# Evye and Bentley are starving !!!



## Evye's Mom (Dec 16, 2008)

In recent posts, I believe I was overfeeding. I fed the recommended amount on the bag and fretted something terrible if they did not eat their daily quota. Now they are 1 day away from being transitioned to their new food 100%, which the quantity calls for half of what they are used to getting. According to bag, Bentley should get 1/2 cup a day and Evye 3/4 cup. I am giving them a "smidge" less today and a few kibble of their prior food....but they appear to be hungry. Every time I head for the pantry, they run to follow me and stand by their bag of food....Bentley tries tearing into it. Will this level off? They get plenty of training treats in between (tiny bits of chicken and/or cheese). Geezzz. One week I post they won't eat and this week posting that I'm worried I am starving them...always a challenge.


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## Jane (Jun 2, 2007)

Hi Sharlene,

The quantity on the bag is almost always WAY too much food for a Hav.

I have big havs, and this is how much kibble they eat per day:
Scout (14.8 pounds) = 2/3 cup kibble
Lincoln (18 pounds) = 3/4 cup kibble
And they get one chewie a day too.

Kibbles range from about 400-600 cal/cup too, so there is quite a variation. The kibbles I feed are closer to 400 cal/cup. You can try adding cooked green beans to their kibble to fill them up (w/o adding too many calories), or find a lower calorie kibble. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.


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## Evye's Mom (Dec 16, 2008)

Thank you so much Jane...Just have to stick to my guns and not cave in and give them more kibble. Going to go cook some green beans


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

Sharlene, what is the difference between the old food and the new food? both in terms of calories and protein? if their diet has been switched from a high carb to high protein they may be hungry for a while... also if there was more fiber in the old diet that may have made them more full. Or in turn, if you were feeding high protein and are now using a kibble with more grain in it they could be adjusting too... Is the new food higher or lower in calories?


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## Evye's Mom (Dec 16, 2008)

Their new food is Fromm, Salmon Ala Veg (also have a bag of the chicken) but we started off on the salmon....call me crazy, but I have read the bag from front to back and I cannot find the calories listed anywhere.


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## juliav (Nov 21, 2006)

Sharlene,

I just went to the from website and Salmon a la Veg has 405 calories per cup. Chicken a la Veg has 370 calories per cup.


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## Evye's Mom (Dec 16, 2008)

Julia, you are a sweetheart !!! Thank you. So far, Fromm has been the only brand that has been working in terms of diarrhea. I have tried so many brands with Evye and once we got to half/half, diarrhea....and Bentley was having the same result. So I assume Fromm is a lower calorie food (better quality) and probably the reason they are hungry. I will try Jane's advice and add some green beans to make them feel more full....or I am open to suggestions. I am new to this.


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## maryam187 (Jul 18, 2007)

Sharlene, I switched Pablo to Fromm's Salmon kibble from EVO Innova a while back and he seemed very hungry too although I was feeding him the medium amount of the recommended range. I added green beans, that didn't work too well and I went to the highest amount within the recommended range. I think he just had to get used to the new food, cause he's fine with the medium amount again. You won't find the calories mentioned on the bag, so don't drive yourself crazy. Because Pablo is doing better with the higher amount of food, I compared the calories of the different flavors and got him the whitefish this time, which has the lowest calories. This way he can get the same amount, but with less calories. Salmon actually has the highest amount of calories out of all those flavors, even higher than duck, weird.


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

My boys should be blimps. I put down almost a full measuring cup of the Fromm's Gold for them each twice a day. I really don't know how much of it they eat and how much is appropriated by the bigger dogs. I should probably pay attention. Milo is till small and not heavy, Bailey on the other hand -- tubby. He's always scrounging for food.


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## Evye's Mom (Dec 16, 2008)

Oh my....getting more and more confused. Knowing Evye is not typically a chow hound, maybe I should just try adding a little more until she seems satisfied. Evye is what I would consider "normal"...heafty but by no means thin, still able to feel her ribs with ease. Bentley I would consider on the thin side but the boy loves to eat....plus they are young pups...wondering if they may have higher intake requirements. Evye's stools are fine on this new food....Bentley's are still soft poo piles.


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## Evye's Mom (Dec 16, 2008)

Geri, i.e. they get 2 cups per day? 

I am not sure if I obsessed this much about how much my children ate. As a mom, I figured they ate good some days and horrible other days. Never worried about it too much. I know kids, I know cats...but pups....HELP.


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## kelrobin (Jan 21, 2008)

Sharlene, do you feed them once or twice a day? I have always heard that small dogs do better on twice a day. I give Jackson a half cup in the AM, and if he doesn't finish it all, I put it up and then give it to him again at night with some wet on top. I just keep feeling his ribs to make sure he doesn't get too fat because he does love to eat and would consume every treat in the house if I gave it to him! He is very active though, so I think you have to judge your havs with their activity/bodies. They are all different as you have said!


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## Evye's Mom (Dec 16, 2008)

Hi Kathy...actually I feed them 3 times a day...divided amounts. Today was the first day I have reduced Evye to 2 times a day. Had to give Bentley his midday meal in his crate to distract Evye.


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## maryam187 (Jul 18, 2007)

Sharlene, when we were in Berlin for 2.5 months last Summer, Pablo was around 9.5 months at the beginning of our trip. While we were at my mom's he ate normal portions, when we stayed with my cousin who has 2 dogs and Pablo was much more active, I sometimes doubled and tripled his intake because he was starving. He never got fat during that time. I think they go through big time growth spurts and depending on their level of activity need more food during that period. Pablo now gets 1/2 cup Fromm's kibble twice a day.


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## Evye's Mom (Dec 16, 2008)

Yeah, it makes more sense to judge by their activity. It has been rainy and dreary here and rain, rain, rain...just sort of lazy and they don't seem as hungry today. They still get their treats (chicken/cheese) for training...I am sure they won't starve to death. I'll just keep a good watch on their bodies and judge from there.

P.S. It is soooo cute when they get their salmon oil. They lick each other's face forever !!!


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## Sam375 (Feb 2, 2009)

I think I would start feeding them both 2 x a day. And then also give them plenty of time to adjust to having less food like maybe 2 weeks? Then I would maybe consider adding canned food. My understanding is that the canned food even helps with the pudding pies. Of course I would try to figure out the kibble thing first. Maybe you could even up the amount of kibble. Someone out there posted that canned is better for them, and could even consider feeding an all can diet. And just brush their teeth regularly.


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Sharlene, it sounds like you're doing just great. Gauging how they are doing by watching their bodies is a wise idea.


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

Sharlene, 

Sometimes Dexter is eating 2/3 cup food two times a day. Sometimes he eats it all, sometimes not. The leftovers are given at night with some more food added and he gobbles it up. Sometimes he will go for days eating light, then he will eat everything in the bowl.


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## Evye's Mom (Dec 16, 2008)

They are really, really liking their new food...today anyway. I feel like I hit pay dirt !!! LOL. I had the opposite problem prior, trying to entice Evye to eat...now I can't fill her up. They keep us guessing.


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