How often should you feed your dog, and how much? (for @ 26lbs dog)
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How much exercise is good or bad for an older puppy(7 or 8 months).
I know when I bought the dog the breeder gave me specific feeding instructions, but my roomates dog has always been a finicky eater and he just leaves food available for him all the time. So with my puppy eating his dogs food because it is left out all the time we have degenerated to the point where they simply share a bowl of both dog foods mixed together. They both are pictures of health, they have a big backyard that they run around in and maul each other all day long, and neither dog is too skinny or overweight. In fact both dogs are very athletic. So am I doing any damage feeding them this way?
Additionally, I take a short morning run. Since the puppy is only about 7 months he stays at home. Would a three mile run with me be too much, or what would be appropriate? He is a Corgi so very short legs for his size.
A dog’s heating and cooling system isn’t the same as ours - I think of “no pores” right off the bat. (It may be that just the cooling system is the one that’s really different.)
A puppy’s cooing system should be less efficient that an adult dog’s (It is true of children’s systems.)so he may not be able to run as far and as well as you do even as an adult. I’ve seen a couple of runners with dogs that circle around their trail so the dog can be dropped off at the car (with water) part way through the runner’s trip.
You have to look at the dog’s nail and pads on the running surface. What kind of wear and tear do you see? Might not be good for your dog. Pads heal slowly.
Small dogs get enough exercise in your house or appartment, you don’t need to worry. The medium sized dog might need no more than a walk andor the use of the back yard. The big dogs need more exercise than the house and yard can probably provide and needs that run. Again, even the big dogs might have trouble with your exercise run.
You Vet will also have a good idea of what your puppy can do for exercise and you should check again when the pup is fully grown.
Each kind of dog food gives directions on the package so you need to look at what each brand has to say. Check out the packages for puppy chow in case they still include your pooch as a puppy.
Besides the regular shots, I think the oral heartworm and flea medications are dog life savers. Ask your Vet about these, too.
Don’t give them any food that has things like corn in it. They can’t process it, it goes in one door, out the other. They can’t get any nutrients from it so they have to keep eating it & eating it. Get only chicken or meat based dry foods. They eat a whole lot less of it.
You can also take the water dish away late at night if you don’t want them peeing in the middle of the night.
I’ve got a 10-month old golden retriever. The books I’ve been reading more or less agree that bringing your dog along when running or jogging should wait until it’s fully matured–more for the sake of joints and bone structure. Endurance is an issue too; I’d wait if I were you [my 2 cents’.]
Almost everyone except the makers and sellers of automatic dog feeders oppose making food available to dogs any ol’ time. Part of it involves creating a stable pooping schedule during training. Feeding the dog yourself two [or three, if a young pup] times a day and then–crucial–taking the food away if it doesn’t eat within about 15 minutes is supposed to reinforce the dog’s sense of your alpha status and its dependency on you, and it’s been working for me, for what that’s worth. Also helps with the finicky eater problem. If it misses a meal it won’t die, it’ll just get hungry, and frankly, if it’s hungry it’ll eat the food. Remember these guys lick their own butts. How they can possibly justify not liking food astonishes me. As long as you provide healthy chow, don’t worry about pickiness. Most of the junk they throw in commercial dog food exists to entice human buyers! Here’s a website that seems pretty informed about food: http://home.hawaii.rr.com/wolfepack/foodcht1.html
Oh, and a pal of mine who’s a dog trainer tells me that with a premium brand, which is what it appears we should all be feeding our dogs, the food amount per day should be about a cup for each 25 pounds–this may only apply to large breeds, though; I’m not sure.