# Question for Pro Plan feeders



## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

nellie'smom said:


> How many cups per day do you feed? I know all dogs are different. Nellie is at 77lbs (down 7 in 15 months she was 84lbs). I guess my other question would be what amount would you suggest for her to maintain her weight? Talking about the chicken & rice formula I think it is 489kcals/cup. Thanks for any info!:wave:


Are you trying to reduce her weight? ProPlan Weight Management is great... 
Do you feed 1 or 2 times per day?
My dogs are getting 2 cups twice a day. As all are in the 65 - 68 pound range, they all get the same amount. The dogs being shown are fed Performance, the others Adult Chicken & Rice. When Jib and Pebbles are here (my two co-owns) they get Weight Management.


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## nellie'smom (Dec 27, 2007)

Pointgold said:


> Are you trying to reduce her weight? ProPlan Weight Management is great...
> Do you feed 1 or 2 times per day?
> My dogs are getting 2 cups twice a day. As all are in the 65 - 68 pound range, they all get the same amount. The dogs being shown are fed Performance, the others Adult Chicken & Rice. When Jib and Pebbles are here (my two co-owns) they get Weight Management.


She could probably lose a few more pounds but I want to try and maintain her weight now. I feed 2 x a day. The weight management formula, I guess is good for your 2 co-owns? I have thought about that formula...
Thanks for the reply.


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## TheHooch (May 9, 2007)

I feed twice a day 1 1/2 cups a day mine get a little less cause they are not quite on the active side like they once were.


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## nellie'smom (Dec 27, 2007)

TheHooch said:


> I feed twice a day 1 1/2 cups a day mine get a little less cause they are not quite on the active side like they once were.


Thanks Hooch! That's what I was wondering, especially since she is less active right now with the winter, I was figuring a little under 2 cups a day. Right now she gets 2 cups a day. I feed Iams/Eukanuba, and lately have not been happy with it. Mainly the Iams, they switched the ingredients and now it just looks different and smells different. I just don't know why they have to mess with ingredients!


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

nellie'smom said:


> Thanks Hooch! That's what I was wondering, especially since she is less active right now with the winter, I was figuring a little under 2 cups a day. Right now she gets 2 cups a day. I feed Iams/Eukanuba, and lately have not been happy with it. Mainly the Iams, they switched the ingredients and now it just looks different and smells different. I just don't know why they have to mess with ingredients!


 
I used to use Iams a million years ago. I switched to ProPlan for a couple of reasons. I like that the formulas remain consistent. My dogs have great coats, good overall health and vigor, and enjoy longevity.
I will never switch again.


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## nellie'smom (Dec 27, 2007)

Pointgold said:


> I used to use Iams a million years ago. I switched to ProPlan for a couple of reasons. I like that the formulas remain consistent. My dogs have great coats, good overall health and vigor, and enjoy longevity.
> I will never switch again.


Yeah I like the fact that Proplan is consistent with their ingredients. Thanks again I value your info!


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## Sunny Delight (Mar 10, 2007)

I used to feel ProPlan Chicken and Rice and each dog got 2 cups per day. They maintained their weight very well on it. The food I feed now has 375 cal per cup, and they still maintain their weight. Hmmmm.... Perhaps I give more peanut butter stuffed treats now and that makes up the caloric difference? I switched because the food I give now has no corn gluten meal and is less expensive than the Proplan. But I was very happy with Proplan and it's what Sunny's breeder used, so I went with it. All fosters and visiting dogs always liked it more than their own food.


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## Andymuggwump (Feb 20, 2008)

HI, sorry to sound dumb but the only 'Pro Plan' we have here in the UK is made by a company called Purina. Is this what you guys are feeding in the states?


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## DelmarvaGold (Mar 7, 2006)

Andymuggwump said:


> HI, sorry to sound dumb but the only 'Pro Plan' we have here in the UK is made by a company called Purina. Is this what you guys are feeding in the states?



Yes, that's it. I feed it also and I agree with PG. Great coats, dogs love it and the weight management forumla has done a good job on my 8 year old spayed female. She's lost a bit of weight and I actually saw her chase one of the other dogs around the yard


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## HovawartMom (Aug 10, 2006)

My 95 pds dog is fed,4 cups a day and my 65 pds dog is fed in bet.2 and 3 cups a day depending on the exercise!.So I wouldn't feed yr dog,more than 3 to 4 cups a day!.Hope this help!.


