Puppy Weight Predictor and feeding

BenEadir · 29-03-2015 4:30pm #1

Hi all,

I've a 12 week old (today) mixed breed pup I adopted from a farm exactly three weeks ago. The mothers heritage is mainly Rothweiler and Northern Inuit (who I saw) and the father is reported to be a full Newfoundland but I didn't see him as he was a wandering Romeo.

My pup is jet black (with a tiny white star on her chest) and everyone from the vet to the dog trainers at the puppy socialisation classes she attended yesterday for the first time initially thought she was a pure Labrador. Based on the limited info I have about her heritage the vet originally thought she was going to be a very large dog of circa 55kg but when she returned for her second set of vaccine shots last week later he revised his estimate down to +/- 35kg based on the fact she was 3.7kg at 9 weeks and 5.7kg at 11 weeks.

She is twelve weeks old today and weighs 6.6kg. I put this info into http://www.enpevet.de/CalculateWeight.aspx and a couple of other weight calculators online and they predict her adult weight will be circa 17kg which is a lot lower than I expected.

I don't mind if she's not going to be a giant but I do want to make sure she's got the right diet and is being given the right amount of food for her developmental needs.

I started feeding her Royal Canin Giant Puppy food when I got her http://about.royalcanin.co.uk/catalogue/size-health-nutrition/giant-puppy23590/ and it's taken her exactly three weeks to finish the 4kg bag which I've now replaced with Royal Canin Maxi Junior http://about.royalcanin.co.uk/catalogue/size-health-nutrition/maxi-junior23599/.

I've been feeding her three times a day according to the recommended volume on the packaging but should I be using 35kg as her predicted adult weight or 17kg? I'm currently feeding her based on an expected adult weight of 35kg.

I follow the suggested portion sizes and in general she always leaves a bit behind. She eats as much as she wants and once she walks away and lies down the leftover food is removed. Is this the right approach?

Is there anything else I need to be doing diet wise?

Thankfully she is now fully vaccinated so she can start coming for walks. She had her first outing on the lead today and was pretty well behaved.

Knine · 29-03-2015 4:59pm

I'd say don't be worrying about projected adult weight/sizes or amounts on feedbags. Just keep an eye on your pups body condition & increase/reduce food as needed. She should have her ribs covered but not rolls of fat on her.

As she is a cross it would be very difficult to guess final size. I never look at the instructions on a bag of food as they are just basic guidelines only

peasant · 29-03-2015 5:18pm

Benno, according to his history on the enpevet calulator, is supposed to end up somewhere over 60 kg once he's done.

His first recorded weight at 13 weeks was 19.1 kg ...I think it's safe to say that your dog definitely won't be 55 kg.

Once you're done with the junior food bag I would switch back to a good puppy food and base the rations somewhere nearer the 30 kg mark. As your dog isn't a gulper and walks away when she's had enough I think it's safe to give her too much rather than too little.
Just watch her that she doesn't get too fat.

BenEadir · 29-03-2015 7:22pm

Thanks knine, thanks peasant, much appreciated.

I already have a 10 year old Lab / Alsation cross who is bang on the right weight so i understand how to feed "by eye" so to speak but it's been so long since I had a pup I'm a little unsure of myself.

Peasent, what puppy foods would you recommend? I'm happy to stick with Royal Canin but if there's a less expensive alternative which is as good or better suited to the job but doesn't have as big a brand marketing component in the overall cost please let me know. I'm happy to pay for quality food for her, less so for branding!

Also, what type of dog is Benno and what's her/his adult weight?

Knine · 29-03-2015 7:25pm

What kind of budget have you for food? Buying 15kg bags works out cheaper. Royal Canin is ok but quite expensive for what it is.

BenEadir · 29-03-2015 7:36pm

Knine wrote: »

What kind of budget have you for food? Buying 15kg bags works out cheaper. Royal Canin is ok but quite expensive for what it is.

Don't really have a budget for food, I want to make sure I'm giving her the right right complete food for her stage of development and size.

My older dog has been fed all kinds of complete food over the years, whatever came to hand. If in Woodies I'd get Red Mills for her but increasingly I've been feeding her Aldi's own brand "Earls" complete Chicken and Vegetable - https://www.aldi.ie/en/product-range/pet-care/dog-food/dog-food-products-detail-page/ps/p/earls-complete-dog-food. She's been on this for a couple of years at least and is in rude health which is great. It's 22% protein Vs the 32% in Royal Canin's Maxi Junior but then it's $0.92 per KG in a 10KG bag whereas Royal Canin is working out at €7.25 per KG in a 4KG bag :eek:

At almost 8 times the cost is Royal Canin 8 times better?

I suspect there's something in between which would be just as suitable for the pup at Royal Canin Maxi Junior. Time to do some research I guess!!

5p9arw38djv2b4 · 29-03-2015 7:43pm

I use Burns puppy food for my puppy, my choices were down to royal canin or Burns, but after a lot of reading I went with burns... (Also a mixed breed dog). Anyway you feed it according to puppy weight (20g per kilo) so puppy gets weighed once a week and fed in accordance, also the nutritionist at Burns are super with email questions and get back really quickly. Apparently he is to stay on the puppy food for 9 months... I have to say he is thriving on it. Really happy if you are thinking about trying something else.

peasant · 29-03-2015 7:43pm

Benno is half Lab half St. Bernard and at one year he's 72 cm and somewhere north of 50 kg (too heavy for me to lift safely and I've only got bathroom weighing scales

)

We started him on RC giant puppy for a while and then switched to an own brand giant puppy food from the local store (that looked even better quality going by the ingredients list).

Since the massive growth is over he's on Gain Elite big dog adult and doing fine so far.

Knine · 29-03-2015 7:48pm

I don't feed my dogs puppy food for too long. Usually put them on adult at about 4/5 months. Confirmation is very important to me & I prefer my dogs to grow slower. I have both small & large breeds.

Aldi food has very little meat. You could try Red Mills Leader range, Gain Elite, Dr. Clauders. Burns I only found ok. Not great for very active dogs.

I am using Champion Grainfree from dogfoodirect.ie at the moment. I combine it with raw.

BenEadir · 29-03-2015 8:07pm

Thanks guys, I'll get the current Royal Canin Maxi Junior into her over the next 2-3 weeks and I might bring her into my local Maxi Zoo in Sandyford at that stage to see what they recommend. I don't think they can recommend anything more expensive than I already have her on!!!

BenEadir · 29-03-2015 8:15pm

I don't suppose http://www.cdfoods.com have a factory shop where you can buy a few 20kg bags of good quality food at an attractive price?

I think C&D manufacture for other brands but don't have their own retail brand?

Knine · 29-03-2015 8:44pm

BenEadir wrote: »

Thanks guys, I'll get the current Royal Canin Maxi Junior into her over the next 2-3 weeks and I might bring her into my local Maxi Zoo in Sandyford at that stage to see what they recommend. I don't think they can recommend anything more expensive than I already have her on!!!

They will probably recommend their own brand though

muddypaws · 29-03-2015 11:15pm

BenEadir wrote: »

I don't suppose http://www.cdfoods.com have a factory shop where you can buy a few 20kg bags of good quality food at an attractive price?

I think C&D manufacture for other brands but don't have their own retail brand?

As far as I know, they only manufacture wet food in their Longford factory, and yes you're right, its all made for other brands.

Puppy Weight Predictor and feeding

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