How much should I feed my 8 week old male?

Question
QUESTION: I just got my 8 week old male puppy a week ago and I am currently feeding him Purina One Large Breed Puppy Chow (his breeder told me that that should work good for him) 2 3/4 cups in the morning between 7-9 a.m. (that was the recommended amount on the Eucanuba sample bag from his puppy pack) and he doesn't finish it until around 8-9 p.m. He just snacks on it throughout the day. I don't like how skinny he still looks and was reading on the Internet before I got him that they should eat around 2-4 times a day but that free feeding was okay too. He did have worms before I got him and was dewormed by a vet about 4 or 5 days before I got him. I plan on bringing him back to the vet in about a week to get rechecked and all his other vaccinations that he needs again. Basically I am asking if what im doing is okay and I just need to give him time to catch up and gain the weight back because of the worms or if I need to switch to a different dog food. I live in a small town where it is hard to find a dog food that is great for a Great Dane. I apologize for any typo's or anything like that, Bruno, that is his name, is cuddling in a position that makes it hard to type. Thank you for your time and if you have previously answered this question could you please send me a link to the answer? I've gone through the first two pages of all the Q %26 A's and didn't find one that helped.

ANSWER: Purina One is not the greatest food that you can get your puppy, however if you live in a small town it maybe hard for me to recommend something that will work well and help your puppy gain weight. He should be eating about 3/4-1 cup per meal three times a day. With that being said, Great Danes, be it a puppy or an adult should NEVER free feed throughout the day, this can cause GDV or Bloat, even in a small puppy.

What I can recommend is that you add a teaspoon of plain yogurt with every meal to entice your puppy to eat. This will also give him some extra enzymes to help digest the food better.

If you do have a Petsmart or Petco located near you, I can recommend some foods they sell there that may help with the weight gain.

A lot of times when puppies have worms it is hard for them to gain weight. Do have him rechecked and to be on the safe side I would have him de-wormed one more time.

Let me know if you do have one of those stores near you and I can send you some other food recommendations

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QUESTION: The closest one to me is about 4-5 hrs away. I'm planning a trip to go there soon but its so far away that its not a place i would be able to go to once a month or however much i would need to go to get food. Do you have any good websites and any recommendations as to what food to get? Thanks for your answer.

ANSWER: Toni,

Would you be willing to order food online? I recently switched all of my dogs over to a new brand of food. I even switched my rescues and foster dogs onto the food as well. They deliver for free in my area, but they do have another warehouse in Raleigh NC that ships the food to anywhere in the US for a flat rate fee...It is a great food and I can send you all of the information if that is something you would be interested in. If you go to a Petsmart or Petco you can buy 3-4 bags which at this point should last you 3-4 months, then you will not have to make trips every month for dog food. I would just suggest that you keep all of the food besides the one you are using in the original packaging as that will keep it fresh.

If you decide to use the pet stores here are the brands that will work:

These are the foods you can buy at Petsmart:
Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Adult(Blue Bag with a German Shepherd on it)
Nutro Natural Choice Chicken Meal, Rice and Oatmeal Formula(Teal Bag with a Carin Terrier on it)
Blue Buffalo Longevity for Adults
Nature's Recipe Farm Stand Selects


Along with the foods listed above, you can also try one of these at PETCO:

Pinnacle Holistic Duck & Potato Dry Dog Food
Pinnacle Holistic Chicken & Oatmeal Dry Dog Food
Pinnacle Holistic Trout & Sweet Potato Dog Food
Solid Gold Holistic Blendz Adult Maintenance Dog Food
Solid Gold Hund-n-Flocken Adult Maintenance Dog Food
Solid Gold MMillennia Beef and Barley Formula Adult Maintenance Dog Food
Solid Gold Wolf King Large Breed Adult Dog Food
Wellness Simple Solutions Rice & Salmon Dry Dog Food
Wellness Super5Mix Complete Health Dog Food
Wellness Super5Mix Complete Health White Fish & Sweet Potato Recipe Dog Food
Wellness Super5Mix Lamb, Barley, & Salmon Complete Health Dog Food

All of these foods are ADULT dog formulas that have a protein content of 26% or less and a fat content around 13% or less.

Great Dane Puppies should never eat a puppy food as you can cause HOD and Pano with too much protein going into the bones.

Let me know if you need anything else. Hope this helps


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Yeah, ordering it online would probably be the best thing for us. But I will still grab a few bags from petsmart when I get there. I didn't know you weren't supposed to give them puppy food, all the other sites that i went to about great danes were saying to make sure its a large breed puppy chow under 25% protein and under 15% fat, wow thanks.

Answer
If you decide to do the ordered food here is the website:

www.thepetpantrync.com

The TWO formula's you can buy there are:

Holistic Chicken and Rice Active Adults, Small Breeds and Large Breed Puppies
http://thepetpantrync.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=FYP&Product_Co

OR this company does make a Formula specific to Large Breed Puppies because of the protein and fat content and that is

Holistic Life Canine Large Breed Puppies and Adult Dogs...
http://thepetpantrync.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=FYP&Product_Co

If you prefer a food with fish:
Holistic Salmon and Potato for Active dogs and Dogs with Allergies, this is what two of mine eat.
http://thepetpantrync.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=FYP&Product_Co

I would suggest that you buy at least 120# at a time and that will last you about 3-4 months. Just make sure you keep it in an airtight container so that the food remains fresh.

This food is NOT available in stores, so it is something that you would need to continue to order and I would recommend so that you don't run out you order when you have about 15 pounds left each time.

Transitioning a puppy onto this food should only take about 2-3 days and sometimes even less then that. But if you can help it do not go back to a worse quality food after you feed this because it will most likely cause massive diarrhea.

Let me know if you need anything else and what you decide to use!