How much does the dog weigh and is he of normal weight now? That will determine how much to feed.

When determining how much to feed, think in terms of cups, measuring cups, of food. Keep a measuring cup in the dog food bag. Don't guess at how much a cup is.

Check the dog food bag for how much you should be feeding each day.

I'm glad you recused a dog!
You might want to check Dog Food analysis website to determine the quality of the food you are giving them.
That will help you know how much food to give and whether you should be giving more real protein.

Here is a link that might be useful: dog food analysis

I'm glad you rescued the dog too! I don't know about the food, but would love to see a pic of your new "Boy".

Boy weighed 52 pounds at the vet last week. It's clear he's gained more weight though.

I have to admit, he does get a lot of protein from leftovers. For example, my dh cooked a few steaks the other night, and split one in half for the two dogs.

Today I had some roast beef and instead of freezing the rest of it, dh and I split it between the dogs. Both dogs are happily snoozing right now. When they do get leftovers, it's only meat & carrots, which are good for dogs.

I remember looking at a bag of dog food once on servings and I couldn't believe how little to feed the dogs that they suggested!

I was just curious how much food other poster's here feed their outside dogs?

I'm sold on Pedigree though, I've been serving it for 20 years and have had nothing but good results.

I forgot to add, yeah, I'm glad we rescued him. But I've lost three pets within the past year (and two family members), I'm almost afraid to love again.

But I think of all the misplaced and dead pets from the storm last month, so if this dog did belong to anyone I'm just glad he's getting a lot of nourishment and love.

He better appreciate it since we go outside to visit/play with him when it's a 100 degrees outside! lol he loves to be hosed off. :)

Here is Boy. He was too comfy to get up for me.

When I came inside, I found this sad look on Grace's face. lol

I don't know anything about feeding dogs, but, wow, they are two good looking pups. You were so good to take in Boy. Too bad he can't talk and tell you his story. I grew up with Dobermans and they are the most loyal dogs! If he had Dobie in him, he will be by your side forever.

Of course, Grace has first dibs on you! Anyone with freckles is a friend of mine.

Thanks, dedtired. My mom always had the nices Dobie but I was always afraid of her. She was extremely loyal to her.

Just yesterday my husband said it would be great if Boy could tell his story. Living in the country I have a suspicion he was dumped. He did a little cowering at first.

He does have a stumpy tail like cattle dogs though. Cattle came up to our fence yesterday and Boy just sat at the corner of the porch watching. Which is great because farmer's will shoot a dog that makes cattle run. :(

Oakley, they are just adorable! I love the look on Boy's face- he looks so dignified. And Grace is so pretty. Love those markings!

Oak, that is such a wonderful story, poor boy has a look of relief on his face. He actually looks Dobie/German Shepard to me. I've had a couple of German Shepard's and they are smart as a whip and have wonderful temperaments.

I love Gracie's freckles too. Beautiful dogs, I have no doubt one day soon they will become fast friends.

He looks like a sweet boy, Oakley. Is there a reason you're not letting him inside? Have you introduced the dogs to each other? I bet you wouldn't have any problems with male/female.

Aww, Boy is a good looking boy and Grace is a beauty!

OK, I feed Jovi a very high calorie kibble (Innova) and she gets only 1/2 cup in the morning and 1/2 cup in the evening. She also gets either some canned pumpkin or some green beans in her meals becasue she would like more to eat but if I gave her more she'd pork up quickly. I need to keep her trim for agility. Every extra pound she carries is a dead weight for her over the jumps.

Now, Jovi's only around 40 pounds so I could see Boy needing more. Mason was around 75 pounds and he got about 3/4 cup in the morning and evening. Yes, he got pumpkin too.

Part of the amount you feed will be determined by just how nutrient packed the food you feed is. As far as weight goes, here's how to determine if your dog is at a good weight. Take both your hands and just run them down the sides of your dog's body. You should just barely be able to feel ribs. You DO NOT want to see ribs, you just want to barely feel them when you run your hands down his body. If you can't feel ribs, slowly reduce the amount you feed until you can.

Allison, we've only had him a little over a week, and I have grandkids, a dog and cat, so I need to get to know his temperament very well. I don't trust him with a toddler yet, they can be "threatening" to a dog that size if they've never been around them.

Grace...she is extremely possesive. Very. And that's an understatement. Grace will let me babysit my granddogs, Shih Tzu's, but they're no threat. lol.

We do need an outside dog for protection though because of living in the country. I'm sure he'll come inside eventually when the weather starts to freeze and such.

Right now it's baby steps.

Whit, I may try that, but my dogs get a lot of exercize like your's, and Grace has been fine along with my other dogs over the years.

Do puppies eat more than adults? Maybe that's why he always has a big appetite, or that he went without food for a few days or more.

