Appropriate amount to feed a puppy?

Hello MyCorgi members!

My 13.5 week old Johann has had some eating issues (as some of you may have read about in another discussion) and we got them resolved! He loves his food now so long as I put a good amount of warm water in it.

My question today is.. How much should I be feeding him? Our normal schedule goes like this:

5:30am wake up. Goes potty, gets water.

6:15am arrive at work together. He goes in a cage in a room with the dog groomers for the morning. I give him 1/3 cup of Blue Buffalo for Puppy with warm water, and then I fill his Kong with 1 tsp of peanut butter so he can keep himself occupied for a bit. The groomers play with him a little when they aren't busy with client dogs.. otherwise he mainly just goes back to sleep.

10:30am we go home and play hard for about 45-60 mins.

~noon: he gets 1/3 cup of food

until about 1:30pm: we play some more then he takes a nap

~2:45pm we go back to work and he hangs out in the grooming room again

6:15pm we get home and he eats 1/3 cup again... but still seems to be really hungry. I give him an extra 1/4 cup.

til about 8pm: we play some more and/or go on a very short walk and he usually gets his treat after playing or the walk.. just 1 small sized treat (either drumette, meaty bone, or canine carryout)

he is in bed by 10:30pm

my question is, for a schedule like this, is 1 and 1/4 cups a day ok for him plus the little bit of PB and a treat? He used to have a very tiny waist but it has filled out a little bit in the last week because he has been eating more regularly. He weighs 10 lbs and probably won't be too much over 20lbs when he is full grown because his parents were built smaller than the norm (18 and 20 lbs). I know I'm worrying about this too much, but I have heard over and over that you shouldn't trust the suggested serving size on the dog food bag. His bag of food says that he should eat 1-1&1/4 cups per day because his projected mature weight is 3-20lbs.

How much would you feed a puppy with this kind of schedule? I've read horror stories about fat corgis... the last thing I want for him is to be overweight!

Thanks in advance :) :) :)

Jessica & Johann

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Permalink Reply by Beth on April 30, 2011 at 8:40pm

I'd see how he does on about a cup and a half or so a day. Growing pups need a lot more food than adults. For puppies, they should not be fat but after they eat you should see a bit of a rounded belly because they are so tiny, and they should have a small layer of pudge while they are growing fast. By about 5 or 6 months you can start looking for a thinner build (as growth slows down). You don't want so much weight that it's hard on the joints, but you want enough of a cushion that if pup gets a severe bout of diarrhea and vomiting (not uncommon in puppies) he has a layer to fall back on if he's getting no nutrition for two days or so.

At least, that's my opinion. :)

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Permalink Reply by Jane on April 30, 2011 at 9:24pm

I agree, I'd give him ~1.5 cups a day at his age. You really don't need to worry about him getting chubby until he's a bit older and his metabolism starts to slow down. I think my pem was about a year old when I reduced his food from 1.5 cups a day to 1 cup a day. My cardi puppy on the other hand, I had to up from 1.5 cups to 2 cups a day because he was looking so scrawny. He's 10 months now and still gets 2 cups a day and looks quite trim. All dogs will be different, I'd just go by his body condition - you should be able to feel his ribs but not see them.