He's 42 lbs and 7 months. I've been feeding what the bag recommends. If it's any consolation, he tends to leave 1/4 of it or so everyday and I just adjust the next feeding based on what's left over as though he finished the last one. So, technically, he gets 3 cups a day if he eats at his regular pace. He cuts himself off if he eats too much.

I know it seems like so much, but you should see how ridiculously skinny he is! Last week, he spent 3-4 days inside with very little exercise (4-6 walks a day, 5-20 mins each, which isn't a lot for him) and he hardly ate a cup a day. Since he's been at the park the last four days, he's been eating 3-4.

The bags are ALWAYS an over-estimate. They want you to use up the food faster and buy more of it

As a 7 month old, he really shouldn't need more than 3 cups of TOTW a day. If he's not eating all of it, he's definitely telling you he's getting too much. In fact, that's probably why he was leaving food behind before you were mixing it. Once he is over a year old, he really shouldn't need much more than 2. As a puppy, he can get more because he's growing, but he'll get fat if he keeps eating at that rate once he's done growing.

FWIW- huskies ALWAYS look lanky and skinny as puppies. You should be able to easily feel his ribs but not see them or his hip bones. If that is true, he's perfectly fine

The bag will often over compensate, especially for a Husky! At least he self regulates...

I'm struggling with a skinny pup too at the moment. He has no meat on him but his ribs have a nice covering of fat. So while I feel like he "needs" more food to put weight on... He's just not at that stage of growth right now. Siberians grow in strange stages and are often lanky and skinny for the duration of their puppyhood it seems- which frustrates the living hell out of all of us. Around 1.5-2 years old they begin to put some more weight on and it seems by 3 or so they're pretty filled out.

Coquito eats Orijen puppy food. Between 2 and 2 1/2 cups a day. Sometimes he leaves some.

Well, I'll gladly lessen his amounts, thanks. I do like the look of an empty bowl!

He is, by far, the most slender husky I've seen (even of comparable age). His brothers are more filled out, but he's keeping pace with weight, so it's not so bad. He seems like he'll be taller than the others. His waist tapers off considerably from the ribcage, giving him kind of an hourglass figure, but he has a pretty good layer over the ribs.

All huskies are different. Hailey LOOKS super skinny because she's so defined right now, but she's actually the perfect weight. Again, as long as you can easily feel but not see, he's perfectly healthy

The Siberian Husky when "created" (lack of a better term) by the Chukchi people were specifically bred for traits that allowed the breed to exert vasts amounts of energy while only needing very minimal amounts of food. The trait is still very apparent in the breed to this day. A Siberian Husky will need much less food than any other dog of equal size of a different breed and can still exert more energy than said dog of another breed on less food.

Many people still actively feed their Siberians one meal a day because that is really all they need. I feed 2 cups/day (morning/evening). Bella self regulates but at 52 pounds she needs to go on a diet and be about 45-48 for me to be happy. So she'll be going down to 1 cup - maybe 1.5 cups a day.

4 cups IMO is far too much as other have already stated . A male Siberian Husky should only top the scale at roughly 60 pounds. (this is for a dog that is about 23 inches at the shoulder). Any heavier you're putting extra strain on joints.

I read many moons ago and I mean many. Huskies will only eat what they think they need in calories. So being our huskies usually do not work as hard as one pulling a sled everyday they are not going to eat much.
Thor gets 2 cups in the morning and 2 in the evening but there are time he will not touch his morning food till late afternoon.

Again, I understand as much, but I never saw a reason to taper down because: A) he never finishes, and B) he's so bloody scrawny as it is. He weighs 42 lbs, while his littermate weighs 51. The idea that he was being overfed never came to mind. When he lived with that littermate, I was even concerned that he was so skinny because the brother was eating the lion's share, so to speak. Doesn't seem to be the case, but his brother DOES have a tendency to guard the foodbowl like a dragon guarding treasure.

