EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

there are several threads talking about dog food. within those threads people say "i feed less and my dogs look better." well how do you know you are okay feeding less and getting more. personally i just feed 2 cups no matter what the bag says..lol. how do you gauge that you can feed less of a dogfood to get the results you wanted or better yet how do you know if you need to reduce or increase the amount given. i switched to the 26-18 sportmix and they really looked good on that and i put them on the 24-20(cause the 26-18 was all gone)but they seem to be doing well on this as well.

My pups get 2 cups in the morning and 2 cups in the evening and my older dogs get 3 cups in the evening. I also supplement my feed so I base whether or not to give more by watching each dogs condition. My Primo is actually a hard keeper so I will give him a little extra when we get home after a hunt to fill in his bones a little.

We have stuck to two cups also. They just do better on 2 cup of some kinds of feed than on 2 cups of other kinds of feed. LOL  ;D

If they kill a choate, they get to eat that also.

we feed based on weight. Dog food is not sold by volume, it is sold per pound, so that's the only way to make an accurate comparison. Two cups of a large, less dense kibble is less weight than two cups of a small dense kibble.

we average about 2% of their body weight in feed daily.  50# cur dog gets 1# of food.

i base it off of how long the bag lasts and the number of cups i have to give per dog.  it gives me a good ratio when i go back to look at previous feeds.  Chris' method is actually the most accurate but i don't have a scale in my shop so i go to this method.  I put one bag of feed in my barrel and use it til it's gone and record each day that i take out and how much per dog.    i can then gauge pretty close to how much weight i'm feeding a day divided by the number of cups i'm feeding per day gets me weight per cup. 

I have a bucket that I fill up with feed and each dog gets their ration out of the bucket.  I have always used a 1lb metal coffee can and all my dogs get 1 can in the afternoon roughly.  Some just a little more some a little less depending on the weather etc.  But on average one can.
Matt

I feed my 70lb male cat 1 1/2 cups mornin and 3 1/2 cups nite, and my two pit/cur 4 month old male pups 4 cups in mornin and 4 cups @ nite, they eat 4 cups in bout 5 minutes lol

My method aint fancy but....I just feed them around a gallon a day if there is some left over the next day that dog gets a little less next time until i kinda find what they will clean up. If they start looking poor i feed'em a little more and i never feed'em on sunday not cause i think the need to fast for there religion but an old game chicken man talked me into to it and i have seen positive results from doing it

4 cups of sportmix once a day. Pups I feed 2 times per day until they are about 4 months.

Some dogs get one small coffee can on up to 2 small coffee cans. I use my eyes because there are alot of factors. Not all dogs need the same amount, some are easy keepers some are hard keepers. Some are wound up 24/7 and some are chilled out. Different times of the year the dogs are kept in different shape. Some dogs run hot with weight some don't. Some times older dogs need to have a little less weight... ect.

Went back to the black and white Sportsmix a while back... its hard to beat.

I feed southern states 24/20 and both my curs split a large coffe can its a little more than two cups per day and they are both about fifty pounds or so and stay looking healthy.  my last was 70lbs but an easy keeper she got two and a half a day and stayed in running shape...

I feed based on the dogs weight. I use a 12 ounce coffee cup to scoop with. Some of my dogs get two cups, some four, some five and one gets six. You just have to judge each dog individually on how they maintain their weight. Feed also gets increased/decreased with the seasons.

i got a pyrex scoop that has the measurements on it. i fill it to the brim which is about 1 1/2 cups. all my dogs get two full scoops during the hot months and three during the cold months. i also check to see how much crap is around. if i see a ton of crap around i reduce their feed. i figure if they are crapping it all out then they don't need that much food(it's going to waste).

my dog that has pups right now i give her a combo of regular feed and puppy food. when she was pregnant and the first two weeks the pups were on the ground she was getting about 6-8cups of food. now she gets four and the pups get a bowl full of food(she goes over and eats theirs when they are done feeding. if she didn't have her udders hanging you wouldn't even know she had pups on her.

 Ive switched to free range feed for my dogs, they can eat when ever they want and My feed bill has actually went down and the dogs look better too. I have 7 dogs and go through a 50lb bag a week.