How much do you feed your Dobe?

[Naturallyred]

Good day everyone!!
Sorry I haven't posted in awhile been busy with life! ) Anyhow Bohdan is almost 10 months now and he eats like a horse. When he was younger I fed him 6 cups a day. (Lack of nutrition from being abandoned) Once he put on some weight I reduced his feeding to 5 cups a day. I use to feed my Rott 4 cups a day, 2 in the morning and two in the evening. He never acted hungry or visited his food bowl when it was empty. Bohdan on the other hand acts as if he is hungry almost all the time. I have tried to reduce his feeding to 4 cups a day, the same as my Rott. Bohdan frequents his food bowl, picks it up and brings it to us when it is empty. I have tried doing 1 cup 4 times a day, 2 cups in the morning one in the afternoon and one in the evening. I have even broken it up by 1/2 cups to see if that helps him. My concern is he is young, weight is a problem for Dobermans and he was neutered at 4 months (too young), I don't want him to get too large.

Can you please tell me how much you feed your dog and their approximate weight?

Thank you and have a great day!
Susan

 

[Amber]

we give mika 1.5 cups twice a day. she's not very active so we don't feed her a ton so she doesn't gain weight. of course she always gets a snack here and there too.

 

[Nick]

I give Linus 6 cups a day. 3 in the morning, 3 at night. But I think I might be reducing this soon. He never eats all of it. He probably only eats about 4 cups a day.

 

[Dobermanlover]

How old is your pup and what kind of food are you feeding?

 

[Marinegeekswife]

How old is your pup and what kind of food are you feeding?

Its difficult to judge how much your dog should be eating based on what others feed. Dobermanlover is right, you need to look at how old your pup is, what quality of food you're feeding, his weight/health, his activity, etc.

 

[Naturallyred]

Bohdan is almost 10 months old. He is pushing 90 lbs. I have tried different foods to see if that has helped with his hunger, but it hasn't changed. I almost think it is his personality. When we first brought him home he ate every second he could. Then I think he realized that the food will always be there from him. I am not sure if this is because he was abandon and didn't have ample food.

 

[Marinegeekswife]

When he was younger I fed him 6 cups a day. (Lack of nutrition from being abandoned)

Your statement about his personality reminded me about this statement you made earlier. You could very well be right that he just thinks he is constantly hungry because he WAS constantly hungry before. This might just be a habit he won't give up. As long as he is in a good weight and health I wouldn't be concerned that he is hungry. We had to cut back our boy's food to get him to lose a few pounds. He acted hungry but I knew it was in his best interest to cut back his food. We have to make the decisions for what is right for them. If we let them eat however much they wanted many of them would bloat. A club member of ours had her GSD get into the food bin and eat 8 cups of kibble! She had to rush him to the ER. They just don't have the capacity to decide those things.

 

[My Mateese]

Bohdan is almost 10 months old. He is pushing 90 lbs. I have tried different foods to see if that has helped with his hunger, but it hasn't changed. I almost think it is his personality. When we first brought him home he ate every second he could. Then I think he realized that the food will always be there from him. I am not sure if this is because he was abandon and didn't have ample food.

Abandon how sad is that, WOW

I fed Hunter 2 cups in the am and 2 at night, he loved food too, he was
also very active.

Schaudeh (not a Dobe) I feed 1.5 in the am and the same at night. She
is more low keyed not as active. She is also 12 yrs old and I like to
really watch her weight, she is just right not too heavy, not too thin.

 

[Naturallyred]

Abandon how sad is that, WOW

I fed Hunter 2 cups in the am and 2 at night, he loved food too, he was
also very active.

Schaudeh (not a Dobe) I feed 1.5 in the am and the same at night. She
is more low keyed not as active. She is also 12 yrs old and I like to
really watch her weight, she is just right not too heavy, not too thin.

Your statement about his personality reminded me about this statement you made earlier. You could very well be right that he just thinks he is constantly hungry because he WAS constantly hungry before. This might just be a habit he won't give up. As long as he is in a good weight and health I wouldn't be concerned that he is hungry. We had to cut back our boy's food to get him to lose a few pounds. He acted hungry but I knew it was in his best interest to cut back his food. We have to make the decisions for what is right for them. If we let them eat however much they wanted many of them would bloat. A club member of ours had her GSD get into the food bin and eat 8 cups of kibble! She had to rush him to the ER. They just don't have the capacity to decide those things.

