# Stella & Chewy VS. Primal



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

My mom's mpoo has been a one meal a day eater most of his life, so I have no negative comment about that. If one good meal a day works then it works rather than making meals into chores then go with it.


As to calories the answer to that varies a bit. If the dog is very active then it needs more calories. If it has a high basal metabolic rate then it needs more calories. When I switched to home cooking I had a recipe that gave weight based portions. I fed the right amount according to the recipe to Javelin and he quickly shed almost 8-10% of his body weight and acted like he was continuously ravenous. He is very active and I thought I had accounted for that, but obviously not enough so I gave him satin balls to help get some meat back on him but also upped his portions of his regular food. I think my advise to you based on that experience is to experiment a bit and see what your pup needs. I also think I would have preferred that I had gone over on calories a little bit than under since it was pretty hard to get the weight back on my boy.


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## mary2e (Jan 29, 2018)

Thank you. I suspect my little guy, after accounting for his food, treats, and snacks, is getting adequate calories. Plus, he does ask for a bedtime snack almost every night and keeps asking until he's had enough.

Generally speaking, I think I'm giving him about 120 calories of food, plus another 40 or 50 calories in milk bones, cherries, and that bedtime snack.

I do try to give him something in the morning, such as a milk bone so his stomach isn't empty.

If you can believe it, he has to be starving to ask for food. He's not food motivated - and 2 trainers told me that. He's praise and toy motivated. That's how we potty trained him. We make a big deal out of desired behavior 

Anyway, thank you very much. It sound like he's getting enough, since he's not losing weight nor asking for more food.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Poodles can be really pilly eaters. Mine aren't generally, but my mom's boy sure has been. And I imagine this is more of a worry the smaller the dog. I hope your plan continues to work, although I can't say I am a milk bone fan. I think it is important to make sure treats are high quality along with regular food. Actually Javelin won't eat milk bones and similar biscuits. He loves his chicken jerky and string cheese though.


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## mary2e (Jan 29, 2018)

I wasn't crazy about giving milk bones either, but the toy I had growing up lived to be 17 and that was her main snack. That's why I bought a box. He gets about 3 a day, tops.

I try to give him some form of food as a snack (the instinct mixers), and have just purchased zukes peanut butter mini's, which he loves. I also bought Bil Jac chicken liver as training treats, and now call it crack for puppies.

I've tried other whole food treats/snacks, but so many have smoke flavoring in them, and it upsets his stomach, that I just gave up and stick to what I have.


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

Mine eat about 118 calories in food plus snacks that plenty


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## mary2e (Jan 29, 2018)

twyla said:


> Mine eat about 118 calories in food plus snacks that plenty


Thanks Twyla. Yours are little smaller than mine. Rod told me he feeds 1/4 cup of ToTW salmon for his adults, and that is about 120 calories worth. That's why I wasn't concerned when the primal feeding calculator, plus their customer service, told me 130 calories a day total was enough for him. I still think he's getting a bit more, but isn't gaining weight.

Poor little guy is currently getting groomed. He got terrible mats from wearing the cone & then donut after being neutered. I suspect he's going to be shaven in some places


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## Moni (May 8, 2018)

My Louie - mini - 9 months - quite petite at 11 pounds. He is skinny but healthy and has a lot of spark.
He was driving me crazy with his picky eating - since I was also trying to feed him raw - those two really don't go together.
So I switched up my approach and let him eat at his own terms - he is free feeding now - he eats most of his food at the very end of the day (a first for me). In the morning he will not eat at all. He is eating Stella and Chewie most weekdays - and raw meals I put together on the weekend. We also do Primal once in a while - but he is not a fan..


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## mary2e (Jan 29, 2018)

Mine will eat anything I give him at 9pm ? I really would like him to eat earlier. 

I would free feed but after freeze dried is hydrated, you really can’t leave it out for more than 2 hours.


