15 week old puppy...how much to feed??
 

I'm worried that I'm not feeding the right amount to our 15 week old (as of today! :)) puppy, Karli. She weighed 3.3 lbs at her last vet visit on Friday and they seemed to think she was doing fine, but I'm concerned because she is BEGGING for more food and sounds so pitiful!! :( It breaks my heart!

Currently, I am feeding her 1/2 a cup of Wellness Core Puppy, per the instructions on the bag. She gets 1/8 of a cup in the morning, another at noon, again at 5pm and also at around 7pm. Sometimes I'll combine the 5 & 7pm feedings into 1/4 cup once instead of splitting them. However, last night she was digging at the bag of food and whining so sadly! I sure don't want her to be over weight so I don't know if it is a good idea to increase her food or not. How do I tell if she's really hungry or just likes her food? I mean, I think she'd eat the whole bag if she had access to it!

She weighed about 2.3 lbs when we picked her up at 11 weeks and she weighed 3.0 at about 13 weeks, so she's steadily gaining weight. I'm going to try increase her food about another 1/8 of a cup and see if she still acts hungry again tonight, but I wanted some other opinions too!!

Oh, and also, if it matters...she poops usually 3 or 4 times a day and it is solid, so no problems there.
-C

I like to free feed those little growing tykes....after attending that webinar last Sunday about Breeding/Whelping/Puppies, I feel validated doing it....I hATE to see anything/anyone hungry!! Then, if I was going to start restricting food on a youngster, I think I would begin at about 8-12 months of age. Mine do get fed twice a day from about a year old....I regulate it according to their weights, using the feeding instructions on the bag only as a guide line.

I would love to be able to free feed but it's not possible right now...Karli is my second Yorkie and the first one (Chloe...three years old) won't stay out of Karli's food if I leave it out. So unfortunately...until they start eating the same food, I'm stuck doing the scheduled feedings. :( And Karli finishes off whatever is in the bowl no matter how much I put down for her, haha!
-C

I completely understand....it took me quite awhile to get my kids where they know better than to go bully someone else out of their food! My poor little Lexie is so DANITY and PRECISE, CANT GET ANY DOG FOOD ON MY MOUTH/MOUSTACHE......so she is the very last one to finish her food....everyone will stand around her, about 2-3 feet from her, just staring at her and her bowl, then back up at me....and she just DRAGS the torture out for them!!!!! Take ONE piece of kibble, chew it 100 times, swallow carefully, "wipe" (lick) her mouth, look around at everyone else staring at her, like she is clueless about what is going on......repeat entire process again, slowly!!!.. Maybe you could top her meal off with green beans....I do that too, on my voracious eaters....1/4 cup french style cut green beans...seems like there is more in the measuring cup if they are thin sliced! Adds amount rather than too many calories.....