# Need advice on amounts



## crittermommy (Mar 22, 2013)

About 6 months ago I switched my dogs over to a local brand of food that's high in protein and grain free. Since switching my chi over she's gained 1.5 pounds. She's a regular size chi and has maintained at 9 pounds for years with eating 1/2c daily. I'm not sure how much to give her of this high protein food since obviously she's gaining weight on it. She's getting the same amount of exercise as always. Any suggestions would be welcome!


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## EmberLuvu (Oct 24, 2011)

crittermommy said:


> About 6 months ago I switched my dogs over to a local brand of food that's high in protein and grain free. Since switching my chi over she's gained 1.5 pounds. She's a regular size chi and has maintained at 9 pounds for years with eating 1/2c daily. I'm not sure how much to give her of this high protein food since obviously she's gaining weight on it. She's getting the same amount of exercise as always. Any suggestions would be welcome!
> 
> 
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What is the name of the food? If she's gaining on 1/2c, I wouldn't decrease it too much as that isn't that much food. Try giving her even more exercise, or look at the recommended feeding amount on the bag for her IDEAL weight. 1/2c seems to be the right amount for a standard size chi, some even have to eat 1c. It all depends.


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## Angel1210 (Mar 14, 2011)

My chi seems to "hang in" at around 9 pounds, 8.5 - 9. He gets the equivalent of 1/4 cup per day, plus a few treats. Check the fat content of the food you are feeding and the protein source. A good website is dogfoodadvisor.com. How many treats are you feeding? Treats and good have to equal the total daily allowance.


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## pupluv168 (Mar 7, 2012)

How many calories are in a cup? Higher protein foods often have higher calories and therefore you need to feed less of it in order to maintain. I'd compare the calories in the old food and in the new food. You may need to cut back. 


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## intent2smile (Dec 4, 2011)

I would goto http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-feeding-tips/dog-food-calculator/ and enter in the information. The dog food bag should have the K/cup on it. 
Even after you get the projected estimate I would still feed according to body size/weight. If they start to gain weight you know you are feeding to much or visa versa.
It is really easy to over feed on high protein foods because many of them you do not have to feed as much.
Jaxx eats Fromm Grain Free and only gets 2.5 tablespoons twice daily. It doesn't seem like much but he maintains his perfect weight on it.


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## crittermommy (Mar 22, 2013)

Wow thanks. I was wondering if I'd put this in the wrong forum since nobody was responding. 

I put the food info into a dog food calculator and told it that she needed to lose and it suggested that she eat a little less than 1/2c day so that's what I've been giving her for a couple of weeks now. I'm also having her go up and down our stairs a few times a day and chasing her more around the yard. The vet said it might just be from being more sedentary over the winter and not to worry too much yet; I worry cuz I don't want her to be unhealthy. 

She's not ever given people food except for raw green beans and carrots and never gets dog treats unless it's her birthday or xmas and even then it's in the form of raw meat. 


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