I know this has probably been covered, but I am going to ask anyway since I’m new to the forum. It took me months to get the feeding schedule right for my first pup, and now that I will be getting a new one tomorrow I want to start him off right.

I feed my puppy Wellness Super5mix for puppies. Nikko is 8 months old and I give him 1 cup in the morning and 1 cup in the evening (6am/6pm). From what I am reading this is less than what other people giver their dogs.

Should I be increasing his food? I am finally at the point where his stools are normal and he is not underweight. I also give him treats, such as freeze dried beef liver, boiled chicken and carrorts. He is not a working dog, we just go on 4 walks a day that consists of about 3 miles, and he plays indoors.

At what point should I switch to the adult formula? I plan on sticking with Wellness for now, and when both dogs are on adult food I might try TOTW, but I haven’t decided yet. I hear anything from 6 months to 2 years old.

Now for the puppy…I’m going to slowly wean him on Wellness, but what kind of feeding schedule would be appropriate? I had planned on starting out with 3 feedings per day, like I had Nikko on, with about ¾ cup per feeding. Would 2 feedings be allright for a 2 month old, or should I go with 3 feedings until he is 6 months?

Thanks!

Each dog is different. Just because other members feed their dogs more or less than you does not mean you are feeding too little or too much. If Nikko is at a weight you are happy with, then you have no reason to adjust his feedings. If he is still looking too thin, increase it slightly. If he is looking a little chubby, decrease it slightly. If he looks good, leave it alone. That's my advice.

Most people wait until 12 months to switch to an adult formula. Honestly, you can switch now if you wanted. Neither of my dogs have ever been on a puppy food. There is apparently a Calcium and Phosphorous ratio for puppies to determine if it is "puppy friendly," but all the foods I favor were higher than the suggested ratio for puppies so I just said to hell with it and fed Rogue adult food from day one and I did this when Koda was a pup as well.

Also, neither of my dogs were fed 3x a day as puppies either. They have always been fed at 6AM and 6PM. I never had any issues with it. Obviously they also got treats during the day, especially during training sessions.

Thanks for the suggestions! I like the 2x per day feeding much better, I think it would also make potty training much easier.

Nikko's weight is good and he is not over/under. He is 8 months old and at about 54lbs, but he is larger than breed standards, and judging from his stools I think I am fine. When I was feeding him 3 cups a day he had runny stools alot.

I know Taste of the Wild is a good food, and I am thinking about switching eventually. I will probably just keep them both on the same food, and in a couple months when I run out of Wellness I might go ahead and switch them both to TOTW

Agreed, if he looks goods, isn't acting like he's starving, and at a good weight keep doing what your doing. I wouldn't change for now.

Now that I have the amounts down, what about formulas?

Nikko gets Wellness Super5mix for puppies, and I will be weaning the new puppy on this food as well. I have been told that you should wait until they are a year to switch to adult food, and some have said it really does not matter.

My plan is to keep with same food for the next couple months, then wean them both on to Taste of the Wild at the same time. Is this wise, or should I wean them one at a time? If I weaned them one at a time it might be an issue of having to get another container to keep 2 different types of food in, on the other hand if they both get diarrhea at the same time that might be a lot to handle lol.

And what are everyone’s opinion between Wellness and TOTW? I had looked at Wellness CORE too, but that is $$$.

If you are wanting a good All Life Stages food, I'd look at Earthborn. Amazon has their formulas for under 50 a bag and 2 day shipping if you have Amazon Prime. I am not a personal fan of TOTW, I like reputable companies who I can trust.

Honestly, I'd just switch Nikko over to the new food now and start the new puppy on it already.