Best Puppy Food?

we have a puppy(3-4months old) that is on a scale of 1(too skinny) - 10(too fat), is a 3.... She was a stray that we adopted from a lady...

What is the best puppy food to fatten her up? and currently we have her own puppy chow.... no idea on breed she is as she's a black/white(dominant black - see general - first time dog owners)....

I have a modest budget so please no expensive brands cause i have a 8 pound bag and i doubt its gunna be big enough to last 2 weeks with her....

i put 2 cups of food in her bowl and it was half gone within 1 1/2 hrs of sitting the bowl on the placemat. I wont do this again in the morn but i didnt know when her last food was(considering the lady worked sunday and got off an hr b4 we met to exchange money for sasha, lol)......

Also would Free Feeding(to a point) work best for her since she's soo thin?? or since she is a puppy, do regulated feedings(with times that i know i'll be home at, i work various shifts each day but tends to lean towards evenings at the current moment)??

**Been a long time since I had a puppy**

 

Most dog and puppy foods have a basic feeding recommendation on the back of the bag to give you an idea of how much to feed them. My personal opinion is that free feeding is alright at this point. You can always adjust its diet later on if you think she is eating too much or becoming overweight.

 

I think it depends on the breed of the dog.
I usually have mixed breed dogs/puppies and easy for them to just feed them rice meals. And for puppies, we just make a soup with rice and give reasonable amount according to their size.
Maybe you can find "puppy" dog foods in the market and it can have suggested servings and preparation in the label. (not sure of that)

 

First forget the idea of fattening her up. Unless you are planning to make a meal out of her. Let her eat enough to keep healthy. Dogs suffer from obesity just like people do. So do her a favor and don't overfeed her until she becomes like this:

 

Any puppy dog food brands will do. Just don't over feed her if you don't want her to end up like the photo above. Give her the right amount of dog food daily and don't hasten his weight gain by feeding her much. It will just increase the chance that she might get used to the amount of food that you are feeding her.

 

Do you know how big your puppy is supposed to get? If it is a large-breed puppy ir a large-breed mix, you will want to feed her a food that is developed for large breeds. Feeding her too much protein, especially if you are going to be trying to get her up to a normal weight. I wouldn't limit her intake too much, since her body has to work hard gaining weight, growing, developing bone, and catching up to where she should be developmentally. If it were me, I'd feed her three times a day, allowing her what she wants to eat until she decides to walk away and sniff fir potties. Once she is af normal body weight, you can restrict what she eats to the recommended quantity on the bag, as long as she doesn't lose or gain weight that way.

 

In regards to puppy/dog food if you are going to feed commercial food I would stay far away from the grocery store brands such as Purina, and the other cheap foods. You want to stay away with foods that have by-products in them, as well any corn based products. And if you read the labels stay away from any foods that have on the labels ethoxyquin and BHA/BHT. I would feed the better brands of foods that are out there. Find yourself a pet food store that carry the more natural foods. Most of those foods don't have what I listed above. Yes, they are a bit more expensive but in the long run your dog will be a healthier dog and live much longer. Some good foods on the market are Call of the Wild, Solid Gold, Merricks just to name a few.

 

I think a dog's health in relation to its diet is also affected by conditioning. Like in Thailand, people generally love dogs and the dogs, even street strays, are fed regularly with cooked rice and left-overs. So far so good.