Hungry Dog

Question
QUESTION: I have newly adopted coonhound mix, she is about 1 year old and is spayed.  She eats Alot at least 5 cups of Nutro Lamb & Rice (2 1/2 cups morning & evening).  She will also eat grass and birdseed when outside.  If food is left out on a table she will get on the table and eat it.  She will also eat her own stool if given the chance (I clean it up immediately and walk her so she doesn't have the opportunity to 'snack', the stool eating is not my main concern)  she gets dog treats too.  She is already eating  1 3/4 cups MORE then the recommended amount for her weight, but she seems to always be looking for more.  She will bark and bark at me when I'm in the kitchen.  
She weighted 33# at her first vet appt. in March, her activity rate is HIGH she goes on walks and races off lead in our fenced backyard.  She is not overweight yet, she was thin when she came home, you can feel her ribs but not see them, she has a waist, but I fear at some point she will develop a huge pot belly due to the spaying.
Should my next step be special tests at the Vet?

ANSWER: Coonhounds eat a lot. Ignore the RDA for food on the bag. Every dog is different. I'm not thrilled with the food choice either.
Choose a food that has no byproducts, corn, wheat, or soy, Then your dog is getting more usable food and less waste. These are at best fillers, and at worst four d meats and allergens. 4 d meats are dead, diseased, dying and downed animals. Lamb is also not a good source of protein alone, you always need to have more than one source is lamb is your primary,
Try Wellness, Natural Balance, Flint River,Eagle Pack,EVO,Solid Gold. one of the premium brands. It'll save you money. She'll get more nutrition and basically more bang for your buck. Much like if you were to mix sawdust in with hamburger meat and eat it. The sawdust would just be filler, it'd be cheaper but you would get less for what you pay. Compare that to just eating pure hamburger and it gives you a good comparison between premim foods and what you're feeding. Put her food down twice per day for forty five minutes , let her eat until she loses interest. She will, on her on, cut down on the amount that she eats as her system catches up with the nutrition levels. Don't pay any attention to what it says on the bag., Let your dog tell you how much she needs to eat. Make sure her schedule is set in stone, feed her at the same time twice per day.
She'll level out.
Cindi


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

QUESTION: I left off Natural Choice in the dog food name, corn and other fillers are not listed in the ingredients.  Another dog lives in the house, how much food do you propose I leave sit for 45 minutes, she eats very rapidly.

Answer
So no by products, wheat or soy? Great!
Leave her as much as she can eat in forty five minutes, or until she slows down and loses interest. She'll eat a lot at first, but will get caught up. She's still growing too ;). She will learn that she's going to have all she wants to eat, and not be starved (don't know where you adopted her from but is that a possibility?). Once that happens , she won't wolf her food so badly.
Good luck
Cindi