I wasn't bashing you or anything I was just sharing information. Siberians are supposed to be very lean dogs and just is the case with any breed you don't want them to be overweight (or on the heavier side) as it puts unnecessary strain on the joints - especially as a puppy when it's important for joint growth and when they're seniors you really don't want them overweight.

That's just my thoughts on it.

I know and I realized I sounded defensive, but wasn't trying to. No worries. I can't do anything but appreciate concern for my dog, even if it is bashing me.

I agree. It wasn't a matter of "EAT MORE, YOU'RE ALL SKIN AND BONES." It was a matter of "Well, this doesn't seem to be turning you into, well, an American Husky, so..." I was told that puppies need substantially more than adults, so I trusted the bag and the dog not to lie to me. I'm constantly wondering if 42 lbs is anywhere near as heavy as he should be at 7-8 months, but that's because his brother (the agouti/sable husky in my profile pic) is almost 10 lbs more than he is, and has always been much larger and more social. Not as fast or energetic, though.

To me his brother is very big and could stand to lose several pounds lol. But it could just be the way he's laying.

Honestly -Tori said it great: "Again, as long as you can easily feel but not see, he's perfectly healthy"

Puppies do need more as they're growing but not THAT much more. Bella hated eating three meals a day. I noticed a huge difference from hear eating (or lack there of) three meals and when I cut it back to just two. I also do measured free feeding instead of scheduled feeding - but Bella thrives on the measured free feeding where getting her to eat the scheduled was a PITA.

Though right now she's only been getting about 1 cup a day since that's all she's been eating and she's 1 year and 1 month old. And she gets about two walks a day that are about an hour each and a bike ride of anywhere between 2 and 5 miles if the weather is nice and she could actually do more if I'd let her.

Niraya wrote:

To me his brother is very big and could stand to lose several pounds lol. But it could just be the way he's laying.

Honestly -Tori said it great: "Again, as long as you can easily feel but not see, he's perfectly healthy"

Puppies do need more as they're growing but not THAT much more. Bella hated eating three meals a day. I noticed a huge difference from hear eating (or lack there of) three meals and when I cut it back to just two. I also do measured free feeding instead of scheduled feeding - but Bella thrives on the measured free feeding where getting her to eat the scheduled was a PITA.

Though right now she's only been getting about 1 cup a day since that's all she's been eating and she's 1 year and 1 month old. And she gets about two walks a day that are about an hour each and a bike ride of anywhere between 2 and 5 miles if the weather is nice and she could actually do more if I'd let her.

He free-feeds during the day. I converted half of my utility room into a "kennel" using chickenwire, so he has plenty of moving space, and I keep his foodbowl down there with 3/4 of his daily dosage. He gets the last bit if the bowl is empty at dinner and I put the bowl up around 9.

Niraya wrote:

To me his brother is very big and could stand to lose several pounds lol. But it could just be the way he's laying.

Honestly -Tori said it great: "Again, as long as you can easily feel but not see, he's perfectly healthy"

Yep. I thought the same thing. The sable husky looks overweight to me.

Koda was 45 lbs at 7 months old. He's now a perfectly healthy 60 lb adult male and he is BIG for the breed. Some might call him over standard (depends on who you ask). Husky males are only supposed to max out at about 60 lbs and they put on a LOT of weight between 1-3 years of age. They have another growth spurt at 15-18 months old and fill out until they are almost 3 years old.

FTR- While many huskies DO stop eating at the amount they need, many also do not. Hailey will devour anything in front of her and we have one HELL of a time keeping the pounds on her properly. We are ALWAYS readjusting her portions because she gains. Koda on the other hand will self-regulate, but that doesn't meant that he doesn't get overweight either. Right now he could stand to loose a pound or two. So be careful just "trusting" your dog.

Fenrir does not look scrawny to me in the slightest. He looks like a perfectly healthy adolescent husky

Wow you guys are full of information..
The information is all good.

FYI

My Male Husky weight 31 lbs at 9 months that is when I got him and I believe he was underweight then..
He now weights 50-51 lbs at 18months old.

