A food question for those used to big puppies

[sonjafoers]

Our 16wk rottie puppy is currently weighing about 20kg and he is food obsessed, he is fed Natural Instinct and according to them should be on about 800g a day. I've phoned them recently because he was looking a little light so have upped it to 1kg split between 3 meals. He also gets treats throughout the day for training but not a huge amount.

He is going to be a tall,athletic type rather than stocky so he's looking a bit gangly at the moment and to me looks like he could do with slightly more food. I've just ordered some Nutriment food for him to try so he can get a change and the guideline there is about 4 - 6% of his weight so I'm feeding about right but could go up a bit. Does anyone with big puppies feed 6% bodyweight?

It's been about 10 years since we've had a rottie pup and we only switched to raw in the last few years so I'm not actually sure if he's really hungry or just loves food so much but he is always sat by the fridge telling me he's starving!

 

[s4sugar]

Our 16wk rottie puppy is currently weighing about 20kg and he is food obsessed, he is fed Natural Instinct and according to them should be on about 800g a day. I've phoned them recently because he was looking a little light so have upped it to 1kg split between 3 meals. He also gets treats throughout the day for training but not a huge amount.

He is going to be a tall,athletic type rather than stocky so he's looking a bit gangly at the moment and to me looks like he could do with slightly more food. I've just ordered some Nutriment food for him to try so he can get a change and the guideline there is about 4 - 6% of his weight so I'm feeding about right but could go up a bit. Does anyone with big puppies feed 6% bodyweight?

It's been about 10 years since we've had a rottie pup and we only switched to raw in the last few years so I'm not actually sure if he's really hungry or just loves food so much but he is always sat by the fridge telling me he's starving!

He is starving. According to the natural instict chart you should be feeding a puppy up to 1800g per day. 2kg may not be too much.

 

[sonjafoers]

I'm not sure where you got that from s4Sugar. If you use the calculator on the Natural Instinct website and look at the puppy calculations it's 1000 - 1200 g based on a 20kg puppy, I've also spoken to them and they recommend 1kg as overfeeding a large breed may not be good for his joints.

Nutriment recommend 4-6% so thats 800-1200g so again the 1800g you recommend is way over.

Can you tell me where you found the Natural Instinct chart so I can have a look please.

 

[s4sugar]

I lookes at the working puppy calculator which gave up to 1800g for a 20kg puppy . Yours is possibly underweight so should be fed as a heavier pup. When you say tall,athletic type rather than stocky it could be down to poor nutrition of the parents while growing - rotties should be stocky as adults.

Feed to appetite three times a day & after a few days your pup will find it's own level.

Your pup possibly should be nearer 25kg so 6% is 1.5kg food daily according to nutriment.
If the food is balanced you cannot really overfeed a growing pup as long as the pup looks right - if it looks porky you cut back.

 

[sonjafoers]

It's definitely not down to poor nutrition of the parents - they are the top Uk breeders and their dogs look fantastic! He is our 4th rottie and they have all had slightly different builds, one of ours being much stockier than the others and this one won't be as stocky as him. If you look at the "funny things" thread on here you can see a pic of our rotties and see what different types they were despite both having the same mother.

I will increase his feed for now to 1200g a day which is the maximum recommended by Nutriment & Natural Instinct the 2 brands I'm feeding - if I feed to appetite he won't stop eating! I will give Nutriment a ring on Monday though and see what they say about upping to 1800g.

Thanks for your replies.

 

[JulesRules]

I looked on the Raw menu site and their feeding guide says 1400g a day dropping to 800 once he reaches 6 months

http://www.raw-menu.com/how-much-to-feed.html

 

[s4sugar]

Feeding to appetite means however much he can eat in about 15 minutes three times a day. It will stabilise once he stops being hungry.
none of the top rottie breeders I know, in the UK & Europe, have dogs that are anything but chunky - thery may be ultra fit but the substance is there & they are to the breed standard - not tall.

Try filling the pup at each feed, in a week he will cut down for himself.