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

mary2e said:


> Thanks Twyla. Yours are little smaller than mine. Rod told me he feeds 1/4 cup of ToTW salmon for his adults, and that is about 120 calories worth. That's why I wasn't concerned when the primal feeding calculator, plus their customer service, told me 130 calories a day total was enough for him. I still think he's getting a bit more, but isn't gaining weight.
> 
> Poor little guy is currently getting groomed. He got terrible mats from wearing the cone & then donut after being neutered. I suspect he's going to be shaven in some places


Mary2e, only wee one is Leonard and he's 6 pounds at 16 months, Beatrice is 9 pounds and Pia is 8 pounds. Gilligan like Leonard is still growing, Len went through times he just didn't gain weight. 

I will admit the only picky eater is my pom/chi mix Gracie she's 13 1/2 yrs old, she would without food for 2 1/2 days minus snacks finally eating what was offered, I gave up recently because she wouldn't eat for almost 4 days at a time, I feed her Cesar little wet food trays now she loves the crap food. only because she's over 13 do I cater to her whims.

Every one else 15 mins to eat and are fed twice a day 1/8 cup of Health Extension Little bites Whitefish and Buffalo. they get a dab of peanut butter in their Kongs when I leave for work and some Salmon treats during their daily trick session.

Groom wise Lenny got a bit matted wearing his cone too.


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## Mysticrealm (Jan 31, 2016)

My 3.8 pound Pom was eating 2.5 primal freeze dried nuggets a day ( beef or lamb as those are the highest calories) to maintain weight. 3 nuggets to gain weight I think I was feeding. 
Primal recommends 1 nugget a day for my dogs weight but he would be a skeleton on that. He is intact. He does not get anything extra most days, a few tiny training treats on occasion.


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## mary2e (Jan 29, 2018)

twyla said:


> Mary2e, only wee one is Leonard and he's 6 pounds at 16 months, Beatrice is 9 pounds and Pia is 8 pounds. Gilligan like Leonard is still growing, Len went through times he just didn't gain weight.
> 
> I will admit the only picky eater is my pom/chi mix Gracie she's 13 1/2 yrs old, she would without food for 2 1/2 days minus snacks finally eating what was offered, I gave up recently because she wouldn't eat for almost 4 days at a time, I feed her Cesar little wet food trays now she loves the crap food. only because she's over 13 do I cater to her whims.
> 
> ...


I suspect he may be in a bit of a growth spurt because I've been giving him a little extra, and he's gobbling it up when he's hungry enough. This morning he asked for food, and I gave him some S&C mixers dry. It was a little less than half of what I would normally feed him for 1 meal. I'll give him the normal amount tonight.

Poor thing is practically bald around his neck and chest. His body was also cut pretty close because he had some mats there too. 

Thanks for everything.


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## mary2e (Jan 29, 2018)

Mysticrealm said:


> My 3.8 pound Pom was eating 2.5 primal freeze dried nuggets a day ( beef or lamb as those are the highest calories) to maintain weight. 3 nuggets to gain weight I think I was feeding.
> Primal recommends 1 nugget a day for my dogs weight but he would be a skeleton on that. He is intact. He does not get anything extra most days, a few tiny training treats on occasion.


I suspect my little guy lost a bit of weight because I was giving him around the Primal recommended calories. I've been giving him a bit more. I wrote them and asked if the recommended calories/nuggets per day included snacks and they said TOTAL calories per day, so their calculator assumes you're going to be giving treats as well. I wish they would put that on their website.

Primal says 2 beef or lamb nuggest a day for him and 3 for duck and most others. I find that odd, since the duck has almost the same number of calories as beef and lamb. 

S&C is weird... their patty volume seems to be greater than Primal but the calories are the same. I wonder if they're not adding other items to bring up the calorie number. If I were to give him 3 patties at a meal, his stomach may not hold it all  That's why I mix one of each type. 

Normally he doesn't eat much during the day, but since his neutering, I've been trying to "convince" him to have a couple of treats (milk bones) during the day.


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