He is on the smaller size he is only 21 inches from floor to top of hip.

He eats about 1.5 to 2 cups of TOTW a day.


I also got him from a BYB or so I believe him to be.( I didn't know better at the time)

PLEASE DO NOT FEED YOUR DOG NUTRO!!!!!!
I raised Lex on Nutro until he was about 3 years old and thought it was great... Lex would throw up yellowish liquid 2-3 times a week, but he always did it around feeding time, so i thought it was just stomach acid b/c he was hungry. I even brought it up to my vet but got no where with it. Then we got Apollo.... He has a stomach of stone! But a little while after having him on Nutro, he started throwing up the yellowish liquid also. That's when i realized it had to be the food and i started researching it and learned this:
"Nutro product contains menadione, a controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells."
Vitamin K has been banned for human consumption by the FDA, but the food laws on dog food are a lot more lenient. I read more about cases against Nutro and learned that there were lots of cases where pets had died due to Liver failure! And that people's pets showed no signs of being sick. The only sign that some of them showed was.... u guessed it.... throwing up yellowish liquid!! I felt like such a horrible huskymama so we switched foods immediately! We changed foods about 5 times in 6 months due to them not liking it or it not going over well with their coats. But we feed them Natural Balance now... and guess what.... Neither one of my huskies has EVER thrown up yellowish liquid ever again after i took them off that food! So, please, dont feed your pets Nutro!

Great job on your process of elimination. Great looking Huskies you've got there.

Huskymama15 wrote:

PLEASE DO NOT FEED YOUR DOG NUTRO!!!!!!
I raised Lex on Nutro until he was about 3 years old and thought it was great... Lex would throw up yellowish liquid 2-3 times a week, but he always did it around feeding time, so i thought it was just stomach acid b/c he was hungry. I even brought it up to my vet but got no where with it. Then we got Apollo.... He has a stomach of stone! But a little while after having him on Nutro, he started throwing up the yellowish liquid also. That's when i realized it had to be the food and i started researching it and learned this:
"Nutro product contains menadione, a controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells."
Vitamin K has been banned for human consumption by the FDA, but the food laws on dog food are a lot more lenient. I read more about cases against Nutro and learned that there were lots of cases where pets had died due to Liver failure! And that people's pets showed no signs of being sick. The only sign that some of them showed was.... u guessed it.... throwing up yellowish liquid!! I felt like such a horrible huskymama so we switched foods immediately! We changed foods about 5 times in 6 months due to them not liking it or it not going over well with their coats. But we feed them Natural Balance now... and guess what.... Neither one of my huskies has EVER thrown up yellowish liquid ever again after i took them off that food! So, please, dont feed your pets Nutro!

Sura would throw up yellow liquid in the morning as well. I always thought it had to do with her having an empty stomach (googled the problem, and that's what I got) but I haven't seen it since we switched her food so I'm thinking there was a problem with her food.
She was on Purina puppy chow, now she's on blue wilderness.

We're thinking of just going raw.

Huskymama15 wrote:

PLEASE DO NOT FEED YOUR DOG NUTRO!!!!!!
I raised Lex on Nutro until he was about 3 years old and thought it was great... Lex would throw up yellowish liquid 2-3 times a week........i started researching it and learned this:
"Nutro product contains menadione, a controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells."
Vitamin K has been banned for human consumption by the FDA, but the food laws on dog food are a lot more lenient. I read more about cases against Nutro and learned that there were lots of cases where pets had died due to Liver failure! And that people's pets showed no signs of being sick. The only sign that some of them showed was.... u guessed it.... throwing up yellowish liquid!!

Thanks for the heads up!

Scary thing to have to go through!

We're in the process of moving everyone over to grinds for raw. It's just a hell of a lot easier on me and it doesn't take much room up in the freezer (comparatively, anyway.) The company is local and it's very reasonably priced. Have to buy in bulk once a month but it's worth it. They're still going to be getting chicken quarters for bone content and dental purposes... We also found a place that sells reasonably priced green tripe so that's a new addition to our menu.

