How Much Do You Feed Your Greyhound?

[Guest greyster]

I notice that we need to feed more in the winter than in the summer months. Perhaps they're burning more calories in the colder temps or something? They start looking a little more "ribby" to me around Oct/Nov so I start increasing.

 

My largest male gets 1-3/4 cups 2x daily, increased to 2 cups in winter.

 

My smallest female gets 1 cup 2x daily, increased to 1-1/4 cups in winter.

 

I also add a variety of other things to their kibble (we feed Wellness) such as an egg, plain yogurt, sardines (in water), salmon, mackeral (in water), or some of their favorite fruits and veggies - apples, bananas, green beans...

 

They also get several treats each day.

[Aerosmom]

I'm wondering about my new girl. The foster mom said she was eating 7-8 cups a day. I've been feeding her closer to 7 of Nutro dental, and some treats, but how long should she eat this quantity? It seems like a ton. My other grey, a boy who we've had for 10 months, eats about 4 to 4 1/2, depending on the treat level. She's thin -- you can see her spine and hip bones, and she devours all her food, so I've been maintaining the amount. She's also rather tall for a girl. The adoption agency tested her twice for worms, and she's clear. Do some greys have faster metabolisms? Do they level off after they've been off the track for a while?

 

At this point her exercise level is only moderate because she is only leash walked. She had a broken leg and has to stay at my speed for another three weeks.

 

Should I try some fattening foods, or will she just gradually fill out??

 

I was shocked to find that we had gone through a big bag of Nutro in a little over a week after adopting her.

 

Someone said the size of the food matters too. Nutro dental has big chunks, so maybe it isn't that vast of a quantity.

 

Any thoughts?

[Guest MoGreyMom]

About 5 cups total...

 

We just adopted our new boy Charlie 10 days ago. He came to us on Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Adult (from his foster mom) - we started feeding him Iams adult mixed in, since our Dalmatian did great on that. It gave Charlie (our grey) big loose poops, so we went back to the Nutro, and that has cured the poop problem!

One advantage to this kibble is that it contains Glucosamine Chondroitin, and the vet who treated our grey in the adoption kennel told me that due to the hock injury that caused his retirement, he should be on this anyway to help prevent arthritis.

We are learning his feeding schedule - he doesn't get hungry until around 10 am - he eats 2 heaping cups then, and 2 heaping cups around 5 pm. The foster mom suggested adding noodles and veggies - we've been making egg noodles and mixing that in with the kibble and he loves that. What veggies do dogs like???

He is 75#, quite thin, with his hips and vetebrae showing - which we were told was his normal racing weight. I'll weigh him at the vet soon and see if he needs more food.

He walks a mile with me every day and runs his loops in our backyard about every other day, so he might need more.....

[Guest GreyStaatsmann]

When Chloe@65lbs was eating ChickSoupDogLovrSoul, 4-8oz cups/day.

 

Now Canidae/or Prairie.................................................2 1/2,-8oz cups/day

[Guest sharkysmachine]

sharky was 73lbs and a little thin. He is now 80lbs. Started him on 4+ cups of Eukanuba Low Fat, then tried pro-plan. We are now on Nutro-Ultra about 3-3 1/2 cups a day plus 1/2 to 1 cup add-ins and cookies.

[Guest sharkysmachine]

My grey recently came to us with I'ams dog food. He doesn't care for it and eats it only if we add yogurt. We are switching to Pro Plan Adult Original Chicken and Rice Formula. We are transioning by adding Pro Plan to I'ams a little at a time. We are now at 50% Iams and 50% Pro Plan. Dog is getting very gassy. Any suggestions?            

850175[/snapback]

We tried pro-plan for a while and Sharky had bad gas and he pooped a lot. We swithced to Nutro-Ultra and he likes it. He rarely has gas and he poops less.

[Guest Tiffany]

You can't really compare foods by the cups, but by the weight/volume b/c kibble size varies a lot! You can use a kitchen scale a 8oz cup to measure that.