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## shenando (Jan 28, 2006)

Is there something wrong with my dogs or what? I've fed Pro Plan pretty much ever since I got Parker (2 1/2) and Bailey (1 1/2) as puppies d/t trouble with other foods when Parker was a puppy. I've always had to feed them WAY more than what it says on the bag and evidently WAY more than everyone else on here it seems. They both get right around 4 1/2-5 cups per day and I still have trouble keeping the weight on them! Parker is right around 68 lbs but is very tall and Bailey is in the high 50's. She is a mix and is shorter, but both appear to be on the skinny side (healthy, but sometimes appear borderline too skinny.) I don't think I could ever afford to have another dog at the same time because of the dog food aspect of it, they go through so much!


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## nellie'smom (Dec 27, 2007)

golden&hovawart said:


> My 95 pds dog is fed,4 cups a day and my 65 pds dog is fed in bet.2 and 3 cups a day depending on the exercise!.So I wouldn't feed yr dog,more than 3 to 4 cups a day!.Hope this help!.


Yes it helps! Thank you!


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## nellie'smom (Dec 27, 2007)

DelmarvaGold said:


> Yes, that's it. I feed it also and I agree with PG. Great coats, dogs love it and the weight management forumla has done a good job on my 8 year old spayed female. She's lost a bit of weight and I actually saw her chase one of the other dogs around the yard


Thanks! That's what I think I am going to try, the weight management formula. I'm afraid to feed her anything over 400 calories/cup. Isn't it funny how my dogs before would eat anything and didn't have any weight issues, and this one I swear would gain 5 lbs if you look at her the wrong way! LOL!
Thanks again everyone for the info!:wave:


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## Ash (Sep 11, 2007)

shenando said:


> Is there something wrong with my dogs or what? I've always had to feed them WAY more than what it says on the bag and evidently WAY more than everyone else on here it seems. They both get right around 4 1/2-5 cups per day and I still have trouble keeping the weight on them! Parker is right around 68 lbs but is very tall and Bailey is in the high 50's. She is a mix and is shorter, but both appear to be on the skinny side (healthy, but sometimes appear borderline too skinny.) I don't think I could ever afford to have another dog at the same time because of the dog food aspect of it, they go through so much!


No your not the only one LOL. I have dogs go through 8 cups a day the are just hard keeper but I understand your frustration.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

shenando said:


> Is there something wrong with my dogs or what? I've fed Pro Plan pretty much ever since I got Parker (2 1/2) and Bailey (1 1/2) as puppies d/t trouble with other foods when Parker was a puppy. I've always had to feed them WAY more than what it says on the bag and evidently WAY more than everyone else on here it seems. They both get right around 4 1/2-5 cups per day and I still have trouble keeping the weight on them! Parker is right around 68 lbs but is very tall and Bailey is in the high 50's. She is a mix and is shorter, but both appear to be on the skinny side (healthy, but sometimes appear borderline too skinny.) I don't think I could ever afford to have another dog at the same time because of the dog food aspect of it, they go through so much!


 
Are they very active? I'm not sure what you consider to be "very tall"... My 2 year old male Golden is 23 1/2" at the shoulder, and on Friday weighed in at 67 pounds. His sister is shorter and weighed in at 63.5 pounds. By skinny are you talking hip bones and backbone showing skinny? Or just lean, where you can feel the ribs but they look good?
Have they had a fecal checked recently? Which forumla are you feeding them?
(Enquiring minds want to know )


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## shenando (Jan 28, 2006)

Well, I haven't measured Parker in awhile and can't remember how tall he was last I measured him, but compared to a lot of other goldens I see, he is quite a bit taller. Maybe because I got him fixed so early??? But who really knows? No, their bones are not showing, but sometimes I feel like Bailey's are close to showing. Bailey is definitely skinnier than her brother, but parker is on the thin side as well (the healthy thin side.) Neither have actually had a fecal checked since they were younger (back when we used to go to the vet every month for vaccinations.) They both have gotten Pro Plan Lg Breed since they were puppies. Back when we got Parker, we tried him on like 4 different formulas before we found this one and he wouldn't eat any of them. The vet was concerned about his weight and acted like it was my fault (that I wasn't feeding him properly) but the truth was that he would eat a bite and then leave it. He didn't want anything to do with those other foods. When I found this one, he LOVED it and gobbled it up. I just fed Bailey what he already ate and she loved it as well. Last I went to the vet (end of December) I discussed Bailey's weight with the vet and she gave me the study that Purina recently conducted. The vet put her in the 4 category in the chart. Or at least I'm pretty sure that the was the first category in the healthy section. I think 1-3 was too skinny, 4-5 or 6 was healthy and everything else was too heavy. Parker probably fell in the 5 category, but he wasn't there at the time for her to give her opinion on that. Oh yeah, and they are probably moderately active. We have a fairly large fenced in back yard that they run in when we let them outside, but they're not out there too long at a time because Bailey starts to dig. Also, we'll walk them for about 45 min or so when they weather's not too bad out. When they're inside, they do circles around our 1st floor chasing each other probably a few times a day, but other than that, they lay around.


