How much food is enough?

Michael B

Our Jack Russell (18 months roughly) would eat all day if he could but what would be the right amount? He's a minature JRT, not a tiny dog but pretty small. He's not overweight but always seems hungry. Maybe he's just greedy

Any help would be great. We feed him dry food but he gets bits and pieces now and again like bits of chicken or an egg (he loves eggs, hope that's ok!).

rainbowtrout

on most dry food bags it will recommend how much food to feed your dog depending on it's weight. I have two Jack Russells (regular size) and they would fit into the 5-10kg dog category, and get about 80-100g of dry food each per day and a couple of small treats. I use a weighing scales for their food as I can get a bit lax and end up giving them too much. Mine would eat all day too given the chance, I think all dogs would, they're opportunistic by nature.

Mine aren't overweight nor are they underweight. Sometimes I think what is in their bowl seems awful small and then I stop to consider the size of the dog in comparison to me and then the size of their stomach in comparison to them and it can't be that big so what I'm giving them is more than enough.

Michael B

Thanks for that rainbowtrout. Would you recommend to just feed them that once a day or twice or small amounts more often?

rainbowtrout

I feed mine once a day, that's what was recommended to me, but plenty of people feed twice a day in smaller portions. It doesn't seem to make a difference. I give them a few small treats earlier on in the day when they haven't had their main meal. It also means that when I'm out at work they're less likely to go to the toilet indoors when they haven't had a meal in the morning - they are house trained but accidents happen every now and again.

... they ate a whole box of marshmallow teacakes before christmas after a well planned out operation to climb onto the kitchen table - and they still ate their dinner!

boomerang

Michael B, sometimes a voracious appetite is down to a medical reason. Have you wormed him lately? It could also indicate a more serious problem, particularly if he isn't gaining weight. Don't mean to scare you but if you're feeding him the correct amount for his size and he's still hungry, might be no harm to get a blood test, especially if his poos are any way unusual (runny, pale coloured, etc.)

TooManyDogs

If you weigh out your dogs food it can sometimes help us humans feel better to feed the dog twice a day, especially if you've got nagging thoughts that he's hungry. It just seems more civilized to us to feed twice a day and less tempting to fill him up on tons of treats or scraps or whatever cos we're worried about them. They really know what buttons to push

toadfly

I feed my mini yorkie 70g a day half morning & half evening. She is a fussy eater though and doesnt always eat what we give her. If she gets chicked & gravy she has no probs eating

Michael B

boomerang wrote: »

Michael B, sometimes a voracious appetite is down to a medical reason. Have you wormed him lately? It could also indicate a more serious problem, particularly if he isn't gaining weight. Don't mean to scare you but if you're feeding him the correct amount for his size and he's still hungry, might be no harm to get a blood test, especially if his poos are any way unusual (runny, pale coloured, etc.)

He's been wormed (and will be regularly wormed) and been checked, he's very healthy. Just a greedy pig He does poo an awful lot though, 3 times a day usually and they're not small! No sign of them being unhealthy though.

I'll try with feeding him a little bit less and keep it to twice a day. Eating in front of him is the worst part, he stares up at us like he hasn't eaten in weeks lol

mymo

Michael B wrote: »

He's been wormed (and will be regularly wormed) and been checked, he's very healthy. Just a greedy pig He does poo an awful lot though, 3 times a day usually and they're not small! No sign of them being unhealthy though.

What are you feeding?
If he's pooping a lot and soon after feeding it might not be agreeing with him and just going straight through him.
One of my dogs eats quite a bit less than the recomended amount according to the pack, but he's very healthy and lively, just a bit thin. Had then vet check him and he said he's just not a big eater. I feed twice a day and they usually just poop the once a few hours after feeding.
He said he'd be more worried if he was eating a lot and not putting on weight.
The more active he is the more he will eat.
The better quality of food is digested more, so less poop.

seamus

Michael B wrote: »

Eating in front of him is the worst part, he stares up at us like he hasn't eaten in weeks lol

The key here is not to give him anything from the table, ever. And if you can, distract him with his own food or a piece of a rawhide before you sit down for your meal. The dog only sits looking at you because he expects that something will eventually come his way.

If you are going to give him leftovers or something, then finish eating, take it away from the table and put it into his own bowl (and remember to adjust how much dinner you give him to account for the extra food).

My experience of JRTs is that they will eat until you stop feeding them or until they're fit to burst. They seem to always be hungry and are voracious scoffers. That doesn't mean that they are hungry.

My staffy on the other hand has gone for 24 hours without eating and then turned her nose up at food as if she'd just come from McDonalds.

rainbowtrout

Like what was said above don't feed him from the table. He's just holding out for the good stuff

Give him his dry food and let him eat it, if he walks away from the bowl not having touched it or after eating just a little bit of it, take it away and give him nothing until the next time he's due a feed. My dogs are stubborn but get the message that they can't dictate what food they get - they won't starve themselves either. When I got my first JRT she refused dry food for 2 days. She ate it on the third day. Never a problem since.

lrushe

My Chihuahua is the exact same, if you never stopped feeding her, she'd never stop eating. When I'm feeding a new dog I will generally try to visualise the size of their stomach and use that as my starting point for feeding them, then increase or decrease as necessary as all dogs are different. My dogs are fed just once a day (except my 6 month old who is still on two meals) I don't weigh my dogs but use a more hands on way of telling if they are a healthy weight or not. A dogs ribs should never be visible but you should be able to feel them if you run your hands over them, also if you look down on them from above they should have a clear waist.
As others have said don't feed from the table it just gives a dog bad habits, my Chihuahua will sit by my bf's side whille he's eating as my bf will often give in and give her something but she will never come near me when I am eating as I have never given in to her, dogs are smart and they will soon get the message when there is nothing for them to gain.

crossmolinalad

I have a lab
Every evening before im gone to bed he gets one mug of nuts in his bowl and a bowl of water (water 4 times a day)
Sometimes in the morning (not always) i top up his bowl with a little more nuts and left it there for the whole day so he has always something to eat during the day or night
In the evening he gets 3 slices of brown bread broken in bits with half a tin of meat in jelly and on top of it the left over of the dry food
During the day some snacks thats it

iw82

Michael B wrote: »

He's been wormed (and will be regularly wormed) and been checked, he's very healthy. Just a greedy pig He does poo an awful lot though, 3 times a day usually and they're not small! No sign of them being unhealthy though.

I'll try with feeding him a little bit less and keep it to twice a day. Eating in front of him is the worst part, he stares up at us like he hasn't eaten in weeks lol

I would review the food that you are feeding him. If he is producing an awful lot of waste & they are quite sizeable (!) I would question the quality of the food. I have found that really high quality food leads to less waste.

I'd recommend Belcando or Royal Canin. Yes they are expensive but you really do get what you pay for, & with high quality food you will find you will not need to feed as much.

I divide our dogs feeds into two equal am/pm portions. And they would get all day if they were let get away with it! And with the begging at the table, it is best to completely ignore him, avoid eye contact, any kind of attention. It really is just a matter of getting into a routine & getting everybody in the house to stick to it.

Good luck!

Steve30x

I feed my Border Collie and Cavalier King Charles puppies a mixture of Red Mills star and Royal Canin Junior. The Border Collie gets Fed twice a day with the ammount shown on the packet (half at 11am half at 7PM) and he hoovers it up. The Cavalier King Charles is a different story. She doesnt eat much at all. I have a tiny food bowl for her and I only need to refill it every second day.