*Amount of Food*

[Loki]

My 6 month old female Dane just turn 6 months old today and she is eating 9-10 cups of dry food (plus pieces of oranges and carrots) of food a day, she is 30" and 83lbs, she is thin, but not grossly thin, but she always will eat whatever I give her. I feed her Eagle Pack Premium Select (22/15) I switched 2 months ago from Eukanuba large puppy food, she became allergic I'm guessing to the corn or wheat in it, so I switched to the only food that I could find that didn't have wheat or corn in it and was around the right fat and protein levels (She defiantly doesn't have as nice of poop as she use to have :( Well to continue where is was going with this, I was just wondering how much other people are feeding their Danes when they are at 6 months or almost 6 months.

[isaacs mom]

Isaac (6 1/2 months) was eating 9 to 10 cups of Nutro Lamb and Rice (22/12) until three weeks ago, when we switched to Bil-Jac (50/50 select and reduced fat). He still eats 9 cups in two seperate meals, but his stools are much smaller and firmer. He's beefy, but the vet tells us he's appropriately slim for a baby Dane. I think the beefiness is just because he's a boy. He hit 80 pounds a couple weeks ago, but I'm not sure how heavy he is right now.

[Becky]

Maggie (turned 6 months yesterday!!), is on Iams. She eats 7 cups a day (split into two feedings) with 1/2 can of pedigree mixed in each time. She is currently 88lbs (well that was last week, when she got weighed at the vet for her heartworm meds...they grow so fast!) I think she is 29" tall, but she bends over to play everytime I try to measure her. Maggie also finishes everything I set before her, and acts like she could do more. We are happy with her hourglass figure (wish I had that, maybe I should eat dog food!) She does get the occasional pig's ear, and of course training treats here and there (they get chopped into tiny pieces so they only total one pupperoni a day), and she has never has people food. Hope this helps.
Becky

[Jenn]

Your dog's diet seems suitable. Have you had any testing done? You might want to have a worm check done by your veterinarian. Does Heartguard take care of round worms? Have you tried switching diets? We love Bil-Jak and BARF, and it has improved our dog's coats. Also - your dog is still young, she may just need time to grow.

[Lmueller]

I feed Innova dry ever since she was 12 weeks old. My female is 13 months old and only eats 5 cups per day with a 1/3 cup of soft food in the dinner meal.
When she was 10-11 months old she ate the most which was 7 cups a day. She has never been skinny and is quite a big girl at 140lbs right now. Like I said she looks really good. She is about 33" at the shoulder. Her coat is beautiful.
I love the food that we feed and would never change it. She loves it too because it is all natural. Even though the cost is higher you don't feed as much so it averages out.
Innova doesn't work for everyone though. For some dogs it is too rich of a food.

[Jenn]

Where do you purchase this food? What the product label state. I've never heard of it, but am always interested.

[isaacs mom]

LAST EDITED ON May-14-01 AT 08:03PM (PST)[p]Try www.naturapet.com. It will tell you who sells their foods in your area. The company makes Innova and California Natural, a very simple food for pets with allergies. Several of the police dogs in our area were having a hard time keeping weight on, or were having food allergy trouble (or some other irritation) and they've all improved on Cal Natural or Innova. I've heard wonderful things about Innova, but I've also heard (from Linda Arndt's recommendations, I think, linked from the DOL main page) that it's important to switch to Innova slowly because it's very calorie-dense. Jill Swedlow (Sunnyside Farms) feeds and recommends Innova. She says it makes her dogs less gassy than other foods.
The only place that sells Innova around here also sells puppy-mill puppies, so I chose Nutro and then Bil-Jac. I can't believe we waited so long to switch to Bil-Jac! Isaac and I both love it.

P.S. I just tested that link, and it doesn't go to the right place. If you do a search on "naturapet products," you'll find the main site. :-)