Feeding 11 month old

Question
We are adopting an 11 month old female, spayed lab.  How much food and how many times a day is best for her?  She weighs around 60 lb.  Any suggestions on kind of food?  Thanks!

Answer
About 3-4 cups a day would be a good place to start.  Overweight is a big problem with labs.  Your dog definitely should be narrower at the waist than the hips and chest. You
should be able to easily feel the ribs, but not see them. Each dog is different.
Standard recommendations are a good place to start, but each dog must have its
food and exercise adjusted to its individual needs. Here is a link to a good
illustrated guide, http://www.longliveyourdog.com/twoplus/RateYourDog.aspx

If you know what she was eating before, I would continue it for at least a few weeks until she has a chance to adjust to her new home.  If it is an adult chow you can afford and is convenient to buy, I would continue it. If it is a puppy chow, I would start a slow switch to the adult version of it after a few weeks.  Labs and other large breeds do better if their joints are allowed more time to develop avoiding the fast growth of puppy chow or overweight.  Drag any switch out over a week.  

A number of the common brands, including Iams, Pro Plan, and Science Diet,  have a very successful record with the Labs in the service dog programs.  Many of those advocating more expensive foods find that fact unpleasant and try to deny it.  I have to agree some of the ingredients in the common brands are unpleasant, but there isn't the least shred of scientific evidence other foods are healthier.  None.  

The one thing you will read is that is true is that corn based foods require feeding more and produce larger, softer stools that are harder to clean up.  I have seen dogs doing very well on the regular Purina. I have no information on other brands of similar foods.

A Lab from lines where bloat isn't known to be common will do fine having a days worth of food dumped in its dish once a day.  Bloat can lead to a terrible, sudden death.  Many Labs would do better with 2 meals a day and slowing their greedy eating habits.  There are not one, but 2 easy, tested, effective ways to control rapid eating. You can spread the food out on a cookie sheet or something. Some of my friends just throw it on the floor of the crate. You can put large rocks in the food dish, much to big to swallow. Either way, the dog can't gulp down one big mouthful after another.