# Feeding help



## glittergirl (Aug 11, 2011)

Hello all, working out how much to feed my dogs is doing my head in, I am clearly overfeeding as they keep putting on weight despite my best efforts to not over feed.Having only ever had German Sheps prior to Bella and Nacho and none of my German Sheps ever having a weight problem , I am new to this problem.....I need to get Bella (Papillion) down to about 6 kg and Nacho (Chihuahua) to about 2.5kg . They get wet food in the morning (Advance/Ziwipeak cans) and in the evening dry food (Air dried raw Ziwipeak/Earthborn Holistic/Hills ZD).As soon as my the bag of Hills ZD is gone I won't be buying that again and as soon as the store can order in Earthborn cans I'll be taking Nacho of the Advance if he can tolerate the Earthborn in cans (Nacho has IBS).
I am also about to try Canidae grain free and blackhawk grainfree.
Nacho is rather inactive and Bella is active.
Helppppppppppp please......thanks!


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## pupluv168 (Mar 7, 2012)

In the AM what do you feed and how much for each dog? 
In the PM what do you feed and how much for each dog? 
I am confused because you have a lot of different types of food listed. Do you rotate or mix them? 

Do they get people food or treats? Raw meaty bones? 

How much do they both currently weigh? 

In my experience, dogs that are fed canned food seem to gain weight more easily. Also, Ziwipeak is very easy to overfeed. Getting off the Hills is a good idea. I guess I just need more information to help more.


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## glittergirl (Aug 11, 2011)

I feed wet food in the morning and dry at night.
I rotate the food as Nacho seems to like one food for a few weeks then he won't eat it etc.
Bella weighs 6.8kg and Nacho 2.9kg.I want Bella at 6kg and Nacho at 2.5kg.
No people food , occasionally a raw chicken neck and a liver treat (but only small piece)once a day when I take them out at night for their last toliet run before bed.
I can't really tell you how much I feed as I don't weigh it out or anything but I didn't think it was that much......


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## pupluv168 (Mar 7, 2012)

glittergirl said:


> I feed wet food in the morning and dry at night.
> I rotate the food as Nacho seems to like one food for a few weeks then he won't eat it etc.
> Bella weighs 6.8kg and Nacho 2.9kg.I want Bella at 6kg and Nacho at 2.5kg.
> No people food , occasionally a raw chicken neck and a liver treat (but only small piece)once a day when I take them out at night for their last toliet run before bed.
> I can't really tell you how much I feed as I don't weigh it out or anything but I didn't think it was that much......


It is really easy to overfeed our little dogs because they really need to eat so little. What we think looks like the right amount may be in reality way too much. I would start measuring, for sure. Make sure that when you look at the bag, you take into account the fact that it is a DAILY amount. So if you are feeding wet in the AM and dry in the PM, feed half the recommended serving for their weight. Measuring out their food is probably the easiest way to make sure you are feeding the appropriate amount and help them lose weight. I sure hope others can give you some more advice!


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## glittergirl (Aug 11, 2011)

Ok , so split it in two.I think I will start using a measuring cup and see how that goes for a couple of weeks , weigh them and if they are loosing weight all good if not I will reduce it.
I guess I made it even harder on myself not weighing/measuring so I guess it's harder to reduce the amount if you have no baseline to go by.
I thinking 1/4 cup wet and 1/4 cup dry for Bella and even less for Nacho, I don't have a smaller measuring cup atm than 1/4. will have a look around for one thouhg.Thanks for your help!!!


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## pupluv168 (Mar 7, 2012)

Toby weighs in at just over 5 pounds. No idea how many kgs that is, though. He eats 1/8 cup in the AM and 1/8 cup PM, but it really depends on the food. Each of the foods you feed will require a different amount to be fed. It will be on the bag or can. I'd make a spreadsheet that has all of the foods you feed in one column and the two dogs in the other column. Then, fill in how much each dog eats of each food. That way, you have a handy reference for each time you rotate foods.

Glad I could help!


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## glittergirl (Aug 11, 2011)

Ah ok, 5 pounds is about 2.26 kg.Thanks again for your help, much appreciated!!!!!!!


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## pupluv168 (Mar 7, 2012)

Also, this is a simple feeding calculator. All you need is your dogs weight, activity level, and the number of calories per cup/kg (you can find it on the bag, can). Dog Food Calculator


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## woodard2009 (Aug 4, 2010)

glittergirl said:


> Ok , so split it in two.I think I will start using a measuring cup and see how that goes for a couple of weeks , weigh them and if they are loosing weight all good if not I will reduce it.
> I guess I made it even harder on myself not weighing/measuring so I guess it's harder to reduce the amount if you have no baseline to go by.
> I thinking 1/4 cup wet and 1/4 cup dry for Bella and even less for Nacho, I don't have a smaller measuring cup atm than 1/4. will have a look around for one thouhg.Thanks for your help!!!


1/4 cup wet & 1/4 dry for Bella is 1/2 cup. I hope you're not feeding that all in one sitting to bella. It should be around 1/4 twice a day.


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## glittergirl (Aug 11, 2011)

No I feed it twice a day.


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## OzChi (Oct 26, 2011)

Would you consider swapping the canned food meal for a raw meal? Dogs tend to find their ideal weight quite easily and naturally when on raw, as long as you're not too generous! I know all of us raw feeding people can be really preachy about it (but it's sooooo good!), don't let that scare you off. If you started off on plain Chicken you could see if that irritated your baby with the sensitive tummy - its really mild so it should be ok. After that you can try other meats to see what they can handle. You don't have to do it yourself either, you can buy pre-made raw from somewhere like a Best Friends Pets. Axle is about the weight you want to get Nacho to and I feed him about 2 heaped dessert spoons of ZP in the morning and about 20g of meat and I dessert spoon of ZP at night - that's all, it's a tiny amount. He is at a perfect weight, I can just feel his ribs when I press lighty.

Let us know how you go.


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