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

I have a 1 yr old Male on Pro Plan. He is still on the puppy formula. There is a debate as to whether or not to feed the puppy formula to two years of age. The Breeder rec. I do this for proper growth over his first two years. Vet knows this and hasn't rec. switching to adult formula. Any thoughts? Ike is 24" at shoulder and 78 lbs. His coat is coming on beautifully and he has very good muscle tone. Lot's of energy, too.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

there is no reason for a one year old dog to still be eating puppy formula... he should be on a good adult or "all life stages" food by this time.


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## Ash (Sep 11, 2007)

Holy, I second that Marlene. No reason at all for the puppy food go for an Adult or All Life Stages food. Mine are all switched over on to adult food around 18 weeks old.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Why wouldn't it be important to keep a dog on puppy food since they are doing so much changing and growing (internally and outwardly) during that 8 week to 2 year period?


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

That's what I was thinking. He may have reached his bone growth limit, but he's still putting on muscle. ??????


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

well for one, puppy food is generally very high in calories (obviously.. intended for growing puppies) but a large breed dog in particular should not be getting quite so many calories, which can make them grow and put on weight very quickly, which is hard on their growing and developing joints and bones. it is not quite such a concern in smaller breeds of dogs.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

and that is where a good all life stages food can come into play. it is formulated to meet the demands of any dog, puppy, or senior.. and you control the amount of calories they need (based on age, weight, desired weight, etc) by the amount of food you give them daily.


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

That was the thinking with my first golden. He was off puppy food before 1 yr. Now I've been told to feed Pro Plan large breed puppy formula for 2 yrs. I will say Ike is much smaller than my first golden. Sam grew very quickly very fast. Ike has had a much slower growth pattern. I'll ask the vet and breeder again. thanks


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## Ash (Sep 11, 2007)

On larger breeds you don't want to promote growth too quickly. Some Breeders will actually never feed a litter or puppy puppy food. From 8 weeks to 1 year most the growing is done. They really don't grow too much after that. They will fill out and come together but this comes with age and makes no diffrence on whether you are or were feeding puppy food. When growth is to rapid you are asking for problems. Puppy food is actually quite high in fat, protien and calories this can create a weight problem. You will often hear Breeders say they grow puppies up lean. Sure a chubby puppy is cute but for later in life it will beneifit them to have been grown up lean.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

honestly i think large breed puppy food is somewhat of a novelty/scam/whatever you want to call it, to encourage pet owners into thinking its something they need to buy. in general large breed puppy food has LESS calories per cup than the equivalent regular puppy food (same goes for large breed adult food) which forces you to feed more of it a day in order to get the same number of calories, which in turn forces you to buy more. see how that benefits the manufacturer?


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## Ash (Sep 11, 2007)

missmarstar said:


> honestly i think large breed puppy food is somewhat of a novelty/scam/whatever you want to call it, to encourage pet owners into thinking its something they need to buy. in general large breed puppy food has LESS calories per cup than the equivalent regular puppy food (same goes for large breed adult food) which forces you to feed more of it a day in order to get the same number of calories, which in turn forces you to buy more. see how that benefits the manufacturer?


 
I agree is a sense LOL when do we ever disagree Marlene :. Goldens are not a Large Breed I can see this forumla being productive for breeds such as St Bernards, Great Danes, Mastiffs, and Newfs etc. Breeds over 115 lbs but for Goldens it is rather unnessecary.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

Ash said:


> I agree is a sense LOL when do we ever disagree Marlene :. Goldens are not a Large Breed I can see this forumla being productive for breeds such as St Bernards, Great Danes, Mastiffs, and Newfs etc. Breeds over 115 lbs but for Goldens it is rather unnessecary.


