Q: How much food Should I give my 1-year-old Newfoundland a day?
I have a Newfoundland and he is a year old today. I am wondering if we are giving him enough food a day. We give him a big cup in the morning and one at night. Is that enough? He is 102 pounds.
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Answers and Views::
Answer by Lynne
The best way to know is the dog's weight. You can check the Newfoundland growth chart.
Answer by Nicholie
It should say on the side of the bag. Just look at the side and it'll have the weight of the dog to how many cups a day he'll need.
Answer by Rosalie
No, it isn’t.
Newfoundlands should get two cups in the morning and two at night, ALWAYS with water in it to avoid bloat or an impaction. Work him up to that slowly over a week – don’t just feed him more all of a sudden, or you will end up in trouble.
I used to take care of a kennel full of Newfies, and they all got a big bowl of food twice a day.
It was a huge stack of mixing bowls, like something out of the Cat in the Hat!
It was regular food – none of the fancy stuff. Don’t feed him anything richer than regular maintenance made for large breeds.
Answer by Suzanne
Do NOT go on the recommendations on the dog food bag for a Newf!! Read NewfieMom's advice (below) carefully and follow that. How high is he at the withers? (point of shoulder) Unless he is very short, 102 could be a low weight for an 18-month purebred Newf male. Is he neutered? That will cause him to require fewer calories. If you are feeding a high-quality food like Fromm, you can also call them and get advice.
My boy was about 128 lb at that age but he was 28+". Now at 25 months, he's 134 and 30" (tall and leggy for a purebred Newf). I worry about him being too thin compared to others but 1. the vet likes his weight, 2. I groom him every day so he appears thinner than some, 3. he's a farm dog and gets lots of exercise and 4. he fits the NewfieMom's description of fat distribution. We are switching from Large Breed Puppy to Large Breed Adult this week, so I'm revisiting the size issue.
Answer by NewfieMom
It all depends on your Newf and his energy level. I have an 18-month-old Newfoundland puppy, he gets 7 cups of food every day, he is very energetic, weighs 138 pounds, he is 30 inches tall at the withers and thin. I also have two laidback adult Newfs, they get 3.5 cups per day, but when they were pups, one of them never got more than 4 cups per day and the other ate 5 cups as a puppy, split between their morning and evening meals.
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So, how do you tell if your Newf is too thin? This test is especially important for heavily coated dogs, whose fur often conceals weight issues.
If you run your hands over the ribs and you can feel the ribs, but they feel like they have slight padding, your dog is probably at the right weight. If you run your hands over the ribs and you can feel all of the ribs with a thin layer of skin covering them, your dog is too thin. If you can’t feel a ribcage at all or very slightly, your dog is overweight.
Look at your dog from a side angle, if his tummy is equal to the chest in size, he’s overweight, the tummy should be tucked up higher than the chest. Now, look down on your dog, you should be able to see an obvious waist there. You should not be able to feel his spine easily.
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Here’s what you can do for your pup if he’s underweight (remembering that you always want to keep your pup on the slim side, so as not to burden growing joints). Increase his food intake by 1/2 cup in the morning and 1/2 cup for supper – he will be getting a total of three cups per day. You can gradually add more food if he’s still too thin, but don’t add more than a 1/2 cup per meal at a time.
If you ever feel your pup is getting too fat, back off the food by reducing the cups by 1/4 c for both meals. Remember, Newfs keep growing until they are at least 3 years old, sometimes 4 years old.
So you do want to watch his food intake all the time.
Happy birthday to your boy! :-)
Answer by Jdap
Our Newfie is just over 4 months old and it seems that she is starving. We feed her 2cups in the morning, 2 cups at noon, and then 2 cups at dinner and she still seems that she is never eaten. She has been tested more than once for worms by the vet. She is not overweight and not underweight
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Brian hickey says
We have a 14 month newf that is over 170lbs 30″ tall and slender he is fed 10 cups of kibble and 2-3 cups of whole food every single day and would eat more if I let him. You feed a newf like a horse give them a set time then pick up the bowel. Those of you feeding puppy newfs two cups a day your starving your dog and I’m surprised they aren’t eating your house. Give a growing newf 4 cups twice a day at least and give them some whole foods it greatly effects life expectancy. See YouTube look up Ted talks Robert Habib in regard to what strictly kibble does to your dog. Guys feed your dog’s more please
RussianDog says
Rodney Habib
Brian hickey says
Yes Rodney sorry been a while since I watched it … Great video though very informative
Sandra says
that’s RODNEY Habib*
Suzanne says
The comment has been moved into the body of the post.
H says
The very best way is to read the packaging that his dog food comes in. It goes by the weight of the dog and the type of food that you use. Read the label and it will tell you how much food per pound of dog.
Jamal says
Great question. Newfoundlands usually eat light so my suggestion is 2.5 to 3 pounds a day. If it doesn’t eat the food don’t worry It’s just normal for him/her to eat at seperate times a day.
Jessica says
on the back of the dog food than is normally a chart to say how much food you should feed your dog.