 

[AmyMay]

If it's any help OP I'm still free feeding my dog (although she's a small breed). She was weighed at the vets last week and is spot on. She's a year old.

 

[PorkChop]

I have a Rottie and all mine are on a raw diet. Tbh I feed according to eye, and I was definitely feeding more than 1kg a day at that age.

I do prefer mine a bit lean but I just keep upping the food until I am happy with their weight. I agree that you should try feeding to appetite until you are happy with weight, and even go back to four feeds a day.

 

[hobo]

I was always told you can not over feed a puppy. My beast had as much as he wanted till about 2 years old. He is 43kgs now and has been for the last 8 years he is fit not fat but now lives of about 500gms day plus pot washing.

 

[sonjafoers]

Thanks everyone, I've given him 1500g tonight which is what I've had defrosted plus a tin of sardines which he normally has every 2 - 3 days. I'm defrosting loads for tomorrow so that I can let him eat his fill and see how he goes once he gets used to that. I'm expecting him to completely stuff himself initially but am hoping he will stabilise himself as s4sugar says.

I'll take him to the vets on Monday and weigh him again, he's far from thin in fact I was told last week he was "definitely a healthy puppy" but he is very food obsessed so he may be telling me he needs more.

Our fully grown rotties (one 44kg & one 52kg) both had 1kg each a day so I do need to up his feed and can then gradually drop it back again once he's older.

Thanks for all the advice, I'm glad I posted.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Feed him the top end, he's very young and they grow very quickly at that age.

Weigh him at home, just subtract him from your weight when you carry him on the scales.

 

[{97702}]

Whilst I'm not used to rotties (although I love them!) I know my greyhound bitches, although they are similar weights, have hugely different feeding needs - one is 25kg but gets 2lbs of food a day, another is the same weight but has 1-1.5lbs of food a day depending on how she is looking.

I would tend to feed by eye and how hungry he is rather than be too fixated on weight

 

[MurphysMinder]

I have always fed by eye, never weighed dog food. If a dog is too thin I increase the food, too fat I cut down. It does sound as if he needs more , but make sure he doesn't get too fat at such a young age .

 

[gunnergundog]

Can you ask your breeder for advice?

Rotts are not a breed I have ever had, but like one of my breeds they can be prone to panosteitis. Whilst the cause of pano is the subject of much debate, one of the hypothesis is that dietary excess may be a contributing cause. Sadly there appears to be no funding for research into pano as it is self-limiting and therefore of no interest to the pharma companies. http://www.a-love-of-rottweilers.com/panosteitis.html

 

[ofcourseyoucan]

if you feed rottie puppies too much good food/puppy food they grow too fast and can end up with lameness issues as the growth plates get out of balance. if your puppy is hungry I would give him some low protein/low cal bulk with his food. they are better to be on the light side whilst growing and will go through lanky/lean looking phases. best to slow grow these big dogs .. bit like horses really

 

[sonjafoers]

I think this is why NI said he can have up to 1200g but feed him 1kg & see how he goes, they basically don't advise overfeeding the breed. He really is food obsessed though, he will run to the kitchen if he hears a wrapper, jump up for his bowl & sit by the fridge or treat cupboard when he comes in from a walk - none of our others have ever done this.

My latest post said I gave him 1500g tonight - that's a bit of a typo I think, I gave him 500g which means he has had 1200g today.

He definitely doesn't look too thin, he just looks a bit lanky which I think is a growing phase because when he had his last jabs on 12th Jan the vet told me to watch the podge, then a week ago I was told he was definitely a healthy puppy so if he was too thin - or too fat - I doubt that comment would be made. His ribs aren't visible and his coat is gleaming but he does look a bit gangly.

I am going to up his food from the 1kg I was giving but I'll get him weighed on Monday (cinammontoast my scales aren't digital & don't do kg so I'd rather do it accurately at the vets) and phone Natural Instinct again, I can't ask the vet as he doesn't agree with feeding raw. We've never worried about feeding a pup before and all our dogs have been in great shape but he acts like he is hungry which is what's made me question things.