Worried puppy isn't eating enough.

[Hank the Tank]

Hey everyone,
i've got two dogs a GSP and my EM , we do free range feeding, leaving food out 24/7 so they can eat when they're hungry but I don't feel like my EM is getting enough to eat.. he's growing great height wise, almost 3 months and about 26lbs. Is this a normal weight or should I be concerned. We have a container in his kennel so if the older dog is eating he still has the option but I rarely see him eating. I'm probably just a worry wart but I see the GSP eating lots just not Hank ;/ ?

 

[Smokeycat]

My EM boy was 24lbs at 11 weeks. I personally would recommend against free feeding even if its only so that you know how much they are actually eating.

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

agree. quit with the free feeding, you have no way then of knowing what he is and is not getting qty wise. dont know how your em is doing potty wise but free feeding will also make potty training more difficult. food should be fed at meal times and usually earned rather than free. want breakfast? sit. want dinner? sit. makes life a whole lot easier if you go by the rule of thumb nothing in life is free, and with mastiffs this is a rule we should all live by.

 

[DennasMom]

In the beginning, we portioned out Denna's food, but let her take her time eating... sometimes she'd graze on breakfast all day. Once we went to raw feeding, that all stopped. She LOVES meal time know and eats it all in one sitting. Even if, like this morning, one sitting takes 35 minutes (it was a bone-in pork shoulder, so she had to work at it!). We did the same method (portioned out breakfast/dinner, then let him graze) with our Dane/lab mix, too... he stayed on kibble his whole life (9 years), and was never really excited about food. The only time he would make sure to finish it was when we had another dog in the house. He wasn't THAT disinterested, after all!! In the Dane's case, he grew to be a nice lean 100lbs... never overweight. Denna, on the other hand is a garbage disposal. She'll in anything and everything I give her. So we have to keep tabs on her figure to keep portions in check. So, in your case, don't worry about what the scale says, just keep tabs on the puppy's figure and make sure you can feel the ribs some, but they shouldn't be poking out too much. The rest will take care of itself.