I agree with everyone on how he looks. He looks fine visually and I think 3 cups (maybe 3.5 cups) a day should be about right. He is still a growing pup so I would expect to feed him more than what people are feeding their adult huskies, especially if he is part Mal as I also suspect he is.

THAT too skinny!?

Too Skinny vs. Normal:



On another note, I want to steal Appa, he is so previous!

CoffeeK8 wrote:

ETA: Is TOTW Pacific Stream an "All Life Stages" formula, or is it "Adult" food?

I don't think that it is labeled 'Adult' but when we switched to TOTW we were advised against getting the pacific stream. The calcium/phosoporus levels are too high for a puppy to handle. We are sticking to wetlands formula until they are at least a year, then will probably make a change to pacific strea.

TOTW is an all-life stages formula, safe to feed at any life stage

So, at work the Bulldog is a grazer. He leaves his bowl half full most of the morning; Appa can't stop eating it. I correct him, and he stops, but as soon as I'm not watching he takes off towards the food again. He acts as though he's starving whenever food is around. Is this normal? I mean, I just fed him his breakfast just over an hour ago.

rileyflorence wrote:

He acts as though he's starving whenever food is around. Is this normal? I mean, I just fed him his breakfast just over an hour ago.

He's a dog! Of course it's normal. Most dogs that are on a feeding schedule will act like they are starving ALL the time. My pack is like that all the time and they get food to nibble on 4 times a day and they are all healthy weights. Even dogs that are free fed will act like they are starving when it comes to people food or even dog treats that they really like.

I have my own personal litmus test for the dogs. For example, Faith doesn't like green beans AT ALL. So when she's acting like she's starving I'll give her a green bean and if she really was starving she'd eat it but it has never failed me and she never touches the green bean. They're smart and they will play you if they think they can get away with it.

Even after having read so much there's so much to learn ... one day I'll begin to understand this pup. Thanks for guiding me O' Wise Ones.

Oh that's one of the beautiful things is that we never stop learning. I researched as much as I could about sibes for 5 years before I adopted my boy. No amount of research, reading, meeting with other huskies briefly, or listening to stories could prepare me for having one of my own. And I am learning new things about the breed all the time, the learning never ends!

No amount of research compares to experience. But it'll never stop me from researching something to death.

rileyflorence wrote:

No amount of research compares to experience. But it'll never stop me from researching something to death.

I'm exactly the same.

Right on, friends

hmhershey wrote:

CoffeeK8 wrote:

ETA: Is TOTW Pacific Stream an "All Life Stages" formula, or is it "Adult" food?

I don't think that it is labeled 'Adult' but when we switched to TOTW we were advised against getting the pacific stream. The calcium/phosoporus levels are too high for a puppy to handle. We are sticking to wetlands formula until they are at least a year, then will probably make a change to pacific strea.

The wetlands formula has higher calcium/phosphorus levels than Pacific stream. Just thought you'd want to know. And ALL TotW food is labeled as "All life stages".

I think there is some confusion here with regard to Calcium:Phosphorus ratios.

hmhershey wrote:

I don't think that it is labeled 'Adult' but when we switched to TOTW we were advised against getting the pacific stream. The calcium/phosoporus levels are too high for a puppy to handle. We are sticking to wetlands formula until they are at least a year, then will probably make a change to pacific strea.

You actually are CORRECT and I'll explain why below.

All of the TOTW formulas are labeled as ALS (all life stages) which Tori and Jenn were correct in stating. However just because a food is labeled as ALS that does not mean that the Ca:P ratios in said food are appropriate for puppies. Such is the case here with the TOTW Pacific Stream formula and it also holds true for Innova Evo which is a different brand but it is labeled as ALS and certainly does not contain Ca:P ratios that are appropriate for growing pups.

I just checked ALL of the TOTW canine formulas the you are correct, all the formulas EXCEPT the Pacific Stream formula do have appropriate Ca:P ratios for puppies. Pacific Stream's ratios are a bit high so I would advise not using the Pacific Stream formula for pups. I am actually quite to surprised to find that TOTW Pacific Stream's ratios are even higher than Evo's formulas which I don't recommend for puppies either.

CrazyDogs wrote:

The wetlands formula has higher calcium/phosphorus levels than Pacific stream. Just thought you'd want to know. And ALL TotW food is labeled as "All life stages".

I think you are getting confused as to what the issue is with the Ca:P levels. The concern is not how high a percentage is in the food. The issue is with proper Calcium to Phosphorus RATIOS, not percentage.


Alright folks, I'll break it down for you now to clear up any questions or misconceptions and show why Pacific Stream's Ca:P ratios are too high to be appropriate for a growing puppy. Prepare to be amazed! Just kidding.

Okay let's start out by defining what Ca:P ratios a growing puppy should be getting in their food:
Small to medium breed puppies should have a ratio of Ca to P of 1.2:1 respectively.
Large breed puppies should have a ratio of Ca to P of 1.5:1 respectively.

Siberian huskies are a medium breed but we'll assume that they should have a Ca:P ratio of somewhere between 1.2-1.5 (Ca) to 1 (P).

Now let's look at the formulas in question and see how closely they come to the above mentioned guideline ratios.

TOTW Pacific Stream has Calcium: 1.9% and Phosphorus: 1.1%
So that makes a Ca:P ratio of 1.72:1 which is pretty high, hence it is better suited for adult dogs NOT puppies.

TOTW HIgh Prairie has Calcium: 2.1% and Phosphorus: 1.4%
That that makes a Ca:P ratio of 1.5:1 which is fine for large breed puppies.

TOTW Sierra Mountain has Calcium: 1.6% and Phosphorus: 1.0%
That that makes a Ca:P ratio of 1.6:1, starting to get a little high there.

TOTW Wetlands has Calcium: 2.1% and Phosphorus: 1.4%
That that makes a Ca:P ratio of 1.5:1 which is fine for large breed puppies.

For comparison I'll show the ratios on Evo formulas which are not really appropriate for pups but it is labeled as ALS.

Evo Turkey/Chicken has Calcium: 2.55% and Phosphorus: 1.57%
That that makes a Ca:P ratio of 1.62:1, starting to get a bit high.

Evo Red Meat has Calcium: 2.09% and Phosphorus: 1.26%
That that makes a Ca:P ratio of 1.65:1, which is pretty high.

Hopefully that clears up the confusion on this subject and in my personal opinion I would not recommend feeding Pacific Stream to puppies due to the high Ca:P ratios in it.

Thank you Val for clearing that up for me. I just thought it was the overall percentage you needed to look at and not the ratio. I learned something new today!