Quote: Michael_Wise

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

I just did the math, and when he's full-grown, if he is still around 9 pounds, you're facing a 3-ounce-a-day habit!

This is gonna be so cheap.

See.......she's already straightening out that learning curve.:smile:

Really! I just laughed delightedly when I hit my calculator keys.... almost like doll-food!

I had never figured out my own little Pug on his own, either .... wow, would HE be cheap to feed alone! I'm looking at him with renewed affection!

You might want to just ask at the butcher counters as you shop about chicken backs, because it would be a great thing to grab a couple of and let him try "real" meat with bones. They are goof-size (he won't try to swallow it whole) and have softer bones.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

. . . anyway, that means that the weekly equivalent of one chicken with its organs plus a little different-source muscle meat is going to fix that little guy up great. . .

Those are kinda small chickens, aren't they? My 65 lb. GSD goes through about a chicken a week, too, but they're 5+ lbs.

Mike

lmao! I know, its ridiculous, 3oz a day! Honestly, I think I'll be keeping him at the 7% for a while. He's really at the fine line btwn 'healthy' and 'too thin'. He's a much smaller bone structure all around than my previous pug, Harley. Depsite my ignorance and feeding Harley Beneful, he was still absolutely a healthy weight, narrower at the hips, hint of rib to him. (I credit that to running around with the kids :grin but Harley was still, bone structure wise and head size, a tank on legs, definately a solid guy. Winston's far less all around. Just plain tiny in comparision.

I'll definately look into the chicken backs. Can I just say that this dog feeding is affecting everything around here? I pride myself (or I used to, when I had 2 working arms) on everything in my family's diet being completely from scratch, bread and all. Now I'm doing it with the dog, and wishing I could make some bread again, lmao!

 Quote: Mike Armstrong

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

. . . anyway, that means that the weekly equivalent of one chicken with its organs plus a little different-source muscle meat is going to fix that little guy up great. . .

Those are kinda small chickens, aren't they?
Mike

Oh, yeah, I was picturing dainty lil fryers of a pound or little over. And there would be leftovers, now that you mention it.

 Quote: melissa charles

He's really at the fine line btwn 'healthy' and 'too thin'.

I congratulate his previous owner and you too, because I now know a whole bunch of Pugs and they are -- well, food-motivated is putting it really politely.

I keep my dogs trim, and the biggest liar of all is the small Pug ("I didn't eat! You forgot my food! I feel a little faint....")

 Quote: connie sutherland

I keep my dogs trim, and the biggest liar of all is the small Pug ("I didn't eat! You forgot my food! I feel a little faint....")

LMAO! I can soooooooooo see that! I'm looking forward to experimenting a bit with Winston...see if I can find another trigger for him that isn't food as far as motivating goes. Harley was a ball fiend...for about 5 minutes at a time, then it was all about the food. Harley quickly learned that when highchairs were in use, food fell from the heavens, and the roof could cave in, but he wouldn't leave his spot at the foot of the highchair

Edited by Melissa Charles (06/16/2008 11:02 AM)
Edit reason: spelling oops

Well, I wasn't familiar with Pugs, but I saw that someone I knew had her Pug playing fetch all the time, and I didn't know that they were supposed to have litle prey/play drive, so I did play fetch every day when I first got a Pug and it did indeed at least bring out what drive was hidden. I was very excited/enthusisatic, etc., to keep him interested, and I also learned to count training treats into his meals and use real food for them so I could swap out toy and food rewards without worrying about the weight issue.

It was good for me. It was definitely good for the dog. Bringing out whatever drive there is -- I thought it was well worth my energy and time. (Plus I had the encouragement of Mike Schoonbrood and Bob Scott. )


P.S. I don't want to understate the patience and enthusiasm this took with a toy breed, to find and encourage what drive there was. But I found it rewarding, and so did the dog. Plus it made me appreciate GSDs even more.


Edited by Connie Sutherland (06/16/2008 11:37 AM)
Edit reason: p.s.

Just shush with the GSD talk I've wanted one since I was a kid, but somehow it never worked out that I was able to get one. Now I'm not sure that I could physically manage a larger dog, so we'll have to see what happens. Add to that what I've learned here about the breed, and its pretty much confirmed for me that until I a) have 2working arms b) older kids c) am in a home that has my name on the mortgage (lease limits me to one pet) and d) can find (and afford!) a top notch breeder, my dreams of a GSD are on hold. I'd absolutely love to get into Search and Rescue, so I think I'm going to spend the next year or 2 learning as much as I can about that, so that when my kids are older and everything else is in place, I'll be ready

Whoops..a wee bit OT

I do feed my toys raw half the time. Kibble in the morning, raw in the evening and so far the system works well. They are definately slightly different than the big guys. I have three toys currently and each one is different one will eat whole items like a true carnivore, one is consistantly an eater but only if the item is smaller than his head. He will not eat a chicken back or work on a HQ it's simply too big.
The third will not touch anything not ground or shredded. Period... no matter how small. Yes, despite the old saying that a dog won't starve himself... Booker is the exception to that rule. After 4 days and a half pound lost on a 4.5lb dog I gave in. My desire to feed him raw didn't outweigh how healthy I wanted him to be. Zero food drive, halfway decent toy drive and the best dog I have ever owned.

How I prepare food is a little different. I get a grip of ziplock bags. The grinder, my scale, and my ingredients I measure out a days worth of food for the trio and grind half of it it for the little yippers and leave half as close to the original as I can. I take a ice cube tray and pre freeze organs in it and crack them out and add a few cubes to each baggie. Usually I can prep a month's worth of food in about an hour and baggie up for the lab (which eats anything that can't escape no problem) and the cocker at the same time as well. By watching the sales I can usually keep the cost relatively low by simply keeping the radar spotted for sale items and being the best friend of the local butcher and rabbit breeders.

One hint is to break up the meals. Split the day and if you can feed after exercise. Second is to find the food which makes them excited to get started. For mine it's usually ground chicken which makes them excited to eat although my papillon bitch really really loves turkey, chicken wings, and mutton.