# How much should I be feeding my V?



## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

Riley will be 5 months old next week and weighs about 30 pounds. We feed him twice a day and give him snacks, but he is very food driven and always acts hungry. How much should he be eating every day?


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

Mix up the protein and the carbs, for a good balance. If he isn't fat, give him as much as he wants.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

Hi, from experience we found following the label on dog food bags is sure way to overweight dogs. 

It is harder to make them lean than to fatten them up.

V's are heavy if you cannot see their ribs when they turn.

Some feed them one a day. But if split the daily ration into 3 smaller portions it may help with hunger pains.


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## Maisy Mae (Jul 22, 2011)

Continue what your doing. I know Maisy would act hungry if she knew she could get treat. If all else fails look at the dog food package sometimes it says the amount of food to give your dog. Also does the package say puppy food? Because maybe you want to consider switching adult food by his next birthday.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Post a pic and I will tell you!!!  

Really, every dog is different in what they need and also what they want!!! 

As someone else has said, the ribs should be visible when the dog is slightly turned. My V, you can just see them all the time. But only just. He is lean but not skinny, with great muscle definition. 

Now, my Pointer is a food pig. She would eat till she exploded. Not long after I got her, she nearly did and she has been on a diet since. I found that even though she is still a puppy, the puppy food had lots of nutrition packed into a small size. So I switched her to an adult food. I feed her more of if than the puppy stuff in volume terms, but it has kept the weight in check. She was a fat pointer about 6 weeks after I got her :-[ But now she is back to 21kgs and I can see her ribs again now when she turns. Much nicer.

So, monitor your puppy and see what he looks like and then adjust the intake accordingly. I find as others have, the recommended amount on the packet makes them put weight on fast, even with heaps of exercise.


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## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

I promise I will get a picture posted! But now we have developed the opposite problem. He doesn't want to eat. He can take up to 5 hours to just eat his breakfast and I do take it away after awhile and try again later. He just swings by grabs a bite and runs. By the time he eats his breakfast his supper is only a few hours away. Vet seemed concerned about his eating habits, but from what I've seen, V's are known for not eating so well.


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## styler1972 (Jan 20, 2012)

According to datacan, I have an overweight Vizsla. I have been free feeding my 10 month old Vizsla since birth. He never eats the recommended amount on the back of the bag (Nutro puppy large breed white bag). It just didn't seem like he was eating enough. He will go through about 4 cups in 2(ish) days, which is close to 1/2 the suggested amount from back.. I have observed from talking to other V owners that some dogs will go days without eating!


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## harrigab (Aug 21, 2011)

I wormed Ruby last week and now she seems to be a lot slower at eating her meals, (twice a day), she eats it all eventually, just doesn't wolf it down the same.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

datacan said:


> Hi, from experience we found following the label on dog food bags is sure way to overweight dogs.
> 
> It is harder to make them lean than to fatten them up.
> 
> ...



Yep, agreed, much easier to make them fat than make them lose weight. A bit like us really!! When I first rescued Zsa Zsa, she was very thin. Too thin. You could see her backbone. So I probably over compensated and within 2 months, she was a rolly polly little GSP. She had the bump above the tail!! It took 4 months to get her back to a nice lean size again.

Also agree that the ribs should be visible when they turn slightly, or even when standing still and straight they should be just visible. I have all three of mine at this point now. But, each one eats a different amount daily to the other. Astro is the biggest eater, then Ozkar then Zsa Zsa in terms of keeping them at the right weight.

