# how much food should a 14 week old get?



## chloesmom (Mar 6, 2011)

my vet told me to double her food to 2 cups, 3 times a day but that seems way too much to me. turns out my scoop was only 1/2 a cup, so i am increasing her to 3/4 of a cup 3 times a day. 
i know that slow growth is better, as well as keeping her lean. i exercise her regularly, approx 1 hour a day.
how much do you feed your puppy?


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

We followed the slow growth plan, I think we started off with 1/2 cup 3x/day, then went to 3/4 cup 3x/day at about 4-5 months.

http://www.weebly.com/uploads/2/0/2/9/2029053/slow_grow_plan.pdf


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

Most forum members feed around 2.5 cups a day, devided over 3 meals, at that age. Really depends on the food though. What food are you feeding? Some food you'll have enough with 2, whereas other foods you'll need as much as 4.


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

chloesmom said:


> my vet told me to double her food to 2 cups, 3 times a day but that seems way too much to me. turns out my scoop was only 1/2 a cup, so i am increasing her to 3/4 of a cup 3 times a day.
> i know that slow growth is better, as well as keeping her lean. i exercise her regularly, approx 1 hour a day.
> how much do you feed your puppy?


There is no one size fits all approach to feeding a puppy. There are way too many variables. For example what is the nutrient density of the food you're feeding, how much exercise the pup gets, the size of the pup, the pups' pedigree (ancestors), etc.

The best approach is to monitor the pups physical condition daily. If he/she starts to get too well padded, cut back on the food a bit. If pup get's a bit too thin, bump up its' rations.


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## Tanyac (Jun 18, 2008)

I agree with others here that it does depend on the food you are feeding. There should be a feeding guide on the side of the packet. A puppy especially needs to have the best quality food you can afford. Generally the better quality/calorie rich food the smaller the meals.

I would be very careful regarding exercise at this age, too much can be bad.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

The lab pup I have now is eating 3.5 cups a day (Adult Fromm Gold) -there is no one size fits all.


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## chloesmom (Mar 6, 2011)

thanks for all the replies. my breeder was feeding her eukanubu large breed puppy and we've stuck with that. is there something better? i didn't realize too much exercise wasn't good......what's a good amount?
can you tell if a dog is hungry? she eats quickly. i do give her some small treats with training.
i am a newbie with goldens and appreciate any/all help!


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Eukanuba is a good food. Running around playing voluntarily is fine, walking is ok, just don't _take_ her for long walks, and no jogging partner until 18 months or 2 years. 

If you could ask a Golden if he was hungry he would tell you "YES" after he had eaten a whole bag of food, and they do eat fast. If she is eating to fast you can put her food in a food dispensing toy or in a muffin tin to slow her down. You don't have to do that if she is eating at a quick but not frantic pace.


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## iansgran (May 29, 2010)

We feed Eukanuba LBP until we recently began to switch to Taste of the Wild. Jaro is 11 months. We still have some of the Eukauba added in to switch slowly. We never had any problems at all with the Eukanuba. As to how much, sorry I don't remember. but I know it was less than the vet told you. You have to remember to subtract or all the training treats and kongs you give. The most I ever gave was 3 cups a day, and that was probably around 4 or 5 months until 8 or 9 months when I began to cut back. He was on the slow growth plan from the beginning and while he was young he was the smallest of the puppies born in April he did catch up and not he is just a pound or two lighter than most of the others.


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## ggal (Nov 15, 2010)

CarolinaCasey said:


> We followed the slow growth plan, I think we started off with 1/2 cup 3x/day, then went to 3/4 cup 3x/day at about 4-5 months.
> 
> http://www.weebly.com/uploads/2/0/2/9/2029053/slow_grow_plan.pdf


I was looking for this thread today.. Fitz is getting Taste of the Wild; half cup three times per day. He eats at 6:30, noon, and 6 pm. He always finishes his meal.... and he wakes up RAVENOUS. Should I up his food intake a little. We do add some extra kibble as training treats. 

He is 10.5 weeks old right now. Any thoughts?


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

I would increase it to at least 3/4 cup 3 x a day. I typically feed 1 cup three times a day to my foster puppies, but you don't want to increase it that much too quickly. You will want to increase it as he gets older.


