Susanna Smith (00:09):
Many people wonder how much to feed their dog, and the feeding guidelines on the back of the Purina bags are a great place to start, but every animal is its own individual, so we want to look at the dog’s body score on a daily basis. What we’re looking for is a smooth top line here. If I run my hand down his back, I want to be able to feel individual vertebrae, but I don’t ever want to be able to see them. Same thing with the rib cage. I don’t want to see the ribs, but I do want to be able to press slightly and to feel the individual ribs. If I’m looking from above, I want to see an indention here at the waist, and if I’m looking from the side, I want to see a nice indention here on the stomach. Also, when we’re feeding, we take into account what the dog is going to be doing that day, the next day. If they’re going to be exerting a lot of energy, we may want to add a little bit of food to their daily intake. The most important thing to remember when you’re feeding your dog is that you want to feed to get that ideal body condition.