 

That being said my dogs eat the following amounts 1 time a day:

 

Linus 70lb male senior: 1 3/4 cup of Timberwolf Organics Lamb. Was getting 2 cups, but started to gain weight rapidly so we reduced. May have to go 1 1/2 cups and add some veggies.

 

Lilly and Jordan both 65lb female fosters: 2 1/2 cups of Eagle Pack Original

 

Non Greys:

 

Zeus (95lb Dobe), Casper (105lb Dogo Argentino) get 2 1/2 cups a day of Timberwolf Organics Bison.

 

Gunner (99lb Dobe) gets 2 1/2 cups of Eagle Pack Original

[Guest Lunula]

Our boy gets 3 cups per day of kibble, plus a cup of veggies. Our girl gets 2.5 cups of kibble and a cup of veggies. They also get an afternoon snack (greenie or something) - and they get "pizza bones" (the crusts, lol) on occasion when we get it.

 

Both of 'em are at perfect weights and look great!

[Guest meakah]

Well...this is my first post so I sure hope I am doing this correctly (great website btw!). I am a pretty new greyhound owner (1 year) and after reading this section on how much people feed their dogs I am a bit stunned. Do I have a freak of nature?? My female 64lb greyhound eats 7 cups of food a day plus 1/2 a can of wet food. All that divided into 2 meals. I feed the Eaglepack Holistic Chicken and Oatmeal so it is a good rich food and she does great on it. She isn't losing or gaining...just maintaining her great condition. So I am a bit stunned that she eats a great deal more than most of the greyhounds posted. Am I out to lunch? She is super lazy until I take her to the park where she runs and runs. So I wouldn't say she has more energy than other greyhounds. How odd...my poor student self gets the freak of nature with the ridiculously high metabolism. I love her all the same....

 

PS. She (Koda) is from Wisconsin and now resides in Alberta, Canada...do you suppose she eats more food due to the cooler climate?

[Guest cat_mph]

Toes weighs 73 lbs and gets 2 cups twice a day. He eats the same kibble he was fed at the racetrack: Diamond Lamb and Rice.

[Guest Peanut]

We feed Flint River Ranch (FRR) to some of the pups and raw to the babies.

 

Merlin (85#) get 3 1/2 cups FRR a day - original formula

Jake (75#) gets 1 3/4 cups FRR a day - original formula

Sassy (56#) gets 1 3/4 cups FRR a day - original formula

Peanut (62#) gets 3 cups FRR a day - fish & chip formula

Metu (78#) gets 3 cups FRR a day - original formula

Brooklyn (44# and 10 months old) gets 24-30 oz raw a day

 

As for fosters:

 

Simon (51# & 6 months old) gets 30-35 oz raw a day

New arrivals get 3 to 4 cups FRR a day as they gain some weight

Once they are here and at pet weight, they get 2 - 3 1/2 for females and 3 to 4 cups a day for males.

 

We've fed Diamond Lamb & Rice in the past. You feed about twice as much, but had good success with it.

[Guest Rayne]

Feeding 6 cups a day, 3 at lunch and 3 at diner, both with a tablespoon of yougurt...this is per GLGT. He seems to be fine, hes 79 pounds and VERY THIN !

 

Huggers & Slobbers

Rayne & Kirby

[Guest jangoboba]

I also like to fast the dogs (that don't need to gain weight) for a day every couple of weeks.

 

Lynn

718269[/snapback]

 

I've never heard of that before. What does that do?

 

By the way, my male, who is 75# gets about 4 cups per day of ProPlan, and my female, who is 60# but needs to gain weight, gets closer to 5 cups per day.

[woolfy]

Good rule of thumb to go. Take there racing weight add 5% to that. Take that number for the weight you want them to be and divided that number by 15 or 20 and that will give you the cups per day. If you look on your dog food bag that might be the cups per day the manufacture recommends. Have heard this formula form a lot of vets and a lot of articles read on this subject. Another good rule of thumb if your getting a lot out of the south end so to speak your either feeding to much or its not a quaility dog food. A lot of poop means what your seeing is the filler the manufacture puts in there food. The key also is plenty of exercise for them.

