How Much To Feed?

[Guest leemc]

Hi,

We adopted Gracie in Oct. When we got her she was 66pounds, and very thin of course. I was giving her 3 cups of food in the morning then 3 again for dinner ( with treats in between) . I was trying to 'fatten her up alittle'. I feed Canidae. I have an 8 yr old black lab mix who does very well on Canidae. After a few weeks and after speaking to a few other greyhound owners about how much they feed, I went down to 2 cups at each feeding. Gracie is ALWAYS starving ( or at least acts that way). She wakes up at 4:30 am every morning- my husband gets up at that time for work so she hears him. She will come over to me in bed and jump up on me, bark in my face- anything it takes to get me out of bed to feed her.All day she looks for food. Recently I started giving her the 3 cups again. Maybe she is not satisfied with 2. But that seems like an awful lot of food, 6 cups a day .She still acts like she is starving even with 3 cups. I only feed my 62 pound other dog 1 1/2 cups at each feeding. Is she really hungry or is she just playing me-lol I was thinking of switching to Kirkland food from Costco .Maybe a different food would be more satisfying to her. Does anyone have any ideas?

Thank You...Happy Holidays to all

[OwnedBySummer]

I don't know why she's willing to eat so much. That's a LOT! Summer is 68 lbs. and she gets 2 cups for breakfast and then a 1/2 can of meat for dinner along with a handful of kibble. I need the single handful of kibble with dinner to keep flesh on that one rib, LOL! Then, of course, there's a cookie here and there but nothing overboard. I'll be interested to hear what others have to say.

[Guest Miller]

Our 85lb boy gets feed 2 cups of kibble with 0.25 can of canned food twice a day. I'd suggest adjusting slowly and just keeping an eye on her weight. Different dogs will need a different quantity of food.

 

Can you see ribs? How many?

[Guest leemc]

Our 85lb boy gets feed 2 cups of kibble with 0.25 can of canned food twice a day. I'd suggest adjusting slowly and just keeping an eye on her weight. Different dogs will need a different quantity of food.

 

Can you see ribs? How many?

I can see her last 2 ribs.

[Guest Swifthounds]

Three cups twice per day is a lot of food! What do the feeding instructions on the bag say should be fed for her ideal weight?

 

Do you know what her racing weight was? That's a good weight to use as an ideal weight. A hound in racing fitness will be in an ideal of fitness and carrying a lot of muscle and little fat. Unless they engaginge in a lot of running and/or amateur racing or coursing, most greyhounds in pet homes will lose muscle over time. As muscle weighs more than fat, as the muscle amount wanes, that hound at the same weight will be "fatter" and less fit. Some people will tell you that a retired hound should be 5#s over it's racing weight, but at that weight and a reduced fitness, much of that 5#s or more will be fat. A little fat is one thing, 5#s of flab is asking for arthritis and other joint issues.

 

I see your girl's racing weight was around 66#s. If she's 66#s now, she doesn't need any more weight.

 

Dogs, like people, aren't always eating or searching for food because they're hungry. Racing greyhounds are fed for fitness and fed on a schedule. A home environment is the first time that gryehound will be in a place where if they beg, they'll get more food. It's easy to mistake begging for hunger and new adopters commonly fall into appeasing a begging hound because it's cute, it's interaction with what may be an otherwise quiet dog (thus far), or because they are slim dogs that are mistaken for thin if you aren't used to what a greyhound should look like. Everytime you reward begging, you increase the likelihood of future begging. Every time she gets fed after jumping up on you and barking in your face, she's being rewarded for that behavior. You are, in essence, teaching her to beg and teaching her that she should demand food in that manner.

 

As I've discovered in past GT discussions where people have had these issues, some people really don't mind what I would consider very bad manners on the part of a dog (and not the dog's fault, if that's what's being reinforced). To each his own, I guess - as long as they don't stay where I stay for gryehound events and ruin our welcome (yeah, it has happened to me). Personally, I want my dogs to be good ambassadors of the breed so that they are welcome in more places, but not everyone does. Some people new to the breed have trouble distinguishing between adjustment issues and training issues, so all I'm doing is pointing them out and offering suggestions if you don't want this behavior to be a routine. It's easy to mistake a begging hound for a hungry hound, especially if your eye isn't yet trained to a greyhound physique - and they often look pretty darn cute. If you don't like being woken in that manner and having the constant begging, you can just change your routine and she'll figure it out.

