Rusty on dog care: How much food and water should my new dog get?

Canned food is recommended only because it is easier to eat after oral surgery. You can soak her dry food until it is soft. The general guideline for an adult dog is 1 cup of food per 30lbs body weight divided into two meals. This is for maintenance, not weight loss/gain. Using this formula, Hazel would need just under 1/3 cup daily split into two meals. It doesn't sound, or look like, a lot of food but she is a tiny dog and doesn't need many calories.

Adding water to her meals is fine. If you observe that she is drinking more than usual or urinating more than usual, she may need to have her urine checked. The only way to measure water intake is to separate her and measure the amount of water offered subtracted from the amount she consumes in 24 hours. Most healthy pets will consume enough if made available.

Hello. I think there may really be a need for your "smart" dog food bowl. Ideally, it would be connected to a program where the owner can input breed, age, neuter status, weight, activity level, type of food, kcal per cup of food & I am sure something I am leaving out to calculate the total calories required to maintain a sensible weight in that pet. The less the owner has to do, the better. I do not think it is necessary nor advisable to weigh water as you do not want to make judgements about water intake. Your program should be able to adjust for a wet vs dry diet, as wet diets are by nature, less nutritionally dense because of the water already added. Good luck & thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi, thanks for using PetCoach! This isn't an easy question to answer, it depends on if Bruno is a healthy weight. Is he overweight or too thin? I always recommend using the dog food bag as a guideline. If the dog is too heavy then cut back and if too thin then increase. The food my dog eats says he should eat 4 cups per day but 2 cups keeps him at the ideal weight. https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-much-to-feed-a-dog-to-meet-his-energy-needs/

At her weight she is allowed to drink up to 110cc of water within 24 hours. If she eats more dry food or when it is very hot, she can drink a bit more. 110cc is 3.71 fluid oz. So your dog is well within her normal water intake.

I would not be concerned about this change from wet to dry food as long as she is eating and is not too thin. You will need to refer to the bag of dog food you are feeding to see how much you should be feeding her. Every food has a different amount of calories per cup of food so it is very hard to make a blanket statement that a dog 10# should be eating X amount of food. It depends on the food. So check the bag and feed her according to their recommendations for her weight.

The amount of food Cholo requires will vary depending on his activity level as well as the type/brand of food being fed. In general, puppies (dogs under 1 year old) require more calories to facilitate growth. Look on the bag of food. Most have feeding guidelines that are a good starting point. This amount can be adjusted depending on weight, body condition, appetite and activity. If he is getting "chubby", decrease the amount. If he is cleaning his bowl and still seems hungry and is not overweight, increase the amount. Regarding water, a bowl of fresh water should always be available. Dogs typically drink about 1 ounce of water per pound of body weight per day. This translates to about 3 ounces daily for Cholo right now. Once again, activity will affect the amount of water being consumed. Weather will also play a large role. If its hot, he's going to drink more.