The pup we're picking up this weekend has been on Purina puppy food and I can't stand to keep him on it. After reading like crazy and talking with multiple local specialty dog shops I've decided to switch him to TOTW: Pacific Stream (I noticed his coat seemed a hair dull when we were looking at him/we live in a dry climate). Hopefully the switch goes well and he takes to it.

TOTW suggests 3.6-5 cups of food per day for a puppy his age and size. He's 48 lbs @ 5 months old. That seems a little heavy to me, and I hear Sibes are light eaters, so should I just go with what the bag says or should I cut back some?

I'll post some pictures of him up here once he's home with us (friday!) so I can get some advice on if he is heavy or if he's simply big, but well proportioned.

Thanks!

My vet recommends only feeding a max of 80% of the bag's guidelines as a rule of thumb.

My dog is about the same size (he's 47.5), he eats about 2.5 cups of Wellness Core (another grain free kibble).

ETA: the 80% guideline would make TOTW be between 3-4 cups. I'd aim for 3, because like you said, Huskies are very efficient with their food and don't really eat that much.

I'll weigh in even though I don't feed TOTW. I have a 6 month old also around 40-some pounds and we are feeding him 3 - 3.5 cups of Merrick's Whole Earth Farms Puppy. It is not a grain-free kibble, so I assume that makes some difference. But my first thought is that those numbers are high. I do think puppies are usually feed more than an adult of the same weight but you are correct that huskies should be fed on the low side of the recommendations.

You also know you should buy a small bag of the Purina and begin mixing the TOTW into it gradually until eventually it is all TOTW. You can get nasty diarrhea from cold-turkey food changes.

Yay!! Good luck with your new baby this weekend! Can't wait to see pics!

Puppies usually will require more food than adults so they get the proper nutrition. Once your puppy reaches teenage years, you'll be feeding a little less unless you plan to 'work' your husky. There are varying levels of 'work' so you'll need to adjust accordingly to how much exercise/work your huksy gets once you get to that point.

I don't know how much food a puppy should get as it all depends on how active your pup is. You may want to start somewhere in the middle and see if he finishes his food within a 10 minute period. If he finishes all of what you give him, monitor his weight to his growth, and check in with your vet to make sure he is getting proper nutrition. If he is dropping in weight, obviously you'll want to increase his food.

Once you reach the teenage years, you'll need to re-evaluate how much food he'll need.

Definitely shoot for something a little lower than the bag says, that's almost always a given regardless of the dogs age. I would aim for something like 3 cups per day, split into multiple feedings to start off with. You can tweak the feeding amount as needed depending on how he's doing on that amount. Just monitor his weight and body condition and adjust feeding as necessary.

I know you want to hurry up and get him on a better food but I would advise waiting at least a week or two so that he can settle in his new home before you start making diet changes. Your new addition will be going through a stressful enough time that first few weeks even without the added stress of a food change, so it would be wise to keep him on his current food at least until he gets settled in. Well, that's my two cents anyway.

Can't agree more with Val. Let him settle in a bit first before changing his food, and when you do, switch it gradually.

Koda is on TOTW Pacific Stream. He is a full-grown, 60 lb male and never eats more than 2 cups of it. Thus, 3 cups of it sounds about right for a puppy.

Definitely give it time though!

Dog Food bags always lie!

I've often found that unless you work the heck out of them they can do really well on half what the bag feeding tells you. Just have to maintain a vigil on the weight by the scale and visual appearance. I feed TOTW and Biko will eat any amount that is put in front of him but I limit him to 2 cups total from 3 feedings at this time. Adobo, on the other hand receives the same amount but more often then not eats only about 1 1/2 cups per day.

Ahhh, thanks for all the advice! I'll be sure to give him some time to adjust before making the switch. I just want to make sure we're doing all we can for the little guy... Except going Raw, my wife would never do it, heck, I don't think I could handle all the raw meat either...

Raw is not for everyone, but we do the best we can at our own comfort and budget level

rileyflorence wrote:

I just want to make sure we're doing all we can for the little guy... Except going Raw, my wife would never do it, heck, I don't think I could handle all the raw meat either...

That's what I used to say too and now I feed a partial raw diet.