LOL Ash we're on a roll on these food threads right now...

let me just say, when I first brought Sam home I was encouraged by some to feed him large breed puppy food, and went with Innova LBP. then looking at the ingredients of the LBP formula vs the adult formula and seeing that they were virtually identical, yet the calorie/cup counts were vastly different (like i said, the LBP formula had about half the calories/cup the adult formula did) i figured why not feed adult food and buy half the amount of food a month?? i only ended up buying one bag of Innova before switching to grain free due to Sam's allergies, but needless to say, Sam has been on adult food since he was about 4 months old and i still don't believe there is a need to feed puppy food past that age, if not sooner.

also, i tend to think goldens ARE large breeds, with the newfs, bernards etc being the "giants"... but i think either way the "large breed" food formulas are unnecessary. the most important thing to pay attention to with a food is the kcal/cup and feed accordingly.


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## Ash (Sep 11, 2007)

missmarstar said:


> LOL Ash we're on a roll on these food threads right now...
> 
> I only ended up buying one bag of Innova before switching to grain free due to Sam's allergies, but needless to say, Sam has been on adult food since he was about 4 months old and i still don't believe there is a need to feed puppy food past that age, if not sooner.
> 
> also, i tend to think goldens ARE large breeds, with the newfs, bernards etc being the "giants"... but i think either way the "large breed" food formulas are unnecessary. the most important thing to pay attention to with a food is the kcal/cup and feed accordingly.


Thats where grain free foods can be the six star food is to people like you and Sam where it is a need. I just don't think every dog needs it. Yes, after 4 -5 months there is no need at all. My Kali was actually never fed puppy food she was started on a ALS food when introduced to kibble if I am not mistaken there is a Breeder on the forum that feeds this way with success. I still don't think Goldens are Large breeds and need a LB food I find it silly. Anyways, I would be very worried about a dogs joints and health having been on puppy food this long. LOL Marlene back to the other thread LOL


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

Would you then suggest Pro Plan adult formula for large breeds or Pro plan adult. Also, Ike is eating 4 cups of dry food a day. 2 in the am 2 in the pm. Does this sound like an appropriate amount of food? My first ate 2 cups a day but was less active.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

One way to look at feeding dogs is to equate it to nature. In the wild, puppies nurse on their mother's milk (puppy formula). While in the wild puppies do nurse longer than their domesticated cousins, most are completely weaned by 4-5 months. They then eat the same thing as the adults (adult formula). 
I switch from puppy formula to adult food between 4-5 months across the board. I believe that this allows them to grow at a more "natural" rate, as opposed to accelerating growth, which is more likely to increase the chances of bone growth related problems.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

shenando said:


> Well, I haven't measured Parker in awhile and can't remember how tall he was last I measured him, but compared to a lot of other goldens I see, he is quite a bit taller. Maybe because I got him fixed so early??? But who really knows? No, their bones are not showing, but sometimes I feel like Bailey's are close to showing. Bailey is definitely skinnier than her brother, but parker is on the thin side as well (the healthy thin side.) Neither have actually had a fecal checked since they were younger (back when we used to go to the vet every month for vaccinations.) They both have gotten Pro Plan Lg Breed since they were puppies. Back when we got Parker, we tried him on like 4 different formulas before we found this one and he wouldn't eat any of them. The vet was concerned about his weight and acted like it was my fault (that I wasn't feeding him properly) but the truth was that he would eat a bite and then leave it. He didn't want anything to do with those other foods. When I found this one, he LOVED it and gobbled it up. I just fed Bailey what he already ate and she loved it as well. Last I went to the vet (end of December) I discussed Bailey's weight with the vet and she gave me the study that Purina recently conducted. The vet put her in the 4 category in the chart. Or at least I'm pretty sure that the was the first category in the healthy section. I think 1-3 was too skinny, 4-5 or 6 was healthy and everything else was too heavy. Parker probably fell in the 5 category, but he wasn't there at the time for her to give her opinion on that. Oh yeah, and they are probably moderately active. We have a fairly large fenced in back yard that they run in when we let them outside, but they're not out there too long at a time because Bailey starts to dig. Also, we'll walk them for about 45 min or so when they weather's not too bad out. When they're inside, they do circles around our 1st floor chasing each other probably a few times a day, but other than that, they lay around.


 
Early neutering _definately_ can cause a tall, "weedy" appearing male. It sounds like he is healthy.


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

My first golden was 26" at the shoulder. He was usually the tallest golden in a group. He topped at 103 lbs at age 3. He was a lean looking dog, never heavy. He was on puppy food for a full year and grew rapidly. I have been able to avoid that with Ike and I thought the large breed puppy formula was a reason. I guess not


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