Since Kody recently got neutered I know that he's most likely going to start gaining some weight. I'm thinking that I should cut down his portions a bit. He's currently 10months and at 44lbs. For the past few months I've been feeding him the following portions:

Breakfast: 1 cup of Orijen or 1/2 cup of THK & 1/2 of Orijen

Dinner: Raw chicken drumsticks (2) and 1/2 cup of greens beans or peas OR another cup of Orijen or THK.

Now, for the the past few days I've cut down his portions to what I feed Mya (except that she gets her reduced cal wellness core and not Orijen) to:

Breakfast: 1/2 cup THK with maybe 1/3 cup of kibble OR 1/2 cup kibble and some green beans or peas.

Dinner: One chicken drumstick and a veggie OR 1/2 cup of THK or kibble

Is that enough food for him? He's always hungry no matter what!

I wouldn't cut down his food just yet. He's still young and growing. I'd keep feeding him what you've been feeding him and just keep an eye on his waistline. I'm always doing the "rib check" when I put the dogs outside after they had dinner. Not all dogs will gain weight with being neutered

I'm super paranoid with the gaining weight because of how Mya blew up after her spay. I did the rib check on him this morning actually and you can feel them, but can't see them. He used to be able to see them a few months ago when he had his whole tummy issues happening.

I think Kody is so cute with his skinny little butt..lol.

Melissa, I think males gaining weight after being fixed isn't an issue like females. All my chi girls blew up huge after their spay. Koda didn't gain a pound at all that he shouldn't have.

None of my dogs, male or female, gained weight after being spayed or neutered. Controlling their diet and exercise will ensure that's not a problem.

I would second Kristina's advice, I'd keep him on his normal amount for now since he is still growing. And if you start to see him filling out more than he should, then you can start making some cuts in his food. Kody still looks plenty thin so I wouldn't be worrying about his waistline yet, maybe after he is done growing and filling out. My boy was 44 lbs at 2 yrs old and didn't top out until he was 3 yrs old at 55 lbs. Dakota is now hovering around 50-52 lbs at just shy of 6 yrs old and is in great shape. Surprisingly he was 47 lbs at the time of his neuter and dropped down to 44 lbs afterward...and it took a TON of food to get him back up to the pre-neuter weight of 47 lbs!

i would not cut his food back till the scale or your eye tells you he is gaining. Jack is holding at 56lbs the last yr at around 3yrs old. he was in the 40s when we got him. he gets a cup in the morning and an cup at night of TOTW. he is also good at regulating his food and since summer has hit he is only eating about a cup or so a day then he gets hungry and will eat both meals.

Thanks girls! I felt so bad cutting down his portions. He's a hungry boy! I think he would eat all day long if I let him..lol.

I decided to try TOTW with Kody. Got the pacific salmon one and NOPE no good. I gave him maybe 5-6 pieces of kibble and his afternoon BM was hard, but then towards the end went soft. This was on Friday. I skipped giving him TOTW yesterday and tried a few pieces of it again this morning and his BM just now was soft

Ginger is like that on TOTW Pacific Stream too. She's my figh girl and it's something about TOTW cooking process that doesn't agree with her because all the ingredients in it is OK in other foods...I'm guessing Kody is the same way...Ginger and Kody does well on Orijen 6 Fish, but not TOTW Paicifc Stream.

It's so frustrating! There has to be another kibble that's cheaper than Orijen that won't mess with his tummy. I realized that I spend A LOT of money on food for Kody. I just had one dog then fine, but these two furballs are expensive

He did well on THK Keen and I really thought that he wouldn't because it's not grain free, but he did. That was awesome because it's about $20 cheaper than Embark!

It is frustrating but it's always a game of trial and error. The great thing about having multiple dogs though is that at least one of them is bound to do well on it.

See how much Back to Basics compares to Orijen. I know Natural K9 Supplies carry them now. Back to Basics is kibble but it's modeled after a raw diet. There's a thread that Val started on it called 'Back to Basics kibble' or something like that. They come in a 5 lbs bag, I think, so you could try that if you want.

Also, I know Natural K9 Supplies is close to you so if you're not buying THK from them, you should compare their prices. I know their 4 oz trial sizes now come in boxes with a $5 coupon on any THK size.

If Kody does well on Keen, and it's cheaper than Embark, maybe switch him. Keen has oats which isn't bad and if Kody can tolerate it, then why not switch him? But if you're looking for a grain free THK that is cheaper, have you tried Force? It's grain free chicken formula.

Ask pet stores around you if they have sample bags you can try of different kibble or what is their policy on returns if the dog food causes diarreha in Kody. Some places will either have sample bags to give you free, or trial bags that are 2 lbs or smaller to buy. Otherwise, sometimes they will take the unused portion of the bag back and give you a full refund as long as the bag isn't half empty....check for stores that have these offerings.

Most stores SHOULD let you return opened bags, because most manufactures "guarantee" their product. When I had my kibble crisis, all 6 manufactures I tried had an open bag return policy and I got my full money back.

I want to try NRG's food, but it's so dang pricey.

Heatherlee wrote:

Most stores SHOULD let you return opened bags, because most manufactures "guarantee" their product. When I had my kibble crisis, all 6 manufactures I tried had an open bag return policy and I got my full money back.

I want to try NRG's food, but it's so dang pricey.

Yes, MOST high quality kibble manufacturers will take back open bags and offer full refund.

What's NRG?

I didn't know that some stores allow you to return open bags. That's awesome. I'll probably keep the TOTW though because Mya is doing fine on it (i gave her some also).

Claudia, yeah Kody has been on Keen for like a month now. I originally bought it for Mya because she loved Kody's Embark and since her tummy isn't so sensitive I knew that she would do well on it. I tried giving Kody some little by little and he's done just fine with it. You know? I STILL haven't gone to Natural K9 There's a pet store by my job and I've gone there to get Orijen, but now that he's running out I'm going to try Natural K9 out. It's so close to my house!

I'm going to look up the Back to Basics thread now!

cmanding wrote:

Heatherlee wrote:

Most stores SHOULD let you return opened bags, because most manufactures "guarantee" their product. When I had my kibble crisis, all 6 manufactures I tried had an open bag return policy and I got my full money back.

I want to try NRG's food, but it's so dang pricey.

Yes, MOST high quality kibble manufacturers will take back open bags and offer full refund.

What's NRG?

It's dehydrated- but it doesn't have supplements or minerals added, and they have potato free formulas.

Nature's Variety is potato free - I thought you were going to try that? Is that expensive too? G&S tried their chicken formula and they really liked it and did well on it. I got 3 free trial bags (.75 lbs each bag).

No, he has been on Nature's Variety's LID Turkey and does pretty awesome on it and it's way, way more affordable. But it's hard going from pure raw/dehydrated to just kibble again.. I sort of feel guilty? Not that he doesn't get raw treats all the time.

Heatherlee wrote:

No, he has been on Nature's Variety's LID Turkey and does pretty awesome on it ....

You're talking about the frozen raw with meat, organ and bone along with veggies, correct?

Are you just looking to go back to kibble to save some $$$?

He has the nuggets and the kibble.

I did it to save money, but moreso because I purchase food through Amazon and if you remember me telling you, Ziwipeak would some days be 83 bucks on there, and the next day be like 140.