 

Woolfy

Edited December 9, 2005 by woolfy

[Guest GreytsMom]

Okay, I have a grey and a non grey and both eat the same quality food. Our grey poops very little, but the non grey's poop is more. They both get the same amount of food as they are the same weight. The non grey is considerably more active than our grey. Why the difference in amount of poop?

[Guest 4paws]

Again this would depend on the quality of the food and your dogs height and weight. Hey they deserve to eat well don't they?

[SAVED2]

ALL our eat diff amounts Larry 105 lbs gets 4 cups total the girls get a little less Andy gets 3 cups at 90 lbs but needs more as he is a bit too thin , the Rev gets more as he was starved by his last owners he came back to us at 60 lbs he is now 80 and still the ribs are showing

[GreytNut]

We feed both dogs 2 cups of Canidae per feeding, twice a day. Argus is 80 lbs and Raven is only 65, but we feed them the same amount because Raven loses weight so easily.

 

We add a teaspoon of parsley to morning and evening meals, and a dollop of plain nonfat yogurt and a little low-sodium vegetable juice to the evening meal. Both greys were a mess when they came to us, and their coats and general conditions have vastly improved since we put them on the Canidae. The yogurt helps reduce gaseous emissions, and the parsley seems to cut down on the grass eating/puking habit.

[Guest bona60]

Monty gets Pro Plan Chicken & Rice about 4 cups a day with some mix ins. About a half cup of any of the following. Chicken, beef, pasta, veggies. He's 80 lbs. Racing weight was 76. He loves pomesean cheese and Breyers Strawberry ice cream but only gets a few spoonfuls a week.

[Guest longdogs]

This poll isn't going to tell anyone very much. The amount of kibble a dog eats will be affected by its age, weight, fitness and exercise regime. Foods also differ a lot in terms of energy values and digestibility, and everybody probably adds various different amounts and types of extras. Appetite for the food is also going to be affected by treats, chews etc.

 

The only comment I can make relates to my own dogs. I can say for certain that I need to feed them less when I use Eagle Pack than any other 'super premium' brand I've tried. Because the energy values are about the same, it must come down to better digestibility.

[Guest Amber_NZ]

Amber gets 2 1/2 cups of Euakanuba active large breed. I think she is fine but some non greyhound people tell me she is to skinny (they all seem to have obese labs!).

Vet said if she is on the light side of ideal she will live longer and have better health.

[Guest greyhound_mommy]

We feed 4 cups and then add water, pumpkin, yogurt, or wet food, rice, veggies etc etc etc

 

So they might get about 4.5 to 5 a day....

[Guest shanab]

Lily has about 3 cups a day (1 cup in AM and 2 cups in PM). She also loves her snacks. She'll eat basically anything. Not picky at all.

[Guest NewFurMom]

I feed Cabana 2-1/2 cups a day (Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed) with 3V Caps (fish oil, omega fatty acids, vitamin E, etc). I also give her a kong full of peanut butter and low-fat vanilla yogurt every morning. She gets treats too, sometime a pig ear after dinner. I was feeding her about 3-4 cups a day and she got a little too much weight on her. The 2-1/2 cups a day at 5pm plus the other with light exercise is perfect for her. She has maintained her weight for quite some time now. Cabana's racing weight was 62lbs, she now weighs 65lbs and looks perfectly healthy.

 

I think it definitely depends on the quality of food you feed, exercise and just the make-up of the dog itself, just because they are all greyhounds does not mean they will need to eat the same amount.

[Guest IrskasMom]

My Pup is 19 Month old and I dont know , if he gets enough Food .

In the Morning and evening he gets 3 cups of Kibbles with boiled

Groundbeef and Rice with either Buttermilk Powder or Cottage Cheese.

He is very skinny and I would like to get some Meat on this Bones. By

the Way , the Kibbles is Nutro Max Puppy Food for Large Breed. Do you think of anything that I can do for a more Weight on Diet ?????