I feel like I might need to give her more but how much more I'm not sure. The lab in her loves food and she'll gobble up whatever I put in front of her. My parent's goldens get 2 cups of food of reduced fat food a day and they are both nearly twice her size (and at a healthy weight)..although their activity level is pretty low in comparison.

For those of you with active dogs, or for those of you who exercise with your dogs...do you feed them more? Did you find yourself having to increase your dog's food when you started exercising them on a regular basis? Over time as our endurance improves (mostly mine...I'm in terrible shape and she isn't) I plan to increase our distance to between 8 and 10 miles unless it's too hot for her to run long distances and stay healthy (we live in Georgia).

And because pictures and she has such a pretty face.

FiancB · March 2014

I used to compete with dogs and struggled to keep weight down with both of mine. The amount sounds about right, even with all that exercise (good for you for exercising her so much!). You should be able to feel ribs with only a tiny bit of pressing.

A rule of thumb that was given to me is that your average dog's ribs should feel like the backs of your fingers when you make a fist, between your knuckles. An athlete dog will feel like running your finger across your big knuckles. They're too skinny if they feel like your middle knuckles. Hopefully that made sense. Obviously there's some variation- a bulldog is not going to be as ribby as a greyhound. for example.

mbross3 · March 2014

Ahhhh I LOVE your dog!! Ok, I love all dogs, but still your dog is adorable.

BF and I live in a no pet townhouse (I love our home except for this), so we can't have dogs. However, I grew up with dogs and up until this past summer when I moved out of state, I would see my parents dogs almost every day. I would take the younger, and smaller dog on runs with me 3-4 times a week. She's slightly smaller than your dog, she's about 30-33 lbs. I would feed her two cups of food a day. The older one (choc lab about 12 now) wouldn't run with us, but she'd still get a half a cup of food when the smaller one got her second cup--just to keep the peace.

two cups sounds like a good amount, but I would definitely talk with your vet, because it does sound like your dog has a very active lifestyle, and at a young age dogs tend to need to eat more anyway. Sometimes it's hard to tell if dogs are getting enough food since, at least in my experience, they are always hungry!

And just to share some puppy love:

labro · March 2014

@mbross3 AWWW I love chocolate labs!! Your other pup looks like such a sweetheart too! Last time we saw our vet he asked us if she ever slowed down. And I was like...no...not ever. She definitely starts to get more than a little wired if we go more than a day or two without a significant amount of activity or stimulation. It must be the border collie in her. FI and I talking about trying to train her to pick up clothes (because he leaves his socks everywhere!!) and leave them by the closet door as a "job" for her to do.

OliveOilsMom · March 2014

Are you feeding her a high quality dog food? For example, is meat the first ingredient? I feed my dog Purina Proplan, but just their normal shredded lamb formula. They also specifically have a formula for active dogs. Maybe try switching her to an active lifestyle blend of food.

Also, most bags of food will give you an estimate on how much to feed them based on weight, that would be a good place to start.

labro · March 2014

ETA:

@FiancB That helps a lot! I definitely can feel her ribs with hardly any pressure at all...just running my hands along her sides...but it doesn't feel at all like the big middle knuckles on my hand so it seems like we are ok.

SmileDamnit · March 2014

So many factors to consider (type & kcal measurement of dog food, size & activity level of the dog, etc.) so a talk with the vet is definitely a good idea. We have a bulldogs (suuuuuuper lazy) and a 3-legged mutt (suuuuuper active), both around 50 lbs and very much on the lean-side. The vet has always encouraged keeping them then to keep extra weight of the knees (for the bulldog) and solo front leg joints (for the mutt).

vulpiepop · March 2014

Very cute dog!
I used to work as a kennel technician at the local animal shelter, specializing in identifying breeds of dogs and the care of dogs. Most average dogs (not overly active but not really lazy either) are recommended around 2 cups per day, but this depends on the quality of food they're getting (the higher the quality, the less they need to eat) and the individual dog. Active dogs generally need a little bit more than lazy dogs, but again, you need to take into account the quality of the food you're feeding her (I'm not familiar with the brand you named so I really don't know how high quality that stuff is), how active she is, and her own metabolism. The general rule is that she is a healthy weight if when you run your hand down her side gently, you should only just barely feel her ribs, but this also varies from breed to breed (greyhounds tend to be healthy when you feel their ribs clearly for instance). Going to the vet is a great idea and he/she will tell you the exact care that she needs.

How much should I feed my dog?

Re: How much should I feed my dog?

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