How Much to Feed Dogs A Must Read To Keep Your Dog Healthy

It’s important to know how much to feed dogs. Over feeding can lead to obesity, and under feeding can lead to a dog that is overly thin with a low energy level. When we know how much to feed dogs, we can give them the right amount of food for their bodies, and that will keep them healthier longer.

How Much to Feed Dogs - A Must Read To Keep Your Dog Healthy

Why Knowing How Much to Feed Dogs is Important

Knowing how much to feed dogs is important, because it’s a key factor in keeping them healthy. A dog at his or her ideal weight is less likely to develop several nasty diseases and physical symptoms associated with obesity. They are also full of energy and life when they are feed the proper amount of the proper diet. While under feeding can result in a dog that is not as full of pep and a little on the thin side, over feeding is the real danger. Here are some things that can result from obesity.

Diseases and Conditions Secondary to Obesity

  • Various cancers
  • Diabetes
  • Heart Disease
  • Cruciate problems – The cruciate is a tendon in the knee
  • Arthritis

Knowing how much to feed a dog means that we can keep our dogs at their proper weight and help prevent all kinds of nasty diseases and physical problems.

Calculating How Much to Feed Dogs

There are various calorie calculator’s out there for dogs, but you don’t really need them. All you really need are your eyes. You can visually see when your dog is either eating too little or too much. Here’s how.

How Much to Feed Dogs A Must Read To Keep Your Dog Healthy

Visual Cues for Proper Weight

Underweight

  • Pronounced ribs
  • Very thin waist

These are the only two signs of feeding too little that you should need to look for. There are other signs like pronounced hip bones or a pronounced cranial ridge on the head, but these are only in cases of SEVERE under feeding.

Overweight

  • Little to no waist
  • Cannot feel ribs
  • Thick appearance – No discernible difference in waist and chest when viewed from the side

If your dog begins to show any of these visual cues, you are over feeding him or her.

Ideal Weight

  • Has a waist
  • Ribs are discernible when feeling the sides of the chest but not overly pronounced
  • When viewed from the side, a noticeable difference in the chest and waist – More or less noticeable depending on your dog’s shape

Calculating How Much to Feed Dogs

To calculate your dog’s food needs, begin by following the recommended directions on his or her food bag. Give it a couple of weeks, keeping an eye on your dog’s overall shape. If you begin to notice that your dog is getting a little on the thick side, reduce their food by about 10% and look for a change. Give it another couple of weeks, and if you see no change, reduce the food again. Repeat this process until you see the visual cues of a dog at ideal weight. If your dog seems underweight do the same thing, except increase the food volume by 10% every time.

Knowing How Much to Feed a Puppy

The only time that you don’t have to worry about how much to feed dogs is when you have a puppy. You don’t want to over stuff your puppy so be sure to know who in the house is in charge of feeding. Be sure to know when feeding times should be so that you can keep an eye on how much and how often they are eating. Puppies grow, and they grow rapidly. You can never over feed a puppy. Just be sure to feed them several times throughout the day so that they have enough energy to continue to grow. Small meals are best because your little puppy will have great big eyes for their food bu small stomachs to hold it in.

Knowing How Much to Feed Dogs is Crucial

We love our dogs, and we want to keep them healthy. Knowing how much to feed dogs is one big way we can do that. When we know how much to feed dogs, we can take a huge step in keeping our dogs healthy for the long term. If you keep an eye out and stay vigilant, you should have no problem keeping your dog at his or her ideal weight.

 

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Comments

  1. I often find that food bags overestimate the amount of food needed. It seems they usually lean toward the higher range of a Dogs weight when recommending how much to feed. These are good tips to follow when gauging whether your dog is eating too much or too little, thanks!
    Love & biscuits,
    Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them

  2. Yes, instructions from the dog food
    pack are not very precise so you will be left confused if you’re going to rely on it. Great post, that is a good way to estimate the right amount of food your dog needs.
    Meil @Best Homemade Dog Food recently posted..Best Homemade Dog Foods: How to make them?My Profile

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