Amount to feed & How many times a day to feed?

[Bizzymammabee]

Raven will be four months old on the 20th. She is eating Merricks B4 Grain. We just went to the vet on Saturday that passed and she gained a total of three pounds in the three weeks since her last visit. I am wondering if she is getting too much. How much should she be getting and how many times a day should she be fed. I can't free feed her right now as we are trying to potty train her.

Also, what time do you cut off your baby's water? As it stands, I get up a couple times a night to walk her.

 

[LaurenA]

We've been feeding Rook 3/4 cup of kibble three times a day... waiting for him to turn 6 months in a couple of weeks to go down to two feedings a day.
Rook is our first bulldog, so this is all new territory to me and I'm sure others can give you better advice. But gaining three pounds doesn't sound like too much to me... Rook gained 8 pounds in a month when he was 4 months, and our vet said this was fine. He has a slight taper at the waist, and we cannot see his ribs, but you can kind of feel the rib cage if you run your hands over his sides.
As far as water, I think at first we would cut it off two hours before his last walk for the night - I can't really remember because we started to forget about taking it away, and around 4 or 5 months he was good about making it through the night without having to go out for a potty break and no accidents in the crate.
Hang in there! Eventually you and Raven will be getting a good, full night of sleep!

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

Remember..they are supposed to gain the weight as pups! I think that sounds perfect! Jake got 3 feedings a day of 1/2 cup each..gradually going to twice a day..1 cup each time. At 4 months she should be able to go 6 hours without much trouble! At 3 months jake could go from 10 at night to 5 am. Since he was crated I never kept water in his crate and just made sure he went out as late as we could.

 

[Meggs19]

Tonka is 7 1/2 months now and we are still feeding him a "shallow" one cup (so probably closer to 3/4 cup) 3 times per day. I think we might wait a while longer before we switch to two feedings per day, I know the three feedings helps to balance blood sugar levels and our vet didn't stress any hurry to do this. We are kind of playing it by ear with the amount of food we give Tonka. We had also gone off the amount on the bag somewhat as well and just watched how he did with that. I don't think you want to skimp too much on the food since puppies are growing and need the food. Tonka looks great right now. His waist is visible and ribs are palpable but not visible. If we notice any change with this we would just reduce the amount of food a little more. Tonka is on Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Fish. We used to take his water away two hours before bed time as well.

 

[Bizzymammabee]

Thanks guys. She doesn't look fat, although, when I pick her up I can feel her weight . Yes, every night since she sleeps with one kid or another, I have to pick her up and carry her down the stairs. She can go up quickly, down maybe three small steps easily, but the big steps are still a problem. Do you think someone else is being trained here ?

She has a nice taper to her waist until she eats and drinks, then look out she starts to puff up like the stay puff marshmallow man. I think she should do fine with the 1 1/2 cups a food a day rationed out three times a day. By the way do your bullies puff up like that?

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

Yes! Especially after drinking! I have to tell Jake to STOP when he drinks! It's like he thinks he has to finish the whole bowl!

 

[Bizzymammabee]

Yes! Especially after drinking! I have to tell Jake to STOP when he drinks! It's like he thinks he has to finish the whole bowl!

The first day when we brought her home and I saw it happen I got so scared. Bloat seems to be an issue with bigger dogs and it just popped into my mind. I told my husband, jeeze I might have a heart attack getting this pup through her first year of life. While reasearching the breed you hear so much possibilities for health issues and it's really scary.

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

The first day when we brought her home and I saw it happen I got so scared. Bloat seems to be an issue with bigger dogs and it just popped into my mind. I told my husband, jeeze I might have a heart attack getting this pup through her first year of life. While reasearching the breed you hear so much possibilities for health issues and it's really scary.

I know! I've so turned into a "Bully wart"!!!

 

[Bizzymammabee]

Hubby laughs at me. He said leave it to me to pick two breeds that you really need to monitor for health issues.