[Guest leemc]

Three cups twice per day is a lot of food! What do the feeding instructions on the bag say should be fed for her ideal weight?

 

Do you know what her racing weight was? That's a good weight to use as an ideal weight. A hound in racing fitness will be in an ideal of fitness and carrying a lot of muscle and little fat. Unless they engaginge in a lot of running and/or amateur racing or coursing, most greyhounds in pet homes will lose muscle over time. As muscle weighs more than fat, as the muscle amount wanes, that hound at the same weight will be "fatter" and less fit. Some people will tell you that a retired hound should be 5#s over it's racing weight, but at that weight and a reduced fitness, much of that 5#s or more will be fat. A little fat is one thing, 5#s of flab is asking for arthritis and other joint issues.

 

I see your girl's racing weight was around 66#s. If she's 66#s now, she doesn't need any more weight.

 

Dogs, like people, aren't always eating or searching for food because they're hungry. Racing greyhounds are fed for fitness and fed on a schedule. A home environment is the first time that gryehound will be in a place where if they beg, they'll get more food. It's easy to mistake begging for hunger and new adopters commonly fall into appeasing a begging hound because it's cute, it's interaction with what may be an otherwise quiet dog (thus far), or because they are slim dogs that are mistaken for thin if you aren't used to what a greyhound should look like. Everytime you reward begging, you increase the likelihood of future begging. Every time she gets fed after jumping up on you and barking in your face, she's being rewarded for that behavior. You are, in essence, teaching her to beg and teaching her that she should demand food in that manner.

 

As I've discovered in past GT discussions where people have had these issues, some people really don't mind what I would consider very bad manners on the part of a dog (and not the dog's fault, if that's what's being reinforced). To each his own, I guess - as long as they don't stay where I stay for gryehound events and ruin our welcome (yeah, it has happened to me). Personally, I want my dogs to be good ambassadors of the breed so that they are welcome in more places, but not everyone does. Some people new to the breed have trouble distinguishing between adjustment issues and training issues, so all I'm doing is pointing them out and offering suggestions if you don't want this behavior to be a routine. It's easy to mistake a begging hound for a hungry hound, especially if your eye isn't yet trained to a greyhound physique - and they often look pretty darn cute. If you don't like being woken in that manner and having the constant begging, you can just change your routine and she'll figure it out.

6

 

You're right..I think "she" is training me.I have to be firm and just cover my head with my pillow in the morning until she gets it and tell her to go lay back down-lol Thank you- Happy Holidays

[Guest Bamn]

I feed my kids 4 times daily. I know this is not practical for everyone, but I get hungry more often than 2x's a day

 

Total they get 3 1/4 cups all day but it's split up between breakfast (immediately when we get up), a snack before I go to work, dinner, then a bedtime snack.

 

Possibly she was free fed where she came from? Good luck!

[Guest Stripeyfan]

How are her poops? Has she been tested for parasites? One of the symptoms can be a HUGE appetite/the dog acting as if it's starving etc. Might be worth worming her just in case, esp. if she's a recent adoption.

[Guest leemc]

How are her poops? Has she been tested for parasites? One of the symptoms can be a HUGE appetite/the dog acting as if it's starving etc. Might be worth worming her just in case, esp. if she's a recent adoption.

 

When I got her she actually did have hook worms. We completed the treatment and I had her tested again and she was fine. Her poops seem fine. She does get diarrhea sometimes but I notice that is after table scraps once in a while.

[Guest Sunset123]

My 57lb girl's weight is perfect and stable on 2.5 cups of Kirkland Lamb and Vegetable per day (1.5c morning, 1c evening).

 

She always acts hungry because... well, she's a dog and she really loves food, but I know this is the right amount because she's not gaining or losing weight.

[Guest leemc]

Thank You everyone! Happy Holidays

[TheFullHouse]

The getting up at 4:30 is probably because she's used to "kennel time". That's about the time trainers get to the kennel in the morning to do first turn out.