# Food Intake Volumes



## dcteague (Aug 29, 2011)

So I've been feeding my V about 3.5 cups/day based on the recommendations of what's on the food package from Orijen - then my walker who is another V owner said I needed to increase his food quantities since you could see too much of his spine and he looked a bit skinny. He's getting a lot of exercise, he's 41lbs, and he's 5 months old (born mid-late Sept). What would you recommend for food quantities? He has about 2 acres of running room, and he's become really comfortable on the property and regularly sprints the land, as well as goes on nice hikes in the woods off-leash to do rock climbing (lucky to be in New England with big rocks everywhere).

He did look a bit skinny around his spine, but he'd eat as much as I feed him, so I've been very hesitant to go over what is recommended on the food package (Orijen), but my walker suggested that the V metabolism is such that going beyond the recommendations makes sense. Anyone have suggestions on what makes sense for food intake quantities? Now that he's been getting more food, he's filling in a bit more, but he's losing some of his sleek looks.


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## Evelyn (Mar 5, 2011)

I also feed my Vizsla Orijen....my pup was getting a bit chubby so I had to adjust to a lesser amount of dog food. The general rule is adjust the quantity of food according to pups metabolism and activity level. In general, vizslas seem to have a faster metabolism and especially if your pup is a high energy one you may need to increase the amount fed regardless if it exceeds amount recommended. My vizsla is now 16 months old and is being fed Adult Orijen and I have to decrease to only two cups of food a day (a little less than the recommended amount) because any more he would start getting chubby .... he gets about 4 hours of walking/offleash exercise per day but I still find that mine has a slower metabolism so gains weight quite easily. 

O yea as well, due to it's high protein content you just have to try to gage on the right amount cause your vizsla pup can easily become overweight with an increased amount. Just keep monitoring closely and you'll find the right amount!


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## Looney (Sep 28, 2011)

Evelyn said:


> day (a little less than the recommended amount) because any more he would start getting chubby .... he gets about 4 hours of walking/offleash exercise per day but I still find that mine has a slower metabolism so gains weight quite easily.
> 
> where do you find time to live your life and walk a dog for 4 hours a day? Good lord! Between play time with me and on his own and the multiple wee wee trips outside he gets about 1-2 hours of "play/exercise/training" a day. He's still really young too though.


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## laurita (Jun 12, 2011)

I primarily feed raw but over time, I have been more inclined to feed based on how my V looks rather than sticking strictly to what the bag says to feed. If I'm seeing too many ribs, I give him a few more "snacks" throughout the day...treats, leftovers, sweet potatoes or potato. If I'm not seeing enough rib or waistline, I cut down a bit on treats and snacks.


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## Looney (Sep 28, 2011)

laurita said:


> I primarily feed raw but over time, I have been more inclined to feed based on how my V looks rather than sticking strictly to what the bag says to feed. If I'm seeing too many ribs, I give him a few more "snacks" throughout the day...treats, leftovers, sweet potatoes or potato. If I'm not seeing enough rib or waistline, I cut down a bit on treats and snacks.


i'd love to know what you feed on a daily basis, i'm in the process of learning to feed raw. Got the kitten down pat but he has a "recipe" i can follow. The dog seems more just give to and let them go at it.

maybe like an average day of what and how much you give him? thanks sooooooo much!!


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## laurita (Jun 12, 2011)

Hi Looney,

I feed him 2x/day roughly 2.5% of his body weight (1.3 lbs). I alternate between buying turkey necks at the grocery store, chicken backs (from whole foods), sometimes turkey backs, sometimes red meat with a bone if I can find an inexpensive cut, and I also ordered green tripe online. When I run out of food and it's feeding time or raw isn't convenient, I give him a meal of kibble (chicken soup for the puppy soul). He chews on raw bone marrow bones and they keep him occupied for hours! He will eat pretty much anything so other things I might give him are veggies, sweet potatoes, fruit, yogurt, cottage cheese, raw egg. The amounts of supplemental things depend some on his weight. If he's looking a little thin, I'll add more of those in. I would say it's about 1/4 c of the other stuff a few times per week. If I'm going to eat chicken and I'm trimming it, I'll give him the trimmings. Not much goes to waste with him around! He's also had raw sardines but I find they aren't as convenient because it seems to leave him hungry and I don't want to feed many at once because of all of the bones. I worried a lot about getting it right at first, but now it's less exact and he's done great. No problems with eating raw bones and no health problems at all. You can be as easy or fussy about it as you'd like!

these 2 websites got me started:

http://www.vonlotta.com/diet.html

http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html- an FAQ about raw feeding


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## harrigab (Aug 21, 2011)

Ruby's recommended meal was 560g a day, Chudleys Jr, I upped it to about 700g as she was looking a bit skinny, she does get a lot of exercise though.


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## tracker (Jun 27, 2011)

After reading the previous posts my Lui's diet seems a bit excessive. He eats 3 cups of kibble in the morning with a heaping table spoon of pureed pumkpin, and another 3 cups in the evening. He gets three walks a day, one of them a one hour off leash walk. He was at the vet recently and he weighed in at 57 lbs, and he is 13 months old. Vet said not to change a thing, he is a good weight for his age and size.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

Looney said:


> laurita said:
> 
> 
> > I primarily feed raw but over time, I have been more inclined to feed based on how my V looks rather than sticking strictly to what the bag says to feed. If I'm seeing too many ribs, I give him a few more "snacks" throughout the day...treats, leftovers, sweet potatoes or potato. If I'm not seeing enough rib or waistline, I cut down a bit on treats and snacks.
> ...


http://www.urbanwolf.cc/
Just add RAW meat, or cooked meat.
Easy, balanced, may be a little more expensive, though.


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## dcteague (Aug 29, 2011)

After reading through this, I'm going to cut back a bit and let him thin out a little. He's a bit heavy for his age but appears sturdy, but not necessarily trim - probably not bad given he's still a pup, but I'm feeling I could slow his weight gain a bit. At 40+lbs at only 6 months, he seems a bit heavy/big for his age.


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## Melda (Feb 22, 2012)

Wow, there are actually chubby Vs??? 

Tamra (6.5 years old) has maintained the same weight since 3 years of age (22kgs), she's such a picky feeder and has stressed me out when she was a puppy, she just didn't eat, or picked at her food as if it were poison, I tried everything! when she was 1, you could see each bone on her spinal cord and each rib clearly, she was so anorexic. 

Leelu my 5 months old V eats like a pig in comparison (or normal dog) and funnily enough, this has improved Tamra's eating habits ;D

They're both on dried food + homemade chicken and rice, roughly 3 scoops of dried food per day divided over 2 meals for Tamra, 3 meals for Leelu with 1 tbs of rice mixture with each meal.

They look muscular and healthy, and I can still feel (but not see) their ribs when i run my hand down their side, apparently, this is a sign of a healthy normal and active pointer.


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

I've had V's for over 30yrs just one at a time-at 1yr old I keep a full bowl of his food out all the time-Pike eats when he wants to and has stayed at 60# for the last 3yrs-in a single dog family takes the stress out of when to feed and how much-If PIKE were a Lab he'd be the size of a house LOL


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