How much to feed a Husky?

Question

We adopted a 3 year old husky/malamute from a shelter couple of weeks ago and we have a hard time finding out how much to feed her :o( Apparently they fed her 'Science diet' in the shelter, but she wouldn't touch it when we gave it to her. We took her to a vet as she had very bad runs for a few days - he said, she was underweight - at 45 lb. Now she is 50 lb. But she is extremely picky at what she eats. She loved canned food for couple of days, now she will not touch it. I've been cooking chicken/beef + rice/sweet potatoes/veggies for her, but today she refused to eat it and would only eat barbecued meat and cottage cheese. By the way, she loves cottage cheese and yogurts. I know that huskies don't need to eat much, but I am worried that I will underfeed her. Most days she will eat the amount that equals about 1 1/2 to 2 cans of food. She has moderate exercise (2-3 hours walk/run per day). Do you thing she is eating enough? If not, how can I get her to eat more? Thank you.

Answer 1

I can understand why she stuck her nose up at the SD, its not a very high quality food.

What I would recommend is to find a high quality food and stick with it. No more switching when she turns her nose up at it as that only leads to finicky eating habits. You might also want to try a raw diet.

Once you've chosen the food, put it down for 20 minutes twice a day, pick it up after 20 mins. whether she ate or not. No snacks or anything until the next meal time if she doesn't eat. It may take her a time or two, but she will learn to eat what you give her when you give it her. A healthy dog won't starve itself.

If you decide to go with a commercial food, use the back of the bag as starting point. The guidelines on dog food bags aren't set in stone, some dogs need more some dogs need less. The way to know if you are feeding the right amount is to do a rib check.

Good weight: Your dog has a visible "waist" when viewed from above. You can easily feel the ribs under a thin layer of fat, and maybe see an outline of the last rib or two.

Overweight: Your dog has no visible "waist" when viewed from above. You have a hard time feeling the ribs.

Underweight: Ribs are very easily felt, possibly very visible. In really underweight dogs the hip bones may also be visible.

Adjust your dogs intake until you find the right amount.

Your dog may also be like my bel mal. I had concerns she wasn't eating enough, even though she was at a good weight. I was lucky for awhile if she ate a cup of food a day and she was a growing pup. I voiced the concern to my vet, and other bel mal owners who also have the same issue. Some dogs just have better things to do that eat. As long as they don't look like they're starving, there's nothing wrong with it.

To help you find a high quality food I'm including what to look for.

Nothing you find at a grocery store is going to be a good food. High quality foods can be found at large pet store chains, or online. A couple of foods I like are Innova, Innova Evo and Cannidae.

There are other high quality dog foods. Here's how to spot them:

A high quality food will have little or no fillers such as corn, wheat or soy. These aren't very digestable for dogs, and are common food related allergens. Since you were seeing corn meal in the first few ingredients, those are not high quality foods. Foods list ingredients by content, with the ingredient it contains most of at the top.

A high quality food will not contain BHT, BHA or Ethoxyquin, these are all chemical preservatives that have been linked to cancer.

A high quality food will not contain by-products of any kind. Meat meals are ok as long as the source of the meat is listed, such as Chicken Meal.

A high quality diet should have meat as at least the first ingredient., and be made from human grade ingredients. Foods that don't use human grade ingredients often get their ingredients from less than desirable sources, such as meat from animals that were diseased, or euthanized.

There is another diet option other than dog food. Some people choose to feed a raw diet. This involves feeding the dog raw meaty bones and organ meat. However it is not as simple as throwing a couple chicken bones in a bowl everyday. If you wish to feed this type of diet, do lots and lots of research first. Switching to this diet without knowing what your doing can lead to nutritional problems for your dog. I'll give you some links as a starting point in research if you are interested in this type of diet.

http://www.willowglen.com/barf.htm.........

http://www.bestfrisbeedogs.com/diets.htm...

http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html.....

http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html.....

http://www.rawdogranch.com

What's Really In Pet Food
http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&m...

Answer 2

Good grief, invite me to dinner! Your husky is playing you like a fiddle. She can be picky when she knows you will change her food up anytime she turns her nose up. Stick with the dry dog food. These companies (Iams, Eukanuba, Purina, Science Diet, Bil Jack, Nutra) spend millions of dollars researching proper animal diet and food composition, so you should feel confident that your dog is getting proper nutrition. The dry dog food also helps clean the teeth.

Depending on height and age, 45 to 60 lbs is optimum for a husky. A malamute is usually 70 to 90 lbs. The vet should have let you know what an optimum weight should be for her.

How much to feed? Look on the bag of food and feed to your goal weight. I have a 70 lb hound mix and a 90 lb dobie/boxer. They both get two cups of dry twice a day. Both are in optimum weight and physical build

Choose a dog food (for instance, Iams ), make her what you usually make her (about 1 cup) and add in 1/2 cup of Iams. Do this for three days (am feeding, pm feeding). Then on days four, five, and six, use 1/2 cup your food and 1 cup Iams. Then on day 7, use 1.5 cups Iams with no other food. Only leave the food out for 15 minutes. If she doesn't eat it, then put it up and give it to her again at dinner. Don't worry, she is not going to starve. When she gets hungry enough, she will eat her food. This is not cruel or mean. It is not allowing your dog to control the rules.

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Answer 3

Its good that you adopted a dog from a shelter. First off, pick one food and stick with it. Try a sensitive stomach food, as maybe the food she is eating is upsetting her stomach. Switching the food repeatedly just teaches the dog that it can get whatever she wants. Also, how much she eats can change. I have two mutts, brothers, and the bigger one gets 6 cups of food a day. He is 97 pounds, but in great shape. Her weight depends on her size; take a look at the weight charts at the vet and it will show you what a healthy dog should look like. Oh and dry food is better for their teeth. If all else fails, maybe try a food allergy test to see if some foods bother her.

Answer 4

We've had a husky for nearly 10 years now, so from what I know, they're really picky. Ours will do that to; like a food for a few times, then move on and not like it anymore.
He loves any kind of leftovers, and yes, yogurts are one of his absolute favorite foods.
We give him between one and two (11.5 oz) coffee cans full of food a day, and he is just slightly on the overweight side.
I'd say that a lot of it is normal, and that you're probably doing just fine.

Answer 5

Just feed her a well balanced food..Science Diet is a good one. She is in the mid of a major change in her life..from shelter to a home. Leave her food out and she will eventually eat when she is hungry. She won't starve herself. I would suggest tho that whatever you feed her that you don't keep changing it up. Choose one or two kinds and limit it to that. She will eventually eat...as long as you have had her checked out by a vet and everything is o.k. this is probably just the change of enviornment causing a little emotional crises for her. Good Luck

Answer 6

Sounds like she just gets tired of the same old thing!

As long as she is gaining weight, she's getting enough food.

Answer 7

Depends on how HUSKY you want those Huskies!

Answer 8

Sometimes dogs do better on a specialized diet of "human foods"
I love this site and the books:

http://www.secretdogconspiracy.com/dog-food-secrets.php