Also going to try and convert Cheyenne over to 100% raw, I think she'll like the grinds.

Kristina your dogs are so beautiful. I especially love your black and tan. That's a rare coloring I assume?

I'm still trying to figure out what to feed my girl when I switch to raw. We spend 70 dollars on a bag of dog food and I can't help but feel like raw would be cheaper(not to mention better for her)considering we only have her for now. (getting a second dog in the future)

I'm thinking maybe picking up a bag of frozen chicken thighs? Give her 1-2 a day? Not sure on the amounts.

Snow White wrote:

Kristina your dogs are so beautiful. I especially love your black and tan. That's a rare coloring I assume?

I'm still trying to figure out what to feed my girl when I switch to raw. We spend 70 dollars on a bag of dog food and I can't help but feel like raw would be cheaper(not to mention better for her)considering we only have her for now. (getting a second dog in the future)

I'm thinking maybe picking up a bag of frozen chicken thighs? Give her 1-2 a day? Not sure on the amounts.

There is a raw food forum section that has been very helpful. We give ALL 5 of ours raw. It has been SOOOOO much cheaper than the kibble, at least here. I have heard people say that it equals about the same, but we buy 10 lb thigh quarters when they are on sale for 40 cents a pound.

We also give them chicken necks (the little ones) and it has been such a change!

Ideally, you want to feed 2 to 3 % of the dog's body weight.

Definitely check out the Raw Feeding Forum! Lots of good info!

Trying a new dehydrated food by Grandma Lucy's. Its called Pure-formance. It seems similar to the other formulas they offer, but it does not have any potato in it. We are trying the rabbit formula. So far the dogs seem to really enjoy it. They only get it about once a week, the rest of the week they are still getting raw. It has not messed up their stools at all.

I wish there was another option for dehydrated fish other than THK. I saw this and am going to try the chicken to stretch out THK. I know Storm will be OK on this and so far Ginger seems to be OK with chicken as long as it's raw, dehydrated or freeze dried (no chicken in kibble for her!).

Huskymama15 wrote:

PLEASE DO NOT FEED YOUR DOG NUTRO!!!!!!
I raised Lex on Nutro until he was about 3 years old and thought it was great... Lex would throw up yellowish liquid 2-3 times a week, but he always did it around feeding time, so i thought it was just stomach acid b/c he was hungry. I even brought it up to my vet but got no where with it. Then we got Apollo.... He has a stomach of stone! But a little while after having him on Nutro, he started throwing up the yellowish liquid also. That's when i realized it had to be the food and i started researching it and learned this:
"Nutro product contains menadione, a controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells."
Vitamin K has been banned for human consumption by the FDA, but the food laws on dog food are a lot more lenient. I read more about cases against Nutro and learned that there were lots of cases where pets had died due to Liver failure! And that people's pets showed no signs of being sick. The only sign that some of them showed was.... u guessed it.... throwing up yellowish liquid!! I felt like such a horrible huskymama so we switched foods immediately! We changed foods about 5 times in 6 months due to them not liking it or it not going over well with their coats. But we feed them Natural Balance now... and guess what.... Neither one of my huskies has EVER thrown up yellowish liquid ever again after i took them off that food! So, please, dont feed your pets Nutro!

Our whole family came down with the flu as our GSD ran out of her food. My husband being the courageous and caring man he is went out despite feeling like shit to get her some food. Unfortunately all they had at the supermarket was purina products and petco was closed. He bought her a small bag of purina "chef's micheal's" (until we're all feeling well enough to drive out to petco) and she has been throwing up yellow liquid again. I am now convinced purina products also may cause liver failure. I'm going to drive to petco today and get her regular food!

Side note:Can't afford to do raw properly as we fear so we're sticking with blue wilderness. She's was doing great on it.