How much food does a young, male staffy cross require?

Aston came to me quite visibly thin. I could count all his ribs, all the knobbles on his backbone and his hip bones protruded quite sharply. His coat felt quite bristly to touch, lots of dander and no shine. My daughter was feeding him a cheap brand of dry food that he was having difficulty in digesting. I changed his diet to a recommended dry puppy food called Barking Heads, Little Big Foot and he seems to be putting on weight and his coat is now softer and shinier. I've been feeding him 3/4 times a day as he bolts his food, trying to get him to slow down a little. I also give him a dessert spoon of granulated charcoal, for flatulence and conditioning tablets. When I took him to the vets for a check up and (shockingly) his first vaccinations (as my daughter and the previous owners before her had never got him vaccinated) and the vet said that he was still a tad underweight for his size. He's quite leggy (the boxer in him, I think). He has a slight heart murmur, so I am under strict instructions from the vet not to let him get obese. She would prefer to see him slightly underweight than overweight. Any advice on feeding would be so very helpful. Thanks.

He shouldn't be underweight , it sounds like you are getting him there with the attention you are giving him . As a guideline for an ideal weight you should be able to see the first couple of ribs and they should have a noticeably visible waist.

This is the breed standard for a KC staff which you can still use as a guide but obviously general weights , heights etc are not valid but an indication of a healthy look for your dog.

http://staffy-bull-terrier.co.uk/standardataglance.html

Regarding the food and amounts , it depends on age really . Up to 10/12 weeks 4 meals a day , 12wks - 6mths 3 meals a day and then 2 meals there on , but if you wish 1 is adequate . Obviously this is the total intake for the dog divided up for ther day. You should go by the weight guidelines on the food packaging and adjust to suit the dog from there with a little more or less depending om the weight and look.

A few pictures may help us to offer an opinion too

Thanks for the advice, Dave. Is any particular brand of dog food the best? I would love to post some photos but I'm a bit of a computer novice so I'll have to wait until my daughter comes to visit him on Sunday and get her to show me how it's done. He's a gorgeous looking dog. Brindle with small patches of white on his paws.

Sounds like a lovely boy but we have to have pics ( don't tell anyone but you become a favourite member if you post pics )

Barking heads is a good food and one of our mods Kathy feeds her boy on that no problems. Generally not good to chop and change food so if it works stick to what you have . Just for your reference we do have a dry food recommendation list

http://staffy-bull-terrier.co.uk/dryfood.html

I was feeding our 2 on Wainwrights from Pets at Home and its a really good mid range food bu they got bored , the barking heads is a bit higher up the market me thinks.

Another really good and well rated one is Fish4Dogs which is what we are using now, but as I say what you have is good so don't change unless the boredom kicks in or you get other problems

As soon as my daughter comes up Sunday I'll get her to show me how to post pics. Aston, I feel, hasn't had a very good start in life. He was ignored by the owners who had him prior to my daughter, and my daughter took him on with the best of intentions but didn't really have time for him and he was shut up in the garden for most of the time. He's such a gentle, loving soul with a big heart and he's needy in the attention department. Which suits me fine as he's an absolute joy to cuddle and he has brought the laughter back in my life after my little old lady dog died. He's a real gentleman, which I think I've said before, and I can see him becoming quite the ladies man if I don't get him neutered soon. I'm thinking about booking him in at the end of the month...but would like him to feel happy and secure before I whisk him off to the vets and, bless him, deprive him of his doghood.

How old is he , do you have any idea ?? He does sound like a little star. Never really had much to do with Boxers other than my OH sister had one which wasn't allowed to do anything so never got to know the personality. The staffy side on ther other hand uyou have taken ownership of the most loyal , loving dog you will ever meet in your lifetime and a little bit crazy with it

He's just over a year. He hadn't even had his puppy vaccinations. I've only had him a week and took him to the vets a few days ago for his first shots. He was as good as gold especially considering he had never been to a vets before. He has been an absolute angel. I just can't believe how wonderful he is, considering he's only been with me just over a week. Every day he is gaining in confidence and happiness and it is a joy to watch. He is the most non-aggressive dog I've ever met. Greeting other dogs and people without a qualm and even letting me take food from his mouth. He's a real treasure and deserves a happy, loving home where he is 100% part of the family. My aim now is to give him the best life possible.

He sounds great and seems like he has fallen lucky with a new owner.

You mentioned about him being a greedy guts with his food , have you tried him with Kong ?? you can pack his food in there freeze it and make him take his time and get some mental stimulation in the process

Another trick I've seen on here is to put a ball in the middle of his bowl so he has to eat around it

Oooh...I'll go down to my local pet shop and check Kong out. I need to slow him down on his eating.

He sounds amazing cant add nothink that dave has said the tennis is ball in the food ive seen works as they have to move the ball to get to the food but staffys are clever and he used to take the ball out

Peppermint wrote:Oooh...I'll go down to my local pet shop and check Kong out. I need to slow him down on his eating.

If the food is small bite , we have a wobble Kong as well , you fill it and as then tip it over there is a hole in the side where the food comes out and it stands back upright every time Tommy loves his (it was actually a Birthday present for Tilly which she didn't take to )

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=kong+dispenser&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=15898496530855745840&sa=X&ei=OIBuUIiKBKmW0QWggIFA&ved=0CCkQ8wIwAQ

I bought ours from Pets at Home

He is amazing. I've been so impressed with his love, his gentleness and his good behaviour he has quite won my heart over. I'm off now to take him for a good, long walk before starting work. Thank you so much for your support and advice. I'll be back later.

Thanks, Dave....it's quite small. I really do like the idea of that.

they look great dave ive got a ball you put food in so he has to roll it round very noisy tho with no carpet downstairs

Peppermint wrote:He is amazing. I've been so impressed with his love, his gentleness and his good behaviour he has quite won my heart over. I'm off now to take him for a good, long walk before starting work. Thank you so much for your support and advice. I'll be back later.

Thanks, Dave....it's quite small. I really do like the idea of that.

Quite simple really , if you don't come back later and with pictures we come and reposess your dog in the name of Staffy Bull Niceboard Trust

Enjoy your walk