Koda wrote:

Raw is not for everyone, but we do the best we can at our own comfort and budget level

Ditto on this. It is not for everyone and it can be more challenging than feeding prepared foods since you would be responsible to creating a balanced diet. We all understand and respect whatever feeding preferences you and anyone else has. While many of us are strong advocates of raw feeding, I hope you never feel pressured into feeding raw or feel that you are not feeding your dog well enough if you don't feed raw. We all do the best we can within our means and according to what our dogs do well on. If a dog does not do well on premium foods and can only handle a lower quality food then there's nothing wrong with feeding that lower quality food to keep the dog's tummy in good working order. You're doing great wanting to start out on TOTW, it's way better than Purina for sure. And we are not here to judge you (or anyone else), our aim is help.

For kicks I emailed the guy we got him from how much he was feeding him of the Purina Puppy Chow. 12 cups a day. Poor Appa probably thinks we're starving him! It makes sense why he eats the whole bowl in 15 seconds....

We're still on the Purina for a about 2 weeks then we'll start the switch over. But he's definitely NOT on 12 cups a day anymore.

WOW. 12 cups a day is a little overboard... even if he IS a mal. I can't imagine ever feeding that!

Koda wrote:

WOW. 12 cups a day is a little overboard... even if he IS a mal. I can't imagine ever feeding that!

I can't imagine having the yard clean up duties.

So, we started out Appa on 3 cups of food, but he's just so big we moved up to 4. He's definitely slimmed down, but now I'm wondering if he's TOO slim? I've attached two photos, it's actually quite difficult to get this guy to let me take a profile shot. He always turns to look at me.

Standing: From above.


Profile

He doesn't look too thin from his pictures.
4 cups sounds a bit much....what are you feeding him?

I feel the same as Claudia. He doesn't look too thin, but what are you feeding him that he gets 4 cups a day?

We WERE feeding him Purina Puppy chow, his previous owner was feeding him 12 cups a day.

For about two weeks he's been getting 4 cups of a Purina/TOTW-Pacific Stream mix, just about two days ago he made the complete switch to 100% TOTW.

TOTW is a good kibble option. You don't need to feed as much when you're feeding higher quality kibble. Huskies and Mals are bred to go long distances on very little, and often times, the feeding guidelines on the bag is too much.

Personally, I wouldn't feed 4 cups/day for Appa. I think 3 cups/day is more than enough, and monitor his weight. Only if he's dropping weight would I increase his food. And if he's gaining weight too fast, I'd cut back.

Ok!

It's just hard to tell while he's still growing. He slimmed down a lot, but gained weight in the past month. So it's all visual right now I think.

As a general rule, no matter what your dog's age is, you should always be able to feel his ribs, but not see them and see a slope in at his hips and a tuck under at his pelvis. BUT you should not be able to see his pelvic bones.

I'm thinking his gaining weight in the last month has to do with your increase of TOTW and you're accidentally overfeeding him.

3 cups a day is still a lot, but like Claudia said, back him down to that for now and back off again if he's still gaining. Because he's probably at least part mal (he HAS to be, those features are totally mal), he's going to be bigger than your average husky. Koda, on 100% TOTW Pacific Stream received only 2 cups a day and he's 60 lbs. Appa looks like he might be closer to 70-75 when he's full grown, so I wouldn't expect to ever feed him more than 3 cups, probably closer to 2.5

When I had Storm on all kibble, he was getting a scant shy of 3 cups, and he's 100+ lbs. Granted, Storm is older, and Appa is a growing puppy but still half Storm's size.

Appa doesn't look thin to me - he looks *just right*. I agree with everyone else - feel him, make sure you can FEEL ribs, but can't SEE them. If his energy levels are good, I think you're good with what you're doing now (3-4 cups while he's a growing puppy), maybe cut back a little once he's stopped growing.

And ditto Len 12 cups of Purina = nasty yard duty. Ew ew ewwwww...

ETA: Is TOTW Pacific Stream an "All Life Stages" formula, or is it "Adult" food?

Kate i do believe that TOTW any flavor is all life stage. that is what is so nice about them.

Very good. :-) Just want to make sure Appa is getting enough calories per cup...

My 7 month old is about his size and because they are still puppies they should be eating more than adults. Sabaka occasionally refuses to eat 3 cups and other days I will "sneak" him another half of a cup because he seems hungery. I think you are doing fine with Appa. I think during months 6-12 dogs begin to have that "skinny" or "out of proportion" look that human teenagers often get.