Fox Terrier puppy always hungry

Question
I have a 3 1/2 old mix fox terrier/Chihuahua - more fox terrier though.  Very active.  Being crate trained.
Feeding her Purina One for puppies which is what she was eating before I brought her home.  1/3 cup divided by 3 meals per day.  She eats very (very, very) fast.  Barely chews her food and is always starving.
What am I doing wrong?

Answer
Hi,
I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I have had my own dog problems--I have three.

Your dog is how old? 3 1/2 months old? I don't necessarily think you are doing anything wrong. I think you have a high energy dog (how's his weight?)who may require more calories. Some dogs WILL ALWAYS EAT AND WILL MAKE THE OWNER THINK THAT THEY ARE STARVING but this is almost never the case. In your case, your pooch may simply need more food.

Having said that, do you use supplements such as probiotics and digestive enzymes? How are his poops? Good consistency? Does he vomit at all? Have you asked your vet if this is something to be concerned about?

Couple of suggestions:

**FEED HER MORE AND MORE OFTEN..she should be eating more than 1/3 cup divided into three meals. I think your dog is hungry. Feed her four times a day, small amts but the amount you are giving her just doesn't seem to be enough.  FEED HER MORE. A puppy should be getting at least 1/4 cup three times a day...not divided up. Puppies need FAT..but since you are using a puppy food, I have to assume that the fat content is high enough. I have never used nor advocated Purina but lots of people use it. I feed mine organically and almost raw so I really do not deal with commercial dog foods too much any more.

**How about supplementing her Purina One with a high quality puppy WET FOOD such as Wellness or one of the other higher quality dog foods. Stay away from Solid Gold, Eukanuba and Science diet...too many synthetics.

**Add a real food probiotic and digestive enzyme if you think she is not digesting properly. Her poops would probably be indicative of this but still they cannot hurt. I can give you more info on this if you decide you are interested.

**Try getting her onto a different dog food. BUT DO THIS OH-SO-SLOWLY if you decide to change her feed. Pups have VERY DELICATE TUMMIES AND CANNOT BE SWITCHED QUICKLY OR THERE CAN BE SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES. Just because the breeder fed her one thing doesn't mean you have to keep this up. There are great Puppy foods out there..Wellness, Calif Natural, Wysong..a whole slew. I even represent a company now whose food is not sold commercially (a very good thing by the way)and whose food is totally holistic. If interested let me know as the pup gets older and I will give you more info.

I hope this was helpful. Plain and simple I don't think you are feeding enough and I DO THINK YOUR DOG IS LITERALLY HUNGRY. Now, don't go crazy and overfeed, ok? Just give her three decent meals a day, maybe four because of her energy levels. I think you will see a difference. This may be your only problem..she's HUNGRY.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW THINGS ARE GOING....Sue