My Rott died from GSD in April. I am too familiar with it. There was no "standard" situation that brought on his twist and bloat. It literally just came on. I am extremely cautious with Bohdan and don't allow him to down food or water too fast or too much.

I will attach a picture of Bohdan when we first brought him home. Makes me sad to look at how bad he was, but happy when I see him now. Love this dog!! He is definitely velcro!! hahaha

There is a couple of pictures of him when we brought him home and a couple of him today.

 

[My Mateese]

Thank you so much for the pictures....I will never understand
or even want to understand how anyone can abandon an animal.

The twisted stomach... bloat is a horrible horrible thing, it scares me
to death. I am sorry

 

[JanS]

Oh goodness he was thin - poor baby. I have a feeling you're right about it mostly being his state of mind since he was so depraved of food before. If he's in good shape I'd just keep him where he is and the twice daily feeding is good for his age - well all dogs beyond the puppy stage.

Della gets just over 2 cups per day and right now Albert is up to 6 cups ( 2 cups, 3 times per day) while he's growing, but I noticed he finally started slowing down on his noon time meal, so he'll probably start getting cut back a bit for that meal. All of our Dobe pups ate 5 or 6 cups per day, then cut back to somewhere between 2 and 3 after they matured.

 

[Naturallyred]

Della gets just over 2 cups per day and right now Albert is up to 6 cups ( 2 cups, 3 times per day) while he's growing, but I noticed he finally started slowing down on his noon time meal, so he'll probably start getting cut back a bit for that meal. All of our Dobe pups ate 5 or 6 cups per day, then cut back to somewhere between 2 and 3 after they matured.

Thank you Jan. Bohdan hasn't slowed down yet and I feel he is getting a little chunky. I am going to cut back some no matter what. A healthy weight is important to me and to his joints. He will adjust sooner than later... hopefully sooner! )

 

[MyBuddy]

Buddy is a great eater, loves to eat and wolfs it down. Last winter he picked up a few pounds and I started really paying attention to measuring his food and gave him 2 cups of kibble twice a day. A tad less, if I added something else in it like canned food or something left over from dinner. I also would do the 'green bean' thing, which is adding them as a 'filler' to his meal. They have little calories but help fill him up. I'm sure he was a bit hungry, as we all are while dieting! lol But I helped keep him occupied and he did get a few treats during the day. He's the type that no matter what I gave him or how many times a day I offered it, he'd eat it! lol He'd be fat if I kept food out all day. He's very active and of course with 10 acres to run on, it helps keep him fit. Watching the 'waistline' on my dogs and horses is a daily thing for me. Not that it doesn't get away from me at times!! I've been both ways at times. Too fat, too skinny. But I try and keep mindful of what each is eating and what they look like and go from there.

 

[scsmith]

Buddy is a great eater, loves to eat and wolfs it down. Last winter he picked up a few pounds and I started really paying attention to measuring his food and gave him 2 cups of kibble twice a day. A tad less, if I added something else in it like canned food or something left over from dinner. I also would do the 'green bean' thing, which is adding them as a 'filler' to his meal. They have little calories but help fill him up. I'm sure he was a bit hungry, as we all are while dieting! lol But I helped keep him occupied and he did get a few treats during the day. He's the type that no matter what I gave him or how many times a day I offered it, he'd eat it! lol He'd be fat if I kept food out all day. He's very active and of course with 10 acres to run on, it helps keep him fit. Watching the 'waistline' on my dogs and horses is a daily thing for me. Not that it doesn't get away from me at times!! I've been both ways at times. Too fat, too skinny. But I try and keep mindful of what each is eating and what they look like and go from there.

Great
[DOUBLEPOST=1464470327,1464470189][/DOUBLEPOST]Great responses.
Maybe I feed Spanky too much.
I posted his pics.
I feed him 2 1/2 in morning, and 3 in the evening.
He is 2

 

[WiglWerm]

I almost think it is his personality. When we first brought him home he ate every second he could.

When we got Spike, at 5 yrs old he was a little under weight. I believe he had to compete with the other dogs in his old family for food and he lost. He acts like he is ALWAYS hungry. He did gain about 10 lbs after we got him. He is now 80 lbs and per my vet should not put on any more. If he had his way he would basically eat non stop. I think it is his personality due to not getting enough before. He gets about 5 cups and 2 raw eggs a day. (Unless he can sneak in Ruby's leftovers. lol)
I would be most concerned about how he LOOKS. Does he look skinny? Fat? I ration my dogs food on how they look to me. A little more in the summer as opposed to the winter due to inactivity.