Does anyone feed Burns? If so, is your pup the correct weight, growing OK and seem satisfied on the recommended quantity?
Woops, I should have put this in the 'Feeding your Puppy' thread. Can someone move it for me please admin?
It's fine here, you'll probably get more answers this way! I feed Burns at the moment, but am going to be switching soon. I feed vastly different amounts to my two dogs; Shadow gets at least three times the amount that Willow does, so there's no point going off what the label says! I've heard it said by several people that some dogs can get skinny with Burns; I assume because it's not very calorie-dense (that is, a cup of Burns will have fewer calories than a cup of some other brand). So, in order to get the same number of calories, you'll have to have more volume. You may have noticed that a piece of Burns kibble feels very light compared to most other kibbles of the same size. Still, logic says that this means all you'd need to do is feed a greater volume to maintain weight! My Shadow (the yellow one) has always been a skinny boy and has struggled to put weight on; I've had to very gradually increase the amount of food he gets, because increasing it too quickly led to explosions! Do you think your pup is too skinny?
Thanks very much for your reply snowbunny, it is very helpful. It is not Molly I'm asking this for. I feed James Wellbeloved to Molly and she seems fine on it. My daughter is feeding her pup, a lab/cocker cross Burns and he's not gaining weight and seems hungry before the next feed is due so what you say about Shadow is very helpful. What are you planning to switch to by the way?
I don't think it's the Burns that's a problem for Shadow; I had him on Hills as a puppy and he was the same with that. I think it's just the way he's built! I think most puppies would be fine, just by increasing the amount of food they're given; if you're too skinny, you need to eat more. But it wouldn't work for Shadow, who would end up with a delicate stomach by increasing his food too much, too soon. It just took time. He's looking good now - you can still make out his ribs, which I'm fine with, but he doesn't look like something from a concentration camp. I'm undecided about which food I'm switching to. It's a consideration of the best I can get hold of to take me through the winter months, as I can't get premium foods in Andorra, and things like dog food can't be delivered there, either. I was actually looking at dog foods yesterday, and I really like the look of Eden (at first glance), and it's reasonable too. I'd suggest it's not suitable for a puppy, though, as the calcium to phosphorous ratio isn't ideal.
I fed my Pointer Burns for a while, couldn't keep any weight on him, he looked awful! Changed to JWB and that made a huge difference.
Benson our lab started out on Burns, no problems seemed to suit him in most respects, however, he did look rather thin. Now maybe he would've looked thin what ever he was fed at that age, it is hard to tell. We never had any tummy worries, or soft poo and he had plenty of energy. We did switch to a more calorie dense kibble. No noticeable change, he did put on weight and muscle quite quickly.
