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Another food question. Amounts? So I am seeking opinions on how much food or how often to feed a 16 week old puppy. I had always kept food available to my previous yorkie 24/7 and she was perfect. 6.5 lbs. Ate what she wanted and was not overweight. I have been doing the same with my new puppy but both the vet and my conformation class trainer feel that is not the right approach. They feel I should be feeding two or three meals a day. The trainer even said to put it up after 20 minutes. Something about dominance or pack leader training. Don't get that at all. So just trying to get some opinions on what other do and what is an appropriate amount to feed for this size puppy. |
I have two dogs. Because i did not want my older dog to eat it all i put two seperate amonts. My yorky tends to dominate the food. But is getting better about that. I leave it out did not want him to miss food if he needed it. Breeder did to. Whether its right or wrong i do not know . It worksfor me. They generally eat first thing after i let them out in the morning. Then he eats at various times in the afternoon. Then around 6:30. |
A puppy shoukd be free fed in my opinion. If your trainer believes in the whole alpha dog thing I would find a new trainer because that has been debunked. |
Where has the alpha dog been debunked? When you see a dog pack you can tell the order. With all breeds. But puppy's should get as much as they want. But I never free feed. I don't Like to leave food out. I mixed homemade with kibble. |
Alpha leaders are still present, both in the wild and in home "packs", whether or not some recognize them are not, as dogs always were and still are a hierarchical society, happiest and most content when there is a pack leader, pack-leader couple and rules and boundaries. The myth of pack-leader, alpha wolves rolling other pack members onto their backs in order to discipline them by subjugation has been debunked, as it never occurs in the wild, only perhaps in captivity, where the whole dynamic of pack life is skewed. Sometimes a lesser pack member might roll over onto his back and offer his belly to the alpha leader but it is always the lesser dog/wolf's choice, either during play or as a show of subjugation, respect or trust that he won't be hurt, should he be in the throes of a disciplinary session by a pack leader. |
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Thats one person article. You can look at the pack and figure it out. But a pack of Yorkies you can see the leaders. But thats another topic. For the op. You should feed your puppy as much as it wants while its growing. But not let them get to fat. You can tell its no healthy. As for humans and dogs. Humans are always the leader. Or your gonna have a trouble some dog. They don't want to lead. Moki it trained and conditioned with love and treats. he does everything he's told. it took alot of time and effort training Yorkie. I can train hunting dogs in 1/2 the time |
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Winnie is just 6 months....we have always free fed our pets....but this is the first time I have had two small dogs at once. With our senior weenie here she would eat all of winnies food....so now they are all on a schedule....three times a day they get a third of what their daily total is. We were doing twice but they were acting like they were starving and chasing me around the house....so we do three and they are doing much better. I do believe in free feeding normally but this is what is working for us now....as far as food aggression we have not had a problem....but we do feed them in two separate spots, both in the kitchen but our senior weenie gets the pantry area that has a baby gate up and winnie eats on the other side of it. |
I just wanted to add....we don't use physical discipline to assert our dominance in the house....but from day one all of our animals are made aware they don't run the house. We use a firm no, leave it and a stomp on the floor. Cats are included in this.....they know. While I haven't done any research on the "alpha" subject....I do feel our dogs and cats know who is boss. |
Free feeding vs scheduled feedings I believe depends on the individual dog, what works best for them. I sort of free fed Max his first year. He ate a set amount of kibble throughout the day. Now we do scheduled feedings because my boys would eat an entire bag of food if I left it out for them. :D I do not believe that free feeding will cause any behavioral issues. Regarding the alpha theory, I think it is a matter of semantics. The humans are definitely the leaders in my home. We don't believe in demonstrations of domination of the dogs, but we are in charge. |
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Thank you everyone for your responses. They were very helpful. I think I am going to go with my instincts which are to free feed at this point and I will modify this in the future if there starts to be a problem. My conformation class instructor has border collies and may not be familiar with yorkies and their issues with hypoglycemia. I am not comfortable restricting Mia's food as she is so young. We shall see how her vet checks go this first year and I may change this thinking if the vet thinks she is gaining too much or too quickly. |
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