Awwww is he CUTE!!! What a face. And Grace will realize she's still the queen with nothing to fear soon enough.

We have a cattle dog mix - he's about 43 lbs. I feed him 2 x/day. He gets 1/4 C of dry kibble and 1/4 of one of the small cans (like the size of a tuna can). But he gets a lot of 'people food' so I've learned what I need to feed him to maintain his weight. My husband operates on the idea that if he is eating, the dog should be eating, too! So they share just about everything from cottage cheese to steak to whipped cream. I know it's not the best for the dog but the vet says not to worry and to let them enjoy that part of their relationship!

dlm, that's exactly what my dog thinks, if I am eating, she should be eating to. It's very rare for me to eat anything and not share. She can hear the crinkle of a bag, the turn of a jar, plastic wrap noise, from the other end of the house sound asleep.

For five dogs I mix up 6 cups of dry with one 14 oz can of wet. I use Kirkland super premium chicken & rice. This is then divided into their bowls. Not sure how much any one eats as they do a round robin. Max, my fat lab will wolf down his bowl full, but the other digs nibble. I do this once a day and the bowls are always emptied by the end of the day. DH will sometimes add a couple of cups of dry to the bowls for them to snack on.

Now, I also have to say that Max and Howard are overweight. Zelda & Aurora are normal weight and Ruphus was underweight when he came to us and is now good. The 3 of them are all extremely active, and people tend to think Zelda is too thin, but she's a very active lab & the vet says she's at a perfect weight. Too many dogs are too fat for their own good.

We never give them scraps unless it's cooked veggies or berries. They ADORE yams.

I think Boy may be reacting to earlier famine conditions, I don't think he's being underfed. He ought to adjust as he gets used to being fed regularly. Good for you for taking him in!

Okay, then I'll make a confession. On weekends when DH cooks himself some bacon and eggs, he fixes an extra egg and a piece of bacon for Grace. :)

Very smart of you to take it slow on letting him in the house with the toddler and baby around. But like a lot of dogs he'll probably worm his way in and be snuggled up in front of the fireplace sooner or later!

Oh I'm sure he'll be inside one day laying in front of the fire!

Right now I'm teaching him not to bite the hand that feeds him. lol. I rub and pet him while he eats, and bring my hand close to his head. He's very good about that. I've never seen him growl or anything.

We named him "Boone." It means "good." :)

That's a good idea with small children, Oakley. We're wondering how Dubya will deal with the new baby since he doesn't understand small children. He sees one, be barks and barks and barks. We've decided he won't be afraid of the baby since it won't be walking around and by the time he is, the dog will be fine with him. At least we hope so. lol Dubya didn't like Coco at first, and now he licks her to death.

Our vet said 1 cup of dry twice a day, for our 52 pound dog. We feed that and mix in some wet for good measure.

The only people food we give our dogs is turkey or chicken. Pork is very bad for dogs. When I was little, my mom gave our poodle some ham. It was summertime. She had a heat stroke. The vet said never to give a dog pork.

There is a list of things that can actually kill a dog - besides chocolate, which most know about. They don't process people food easily (cheese for example is extremely tough for them to digest).

Here is a link that might be useful: Dangerous to feed pets - List

Allison is right about people food and dogs. I don't think larger dogs get pancreatitis as easily as small dogs, but what you feed them makes a difference. Our dog eats a mix of dog food and "regular food", but only certain items. Chicken, green beans, carrots (both cooked), sweet potatoes are very good for a dog - low fat cottage cheese. You do not want to give them high fat food. Use a high quality dog food. Our dog is just around 10 lbs. and she gets around 1/4 cup (or less) twice a day. Dry food is always out and available for her as small dogs tend to "graze" like cats.

Goldie has some good points about food and weight for dogs. Our vet told us the same thing about the ribs. Being overweight can be very bad for dogs and lead to health problems. Her dog is very active with the agility training burns alot of calories. It's important to walk a dog and let them play (frisbee, catch, etc.) to burn up calories and get exercise. Good for the owner too!! I tell people, if you want to walk - get a dog! LOL

tina

Not sure what the deal is with pork - all of our dogs have always been given table scraps that include pork and since they live to ripe old ages of 13 or 14, it does not seem to have been a problem for us. Our vet is aware of everything we feed our dogs and has issued cautions about several of the things on the list linked above, but those are things we know to avoid. When I mix any vegetables in with food for my dog, he manages to pick them out - he's allergic to green, it seems!

Oakley I'm not seeing cattle dog in that mix - doesn't mean it's not part of the mix but just curious what part you think is cattle dog-like? Boone looks to be 100% mutt to me - not a bad thing at all. I read somewhere long ago that if all dogs were allowed to interbreed until they were all the same, they'd have markings like your Boone, be about 45 lbs, and have an upward curled tail. No idea if there's any basis in fact in that but it stuck with me!

