How much is too much ???

philsergeant

I had posted previously asking if anyone had a growth/ weight chart during puppyhood.
Our two are 14 weeks old and putting on between .5 and .75 lbs A DAY! I wonder whether they are getting enough food, or too much.
They get about 2 cups of food 3 times a day. And it never seems enough for them. It's good quality food, a mixture of dry/ wet, rice, cooked chicken,
some pumpkin or squash and a little raw chicken or duck. I don't know whether they are getting too much or too little.
They are 27 and 23 lbs respectively.
         

BulliesofNC

Phil -

It sounds to me that your BT's are at proper weights for their ages. You won't find any chart with any accuracy of ideal weights for BT's. It would be completely impossible when there are so many varibles in regard to height, weight, muscle, mass, etc that differ on every Bull Terrier and the bloddlines they possess. I've seen fully grown male Bull Terriers weighing 45 pounds at the age of 5 or 6 years old. That's about how heavy Rocky was at 5 months old as a puppy. Could you imagine if there was some chart that depicted a 12 month old male Bull Terrier ideal weight to be at 75 pounds? Those with a 40 pound BT at 12 months old would be in under the impression their dog required more food, meat, protein, supplements, etc when the truth would be that their BT simply doesn't have the genetics to get that big and regardless what you fed him it just wasn't in his cards.
The best thing you can do to measure the proper amount of food intake would be to pay close attention to the individual dogs' appearance. If your dogs are filled out appropriately without excess weight or skinny with ribs showing you're on the right track.
Your BT's are so young and energetic at their current stage it would be near impossible to get them to become overweight. Overfeeding may just result in them going to the bathroom more often. Based on what you've described in regard to feeding amounts it sounds to be fine. However, I prefer to feed only twice a day. Right now your BT's may be eager to eat at every opportunity but later in life having food at the ready morning, noon, and night may cause them to become less eager to eat and you'll begin to see their appetite drop. The same goes for those who leave a bowl of food filled all day long allowing a dog to come and eat at leisure. Not a good practice for managing weight on any any dog.

philsergeant

Steve,
Thanx for the insight... They sure love their food.... We'll have to start dropping lunch and beefing up the other two.