feedin' my puppy

Kenshi

I'm interested in people's dog feeding opinions. Let me tell you how I have been feeding Tomoe and tell me what you think.

First of all, I'm feeding her Avoderm puppy food. It's what Carleen was feeding them, and on dogfoodanalysis.com it comes up as 4-star food, which makes it the highest-rated puppy food I can find at my local "PetSmartCo."

I basically grab a handful of kibble and put in her bowl, then add about a heaping tablespoon sized lump of canned, add a little warm tapwater, and stir it all up. She gets fed morning, noon, and at about 6pm. If she doesn't finish I stick the food in the fridge and bust it out for the next meal.

I believe I am to switch her to twice a day feeding at "4-6 months." I am thinking closet to 6 months because I want her to put on lots of muscle so I can take her running starting when she's a year old.

At a year I am going to switch her to something like Blue Wilderness or Wellness which are the easiest to obtain 6-star foods I can get easily.

I don't think I want to do raw.

Anyway, first thing is, is this "dog stew" manner of mixing the canned with the dry and a little warm water common?

Second, should I be measuring her food more precisely?

sukoshi_mom

Doing the "stew" thing is quite common. You may want to occcasionally add some raw or cooked veggies when your dog is older. My Shiba likes cooked string beans, raw shredded cabbage, etc. Occasional shredded cheese is also an option. I try to give my Shiba variety in her diet so that she doesn't get bored with the food. Note: if you consistently do the stew thing, make sure your dog has some dental cleaning method. I use Booda Bones for my Shiba.

I use Avoderm kibble for my Shiba because it seems to improve skin and fur. I just rotate the varieties of Avoderm. Years ago I had a male Dalmatian who really had skin problems. The Avoderm helped tremendously.

You may want to be a little more precise with measurements of food as Tomoe gets older to make sure that she gets enough for growth.

If you want Tomoe to get in condition for running, consider taking her to a dog park. Not only are dog parks good for doggy socialization, but they are also good for giving dogs exercise. (This assumes that you have a nice dog park where people are responsible for their dogs..)

Saya

Bella and Saya loves cooked carrots and green beans I'll have to try raw shredded cabbage too I didn't think of that also they love raw carrots it gets a little messy with Bella my boxer, but Saya she's teething and she likes to chew on the carrot I think it helps since it's a little cold and tastes good.

Switching to two meals a day at 6month is good I did that with Bella she seems to like it like that.

tjbart17

The stew method is common. If she doesn't eat at first, try heating it up for a few seconds (15) in the microwave. I free feed pups kibble all day when they are growing since you can't really tell when they are about to have a spurt and need more food. Koda's going through what I think is his last one right now. He's been eating the kibble on top of his meals.