However, be careful with the recommended amounts on the pack, as some dogs will need a lot less, some what the pack says and yet again others need more than the recommended amount. Most dog food works on cup size to age. The food I buy works on the weight of the dog and is measured in grams, not cups. If I fed them what was recommended, I would have one fat dog, one the right weight and one under weight. Astro eats more than the recommended amount, Ozkar eats what is recommended and Zsa Zsa eats a little less. This keeps all three at the right weight. (I'm really proud of how good they look at the moment.... It's taken some time as Astro was also overweight when I got him at 6.5 months of age. )

Dogs will usually just eat whatever is available. I've seen a dog of mine eat a 12kg bag of dry food in a day when it got into the food cupboard while I was at work. (My fault, forgot to close the door).  He looked like a beach ball when I got home, I thought he was ill until I went to feed him and there was no dry food left in the bag  

Best suggestion is to monitor their weight and adjust up or down accordingly. I still feed my dogs twice a day and just split the daily ration in two. I find it does as Datacan says and reduces the hunger pangs halfway through the day.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

It depends so much on the dog that you can't go by the food labels. My dogs have been free fed since puppies. They are not chow hounds on dog food, so food in a bowl doesn't mean they will run over and eat. Treats are different. They would eat as much as you will hand out. I feed a very high protein food over the hunting season, then feed a moderate one in the off season. My one that will get a little heavy gets carrots for snacks. My tiny one gets eggs, cottage cheese, and satin balls.


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## Vizsla Baby (Nov 4, 2011)

I also watch how active she's been. If its a rainy day & she hasn't played much I give her about 10% less than on a normal, active day.


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## Looney (Sep 28, 2011)

my little guy had some "dandruff" when we got him....cold weather in PA dry skin and all. So i feed him an egg everyother day or so....if he sees me put it in his food he'll eat every single morsel in there if not he just picks...


about another month or so i'll be starting the RAW feeding as intended.
he's almost 4 months and over 20lbs...skinny but not underfed.


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

A|ll the above posts have been interesting. Emily, you didn't actually say whether your V was thin or not. Mine is 14 weeks and 10.5Kg/22lbs (we Europeans have to think in Kg now), and on the thin side, although gaining weight nicely now we have the diet right. I agree that every dog is different so you can't compare my pups weight with yours.

As mine was so thin I had a great dilemma as to what and how much I should be feeding him. As the others say the back of the pack is a guide line, but for me it wasn't helpful and he didn't put on weight even when we put him on the amount for a dog 5Kg heavier than he was. 

Some one on this forum suggested giving him some raw meat, that it was great for putting on weight. Based on some research I did a mature dog should eat no more than 3% of its body weight and that can vary as to whether you feed kibble or raw. Puppies should he between 8 - 10% of their body weight. I found a great raw diet that an American has just started over here called Natural Instinct which comes in 1Kg boxes - beef, chicken, tripe etc. They go in the freezer and they are great. I feed 8% (200g 4x a day) of his body weight which is a 1/4 kibble and 3/4 raw and I have to say he has really put on weight, his coat shines and is so soft. 

Although, he is old enough to have just 3 meals a day, my dog trainer suggested he stay on 4 as he was having large quantities and it would help his tummy digest it all. He is nearly at a good weight for him (still a bit too ribby) but probably next week he will go on to 3 feeds and we will increment his feed by how he looks.

Pictures would be good :-X


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## Westx (Apr 3, 2012)

Emily-

My pup Griffin will turn 5 moths on the 8th...and he eats twice a day, but, just as you described, he's slowed his eating in the past couple weeks. He used to wolf his meal down, now he takes his time...


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## Katja (Mar 9, 2012)

Wow, I can't even imagine my dog taking his time with his food. Sometimes it's gone before I've even managed to turn around and walk across the kitchen after setting it down...


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## oneimaginaryboy (Nov 23, 2020)

hello everyone. i have the same question regarding whether my 5 month old vizsla is the proper weight. he’s about 14kg right now but looks so skinny to me ...


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

As long as your not seeing hip or backbones, the pup is fine.


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## John N (Sep 11, 2020)

oneimaginaryboy said:


> hello everyone. i have the same question regarding whether my 5 month old vizsla is the proper weight. he’s about 14kg right now but looks so skinny to me ...


Our Piper is 6 Months and around 16Kg and looks fine to me!😄


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