We brought Taco home on Thursday! He is a super sweet dog and we don't have any issues with him! I do have one question concerning food. I have always had chubby round puppies growing up and Taco isn't. I'm feeding him three times a day at the amount the food bag says. He is not skinny but he's also not a round little tank like I'm used to. Is this normal for huskies? Also he's more Alaskan than Siberian if that makes a difference. I'll post pics when I get a chance to bring out my computer.

Our vet, and many others have told us that using the dog food bag as a guide, is usually OVER feeding. Our vet suggested to go 15% less than what the bag says, which is what we have been doing. What kind of food are you feeding him, just for reference?

We are feeding Natures Domain puppy food from Costco.

How much does he weigh, and how old is he? What does the bag recommend to feed him?

I think having the Alaskan Husky in him could make a difference in how "skinny" he looks. I'd think though, that it would show more as an adult than at puppy stage. Im anxious to see the pics

He is six weeks and 5lbs. I know we got him early, but he was fully weaned so it shouldn't be relevant.

The website is advising to feed 3/4-1 1/4 cups pers day, i would say as long as your in that neighborhood you should be ok. How big was the litter he was from? Larger litters typically yield smaller pups, and smaller litters typically yield larger pups. This could have a lot to do with it.

Along the lines of what Steve said, huskies in general eat 20-25% less than most dogs, and many huskies are self regulators. Also, Alaskan Huskies are a mix of Siberian husky and another breed, typically sight hound. Do you know what other breed he is? That would also help in understanding his size, and how much to feed.

His litter started with ten but one didn't make it so it was a large litter. We are feeding him around 3/4 to 1 cup of food depending on his naps. If they can be self regulators should I be offering more food if he is looking for more when he's finished? His parents were both huskies as far as I know (we never met dad) but he has the shorter hair of an Alaskan which is why I am assuming he's Alaskan.

Well then, haha, it sound like you have a pup that is like my girl. She was the runt of the litter, the lightest in color, and the shortest of hair. All her siblings were fat little fluff butts but Miya, seen both parents so I do know that they were regular huskies, momma, may have had gsd since my girl trains like she is. Anyhow, she was never a chunky monkey and I would free feed her. Even with free feeding can't say it made much difference, she ate when she wanted to which wasn't much and that is the way she is, very lean adult. Being lean is truly a good thing. Better for their growing bones and joints. You can give him his total allotment for the day and see if he just munchies throughout, you can split the meals into 3 or 4 meals, you can add a little more if he seems hungry. Sometimes it is trial and error. If his poops become mushy you are feeding to much, or too much at one time. Are you feeding 3/4 to 1 cup a day? That would be too little food, imho, Steve was spot on as far as the package, but since he is a little on the small size I would go with the feeding of the 5-10 pound 6-12 week old recommendations, which is 2 cups. Gradually make the increase over a couple of days, I would feed 1/2 cup 4 times a day. If he is having pudding poops, then feed 3 times a day a half cup. My own personal opinion is this, Kirkland's is a real good food, so no issue with that, but their feeding guidelines are slightly off, you need to feed the max amount of food at 4-7 months old, so be watchful of that, you will want to steadily increase his food up until 7 months, if still small, then I would go to 8 months, after that age you want to slowly back off on the amount. As odd as it sounds my gsd puppy, who is 8 months old, decided at 7 months old to self regulate, and there are days where she only eats one meal a day, she too was on the very small side of her breed as well.

If you're really concerned about his weight, you can either increase his food or switch to a higher calorie kibble. Most kibble is around 375 kcal per cup, but you can find them higher than that. You may want to look at the high performance varieties, if possible. That should help if you think he's too skinny. Suka doesn't have the round belly I've seen on other puppies either. I've attributed it to being a Husky. If his ribs were showing, I'd be more concerned.