A different kind of dog food issue

[gritsar]

Jax is now 13 months old and weighs 85 lbs. He is very active. He looks thin through the flanks but not too much underweight.

Kane is a week away from being 5 months old. He weighs 60 lbs. He's active, but not as much as Jax. You can feel Kane's ribs, but he is a stout puppy, to say the least. Both the breeder and the vet estimate his adult weight will be in the 110 lb. range.

Both dogs are eating Diamond Naturals for large breed puppies. Jax gets yogurt on his kibble in the morning. Kane doesn't tolerate yogurt. At night they each get the kibble, plus a chicken leg quarter or some raw hamburger.

We have two problems.

First - We'd like to put some weight on Jax, without switching the food if possible. I buy their food out of my SS check and it's not cheap. We'd really like to avoid having to feed two different foods, both for the $$ issue and the space required to store two different 40 lb. bags at a time. We planned to switch them to an adult food when Kane reaches a year old; at which time Jax will be 19 months old.

Second - Kane is always hungry, despite being fed at the upper ranges of the feed chart. He is parasite free, so I really don't know where he puts it all.

In general, they are both doing very well on this feed regimen.

I'm considering starting Jax on some Nutri-cal, to give him the extra calories he needs.
I think Kane's appetite will taper off here soon as soon as his growth slows a bit.

Or would I be better off switching them to the puppy food that's not for large breeds (which has more calories) ?
The large breed formula has
3,656 kcal/kg (342 kcal/cup)
The regular puppy formula has
3,995 kcal/kg (419 kcal/cup).

 

[Bluemoon420]

http://www.canidae.com/dogs/all_life_stages/dry.html

I've had Sophie on this from the get go. ALL our dogs get it. Including Sampson when he was alive. The feeding amounts are general, but I just adjust according to how they look. All the dogs eat seperate, so no chance of one getting another ones food. You can probably put it your zip code and see if a dealer near you. The feedstore we go to carries ours. There is also a feed calculator. For us it works out about 1.00 a lb, but you can use it to calculate other dog brands also.

Hope that helps grit.

Bluemoon

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I've looked for that food, but it's not available around here. As it is, we have to travel an hour to buy the Diamond Naturals. There's a Tractor Supply Company in Oklahoma where we go to buy their food.
Thanks for taking the time to post the link though. I appreciate it.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Is he a thin dog, or just lean? Its better to have a lean pup than a chubby one.

How many cups are you feeding him per day. Maybe add an extra meal.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
He's just lean. DH says that will serve him well once summer and the oppressive heat gets here. Jax is a finicky eater. The yogurt in the morning is the only way we can get him to eat a morning meal, otherwise he is only hungry in the evenings.
ETA: Re. your edit - They each get 6 cups a day. Jax will eat three cups in the morning, if it's mixed with yogurt. In the evenings he eats his chicken and nibbles at the kibble.
We feed them seperate so that Kane doesn't eat all of Jax's.

 

[easttxchick]

Hey Kat-is this a Hi-Pro feed you are giving them? I asked my vet about feeding my new puppy(of course he is about 900 times smaller than Jax and Kane), but he said Purina, Eukanuba and Science Diet were all really good puppy foods. It may be different for large breeds of course, but the Purina is a LOT cheaper than the Diamond(I've priced Diamond at TSC before).

 

[whatwasIthinking]

I would like to know if Jax was the runt of if he is being dominated? What breed are they? Each breed is different and each dog is different. My dog is a Border Collie and she seems like she will never eat her own food, but she is very and i mean very active. She will dive into the cat food when ever it is available. Cat food it has a higher protein content, and can be given to your chickens too. I'm no expert so check with your vet.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
The idea behind the "large breed puppy" foods as I understand it, is to give the extra protein, etc without as much calories, so that they grow at a slower, healthier rate.
The problem with the purina, eukanuba and science diet is that they all have either corn, wheat and/or soy in them. Kane has a sensitive tummy and can't tolerate grains in his food.

 

[Bluemoon420]

Quote:
I've looked for that food, but it's not available around here. As it is, we have to travel an hour to buy the Diamond Naturals. There's a Tractor Supply Company in Oklahoma where we go to buy their food.
Thanks for taking the time to post the link though. I appreciate it.

Bah, it was hard for me to track down in my area too. Finally, more than just me asking to order it, got our feedstore to start ordering it.

TSC carries blue buffalo which is pretty good food. I think it's more expensive though. I had Sampson on that for a bit. It was the only other food he did well on. It cost more to feed it that's for sure.

Sophie is on the lean side. She's probably similar build to him. She's no where near filling out yet. She's 12 months on the 5th. Her coat is slowly changing color again. She's shedding her winter coat.

There's another brand TSC started carrying but I can't remember the name. I think it's made by diamond for TSC? I haven't seen it anywhere else but there.



Bluemoon

 

[easttxchick]

Yikes-when they have food issues like that, it sure is expensive to feed them(believe me, I know). If poor Kane can't eat grains, I bet it is a challenge to feed them. There is bound to be something you can give them supplemental to their regular diet to put a bit of weight on Kane. I would just call the vets office and ask them if there is anything you can give him.
Just to make you feel a bit better, my little doxie baby is about 13 weeks old now and he would eat 24 hours a day if I made it available-also parasite free and healty.