One other thing - we've had success training our dogs in regards to food by taking it away while they are eating. The breeder of our Dalmatian told us to challenge our dog with food regularly - while he's eating, reach down and take the bowl away - if he gives it up without any challenge, praise him and give it right back. We also had our sons do that when they were very little so the dog treated them as alpha, not just us. We give our dogs a treat, then reach to his mouth and take it away - the dog should not fight. In training our dogs, my DH and I and our kids take turns and get down on all fours, shoulder to shoulder with our dogs as they are eating and lower our heads to their bowl - nudge them out of the way and pretend to eat their food. They have to know from day one that we are top dog and submit to us and we've never had an issue with a dog challenging us or someone else. It's important to get them used to kids and never challenge them, but kids also need to learn 'dog manners' and not pull tails or ears, jump on them, etc. I have a hunch that Boone is a gentle soul and you're not going to have a bit of trouble with him. He just won the jackpot landing on our doorstep and doesn't even know it!

It's the salt in pork that's the problem, I believe.

I only buy no grain, soy, fillers and no "parts-is-parts" dog food... but that's a whole 'nother topic/thread.

Allison, when my GS was born and visited here when he was a baby, Grace would walk up to me & sniff the baby, then give a very light growl like she does when a cat walks on her. But I sure did get onto her though, (flyswatter which I don't use on her but it scares her off, lol) and now she's got not only an almost 3 & 1 yr. old's to watch, and now she just loves them when they visit! Her tail wags as soon as they come over.

Also, happy dog tails are very dangerous to little one's because the tails are right at eye level. lol

But it does take time, so don't automatically assume your dog will like a new presence in the house, especially if they're the same size. lol

dlm, it's the cropped (stumpy) tail he has which is what cattle dogs have, plus his coat, etc. We live in cattle dog country, I've seen a bunch of them. The vet even said he's half cattle dog, maybe an Australian cattle dog mix. When we first saw him, that was our immediate thought.

Now we think he's mixed with a German Shephard because of his markings.

We rarely give our dogs pork except Grace's one slice of bacon a week. lol.

My dogs usually die of old age, so I'll keep giving them human food providing it's mostly meat and certain veggies. But it's not like an every day occurance.

Today I went to the store and bought 40 lbs. of dry and a ton of canned. lol.

Congratulations on being adopted!!! Boone is adorable.

Our dogs (mother/son tag team) are around 60 and 70 pounds. The son gets two cups of Taste of the Wild kibble divided for breakfast and dinner and mom gets one cup a day. There is no grain in the food and it is not quite as high in protein as the Evo we used to feed them-a good thing according to the vet. Since we switched food, mom has much more energy and is quite frisky. They get green beans, chicken, beef, rice as well, but not every day. We don't feed them pork, either, but that is because I was always told that dogs shouldn't have it when I was growing up.

Again, so happy for you and the pup! I think rescued pups are the best-they know you have saved them and love you all the more!

Thanks, Cyn! I gave him his first Rawhide yesterday. I buy the long, rolled up Rawhides which are better for them. He's having a blast tossing it in the air then going to retrieve it.

Yeah, I feel good that we saved him. I really do. Fed-X came this morning and he didn't bark, and I told my DH that I bet he's scared of people right now because of possible abuse.

I may have mentioned this above, but one of his lower Canine's is missing...at first we thought it starting to grow in, but I suspect someone kicked the heck out of him to lose it.

Must go give him a hug. :)

Looking at him again, he looks like he may have Rottweiller in him rather than shephard. He's a doll! And freckle girl, how adorable.

Zelda is terrified of coffee cups. When she tries to worm her way onto my lap (a 75lb lap dog!) I just show her the cup and she tucks tail and leaves. Since we got her a 6 weeks old, I KNOW she's never been terrorized or abused, so what is it about the coffee cup I'll never know. But it works, like your flyswatter.

I thought about a Rott mix too, but he doesn't have the jawbone or anything else familiar with a Rott.

Don't you love snuggling with a big dog? :)

Oh, another treat, if you have a pet food store like ours, is a cow femur! Our dogs love them! Of course, they are sort of gross and definitely outside only (although DS gave one to his pup inside). They last forever and help keep their teeth clean. I think it makes them feel like wolves-ha!

I may come back to this thread on a daily basis-it makes me smile. We need more pics of both pups!

Cyn, you mean cow bones? Years ago our two outdoor dogs would always bring home a dry bone from a cow. The calf had been dead a long time though. lol.

Now that we have another outside dog, I wonder if he'll walk down the pasture any and bring us another bone?

Gracie OTOH does like a good T-bone. :)