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While a common question among pet owners seems to be, What is the best dog food to feed my dog, they often neglect to ask the equally important question, How much should I feed my dog?

There are some common tenets of feeding which are vital to every dogs health, regardless of breed.

The one fundamental rule when feeding adult dogs is that the less they eat, the healthier theyll be and the longer theyll live. Obviously they need a balanced and complete diet. And they shouldnt be permitted to get excessively thin or fat.

But nearly all pet owners overfeed. And nearly every animal will consume twenty percent more food than it actually needs. The proper way to feed your dog is to find the amount that will maintain your pets weight, and feed exactly that amount daily. This is the most important rule of feeding your dog.

If your dog is overweight, you will need to put it on a diet until it reaches a proper body weight, and then find the appropriate amount of food it takes to maintain that weight.

Pet owners often agonize over putting their precious pets on a diet, but an obese dog isnt any happier about being fat than an obese person is. This feeling of distress over forcing an overweight dog to reduce its weight is based on the impression that starvation is painful. However it truly isnt painful as long as there is a reserve of food stored in the body fat. Feeding a bit of protein and carbohydrate daily to stimulate the metabolism and burn the fat will cause healthy weight loss without any danger of the development of acidosis. Hunger pangs are really just habit pangs. Any pain associated with them is imagined only.

It is far crueler to overfeed your dog than it is to put it on a diet. Obesity shortens the life of the pet, and makes it lethargic in nature. It can make both the dog and the owner unhappy, and as the pet grows older, the affect of the excess weight will become more pronounced.

The following amounts are some general estimates of how much dry dog food is appropriate to feed considering the healthy weight of a dog. Considerations for factors such as how much exercise your dog gets and whether or not the dog is overweight will vary these amounts.

Toy breeds of dogs, generally weighing up to 11 pounds, should get 3-5 ounces of dry dog food per day.

Small dog breeds (Jack Russells, Beagles, etc.), weighing 11-22 pounds, should get 4-6 ounces of food per day.

Medium dog breeds (Bassett Hound, Springer Spaniel, etc.), weighing 22-55 pounds, should have 10-12 ounces of food each day.

Large dog breeds (German Shepherd, Labrador, Boxer, etc.), weighing 55-77 pounds, should get 16-18 ounces of food per day.

Giant dog breeds (Great Dane, Saint Bernard, etc.), weighing over 77 pounds, should get 24-30 ounces of dry dog food each day.

All dogs should have a fresh supply of water available at all times, regardless of how much you feed your dog.

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