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## oakleysmommy (Feb 20, 2011)

at 13 weeks i feed 1 cup 3x's a day Fromm LBP i may up it just 1/4 cup at one of his meals.


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

ggal said:


> I was looking for this thread today.. Fitz is getting Taste of the Wild; half cup three times per day. He eats at 6:30, noon, and 6 pm. He always finishes his meal.... and he wakes up RAVENOUS. Should I up his food intake a little. We do add some extra kibble as training treats.
> 
> He is 10.5 weeks old right now. Any thoughts?


I think it's normal for them to act that way, they are so food motivated. 

I would up the PM meal by 1/4 cup- that might fill his little belly a little bit more overnight AND/OR push it back an hour to two hour so there isn't 12 hrs between dinner & breakfast. That's the biggest span between meals which is likely why he's hungry. If it doesn't seem to make him less ravenous- he might just be a little piggy!  How much does little Fitz weigh now?


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## ggal (Nov 15, 2010)

CarolinaCasey said:


> I think it's normal for them to act that way, they are so food motivated.
> 
> I would up the PM meal by 1/4 cup- that might fill his little belly a little bit more overnight AND/OR push it back an hour to two hour so there isn't 12 hrs between dinner & breakfast. That's the biggest span between meals which is likely why he's hungry. If it doesn't seem to make him less ravenous- he might just be a little piggy!  How much does little Fitz weigh now?


That's exactly what I did tonight...upped the dinner feeding another half cup. We have a vet appt on 5/6, he is getting so big. I'll let you know how it goes in the morning.


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## LauraJ (Mar 30, 2010)

I feed Sami (4 months) 1 - 12ounce cup twice a day.. 
She finishes it.. 
I started with 1/2 cup, and she was leaving some behind.. and then when she finished it all.. I bumped it up.. I guess I time it.. when she takes her time or gets distracted eatting it all, it's too much.. if she eats it all quickly..might be too little..


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## Mavrk (Mar 11, 2011)

Sunshine is now14 weeks old and I just increased her to 1535 kcal/day. Eukanuba LB Puppy has 362 kcal/cup. Sunshine is getting the equivelant of about 4.25 cups per day of your food. How much does your puppy weigh?

To put this in perspective on weight gain, Sunshine is now 22.3 lbs at 14 weeks. It is funny because each week she has weighed almost exactly 10% more than the week before. I think she has a calculator with her  We are not doing a slow growth plan, but I know she weighs less than many of the puppies on here (including her sister).

We got Sunshine at 9 weeks. We changed from the Pro Plan LB to the regular puppy food when we got her (the breeder was only using LB because her local Petco was out of regular). This increased the calories per day she was receiving so I didn't increase the amount of food for a couple weeks. After 2 weeks I began adding an extra 1/4 cup (118 kcal) per day. Each week I have added another 1/4 cup per day. She now eats 3.25 cups per day (hence the 1535 kcal/day I mentioned above).

Edit: I edited my kcal/day to be the correct number. I also changed the equivelent cups per day of Eukenuba LB to match. The 1650 I previously posted was from calculating what she will get next week from another thread.


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## oakleysmommy (Feb 20, 2011)

and i was wondering if 1200 cals was too much..my breeder told me to up 2 of his meals by 1/4 cup starting today as im trying to put alittle weight on him. im taking him by the vet today to see if hes gained any since last week at 18.2 lbs im hoping he has


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## Mavrk (Mar 11, 2011)

oakleysmommy said:


> and i was wondering if 1200 cals was too much..my breeder told me to up 2 of his meals by 1/4 cup starting today as im trying to put alittle weight on him. im taking him by the vet today to see if hes gained any since last week at 18.2 lbs im hoping he has


Sunshine weighed 18.2 lbs at her 12 week checkup. Too funny that our numbers match even if they are on different weeks  How old is Oakley again?


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## oakleysmommy (Feb 20, 2011)

Oakley is exactly 13 weeks old. wow it is funny they were the same weight 18.2lbs at 12 weeks. I will let you know his weight on thursday as he has vet appt


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## Mavrk (Mar 11, 2011)

I edited my kcal/day to be the correct number the 1650 was from calculating what she will get next week. This week it is 1535 kcal/day.


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