Too much?

[D_N_F]

Hi! My five month old, 80 lb, 28 1/2" male is eating 4 cups of Eagle Pack Natural three times a day. Is that too much or should I up it? He is definately thin, you can see his ribs. Thanks! Also, while I'm on the topic, I also have an almost two, 34", 135 lb male who eats between 12 and 16 cups of the same food a day and is underweight(according to his vet). You can see all his ribs. He is extremely active, goes to daycare or the dog park everyday. What do you guys think?

[jpy]

The pup is fine at that ht/wt--as long as you can see his ribs. Since he's at the top end of the ht/wt chart at that age, I'd be Xtra sure he's fed carefully to grow slowly (to avoid bone/growth problems). I definately would not give him more food.

Are you really sure this dog is underweight? 135 lbs is a perfectly good weight for a fit Dane who is 34"? Maybe hes' just trim and muscular? But assuming there really is a problem here (?) no dog should eat that much and be thin. So logically either the food's wrong, or something's wrong with the dog. Assuming you are feeding a quality food (?), the dog needs to be evaluated by your veterinarian for things like pancreatic insufficiency, parasites, etc. Regardless I have a dog the same size and weight and he is slimmed down 15 lbs. to do agility, but is eating maybe 6 cups a day of Eukanuba and mantaining this weight. He also is daily involved in a VERY vigorous athletic routine. So 2-3X that amount of food for one dog makes me wonder about what you are feeding.....

[D_N_F]

Thanks for the info on the pup. As he grows, should I increase if he'll eat more, or keep it at that? Dawson gets out on either the three acres at daycare or the 15 acres at the park and just runs and runs all day. He loves to be chased and he's there 7am until 7pm uaually 5 days a week. He also swims regularly. We rescued him and they said he weighed 160...he really weighed 120. We feed him the same as the puppy, Eagle Pack Natural, which Jill Swedlow reccomended for him. You can see his ribs, but he definately has a lot of muscle. He's all muscle. He eats all that food and doesn't gain a pound. His vet said he's healthy but that his weight comes from his heavy bone, so she'd like to see another 15 or so pounds on him...I don't know.

:-(

[DellaDane]

<--- MERLIN -- http://www.angelfire.com/blues/greatdanes


My 16month old boy eats around 10 cups of dry kibble a day. Latley I have been adding some goodies a few times a week. He is 35" and 140. He is very lean, but very muscular. I actually had somebody ask me if I feed him lettuce. (<--dont ask) I think as long as they grow slow and arent having any joint or bone probs....

CINDY N MERLIN

[jpy]

Try a "higher octane" food for the adult? It's likely he just literally cannot stuff more than 12-16 cups in his gut a day. So something like Eukanuba Original that is 30%protein/20% fat might be the answer.

The pup shud be fed not by a cup measurement but by a rib/appetite measurement. Cut back when he doesn't clean up & keep him ribby and lean. Only add in more food if you can see his hip bones starting to show is the rule with growing out pups safely. Eagle NatPack is great.

[D_N_F]

We used to have him on a 30/20 performance food, but it gave him the runs. We'll try that food The baby pretty much eats what we give him, but you can see his hip bones. Out of his two brothers that I keep in touch with,(one the breeder has, the other a friend of mine bought), one is 2 1/2" shorter than him and weighs the same(no hip bones) and the other is about two inches taller and weighs about 100 lbs and again, no hip bones. I guess he should be around 90? I'll try to increase. Thanks again!

[jpy]

"We used to have him on a 30/20 performance food, but it gave him the runs.."
Well in that case I'd have a serum panel done on him, check his internal organs function, and then also think about adding pancreatic enzymes to his food, plus talk to the vet about potential reasons for his enduring underweight condition. Good luck.

[D_N_F]

Thanks for the advice. We actually took him in and had that done, he's perfectly healthy. I guess he's too aactive to put weight on. When we had him neutered, he was home from daycare for a week and put on 12 pounds! Of course he lost it right away when he went back!:-( :)

[jpy]

"I guess he's too aactive to put weight on. When we had him neutered, he was home from daycare for a week and put on 12 pounds! Of course he lost it right away when he went back!"

Well, then, there's your answer?