How much should I feed my dog?

1. Feed your puppy the same kind of food every day. Unlike humans, a dog's digestive system cannot handle changes in food. It can cause upset stomach and diarrhea.
2. When switching to a new food, gradually transition him to the new food by mixing portions of both foods until you slowly phase the old food out. Your puppy may experience diarrhea if his food is suddenly changed.
3. Feed your puppy at the same time every day.
4. Always have fresh drinking water available.
5. Keep food and water bowls clean.
6. Don't overfeed your puppy.
7. Follow the guidelines on the puppy food package for recommended feeding amounts.
8. Monitor your puppy's weight and activity level, and make feeding adjustments as necessary.
9. Don't be alarmed if your puppy's appetite changes. It is normal for your puppy to lose his appetite or experience digestive upset occasionally. If your puppy's upset stomach becomes severe or last longer than a day or two, contact your veterinarian.
10. If you are mixing water to dry food you should mix 4 parts dry food to 1 part water.

From http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/feeding.htm

Boarding Your Dog For The First Time

Boarding Your Dog For The First Time
From Krista Mifflin

Make It Easier For Both of You
The day has arrived, and you and your family (or just you) finally get to plan that trip you've been waiting for. Except for one small thing : you can't bring your dog with you, for whatever reason. A lot of dogs experience anxiety when they are boarded at a kennel, or even any place that's not home, for the first time. Their owners do too, and each feeds off the other's worry. These helpful hints will hopefully make this first-time a little less nerve-wracking and stressful.
If you need to vaccinate him before boarding, make sure you do so at least two weeks before he goes into the kennel. Not only will this be easier on your dog because he won't be feeling the effects of the vaccination at the same time as a stressful and situation (the kennel), but some vaccines need at least two weeks to take hold in your dog's system and be effective. Talk to your veterinarian about how much time each vaccine needs.
Try to be calm (hard, I know). While planning, packing, and on the day of departure, act as if it's nothing out of the ordinary.
Bring his favorite blanket, cushion, or if he hasn't one of his own, sacrifice a sweatshirt or something you wear frequently, unwashed, so it smells like you, to help him calm once you are gone.
Bring his own food, and his own dishes as well. Anything that came from home will help him adjust, minimizing the distressing changes.
Take any of his favorite toys with him; a Kong, a stuffed animal he likes to cuddle with, a squeaky cat, his brother.
Make sure you don't suddenly change his food on him, as the resulting stomach upset will just add to his distress.
Once you drop him off, leave. Do not drag out the good-byes, or make a fuss, or act like you are leaving for a week (even if you are). If you drop him off and make like he's just going for a play-date, he won't as stressed out, and your leave-taking will be much easier if you don't have deal with a freaked-out and screaming dog.
Be calm. One thing I've noted over time when boarding two dogs that are fairly close: mine prefer to share a kennel, rather than each have their separate rooms. Yours might like it better this way as well. Enjoy your vacation, and hopefully your dog will enjoy his at "Chez Puppy" or some other fun boarding kennel.

Healthy Breakfast for Your Dog (^o^)

Healthy Breakfast for Your DogHi, I'm Christie Shaver and I am the Healthy Pet Gourment, founder of The Healthy Pet Gourmet, for About.com Home. Today, I'm going to show you how to make a bugs-away breakfast for your pets. It's a simple meal that you can make to help keep fleas and other pests away from your pets during the summer. Healthy Dog Breakfast IngredientsTo make a bugs-away breakfast, you can use the same ingredients you might use to make a morning omelet:3 cups boiled potatoes 3 hard-boiled eggs 2 tablespoons tomato sauce (make sure there are no onions) 1 clove garlic 2 tablespoons sardines a few leaves of parsley 1/2 cup chicken stock To make chicken stock, I boiled some chickens, and the water that is left over is what I have here. You can also buy a chicken stock at your local grocery store; just make sure that it does not contain any onions. Add Vitamin and Mineral SupplementsIf you're going to make this more than an occasional meal for your pet, you do need to add vitamin and mineral supplements to make sure the diet is complete. Today for my dog hunter, we're going to be adding a multivitamin, a vegetable source vegetable calcium supplement, and vitamin C from dried cranberries. Now, I like to use powder form or liquid because they are more easily digestible than the ordinary tablet vitamins that pets can sometimes take. In order to make sure your pet is getting the right amount of vitamins and minerals, contact your veterinarian or someone like myself. Combine the Eggs and PotatoesI'm going to start by adding our hard-boiled eggs. I'm just going to chop them up. So once we have the eggs chopped up pretty well, you're going to want to add your boiled potatoes. You'll want to leave those skins on; the skins do have a lot of vitamins in them that we are going to want our dogs to have. Benefits of PotatoesA lot of people think that if their dog is suffering from diarrhea or other stomach problems, they should give them rice. But I am here to tell you that potatoes are a much better way to go. Potatoes bind much better in the stomach and will make the stool firmer than rice does, which is so easily digestible. Make the Parsley WaterThis is about all the parsley you're going to need. I've just pulled off a small amount from the bunch that I had and made sure to wash it. So we're going to add this 1/2 cup of chicken stock to our parsley to make what we will call a parsley water that we can put over the top of the rest of the meal. And this will give it a nice smooth texture. Some people call it parsley water, but you can call it whatever you like. All that matters is that we are able to really combine it and consolidate it really well. Benefits of ParsleyNow, you may be wondering why we're adding parsley to a diet for a dog, and I'll tell you it's because of the eggs. Now, eggs may be the most digestible of all proteins that our pets can eat, but just like for you and me, they can sometimes cause gas. So the parsley is going to help your pet prevent that, and it will also add a lot of vitamins to your dog's diet to help keep their immune system at its peak. Combine the Other IngredientsAll right, so that looks pretty good. Now, you're going to want to just grab one clove of garlic. Garlic is the reason this diet is so great to prevent fleas. They really don't like it. So now we're going to blend that up back with our parsley. I am also going to add the 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce that is onion-free. And I'm also going to go ahead and add the sardines. The reason they are so great is the Omega 3s and 6s that are in here really help keep your dog's skin and coat in the best condition. Add the SupplementsSo now that you've combined all the ingredients in the blender, you're ready to pour it over our mixture in the bowl. You are going to mix that thoroughly. Now you can stop here if you already have your pet on a great vitamin and supplement regimen. But like I said, to make this meal complete for my dog hunter today, I am going to be adding vitamin mineral supplement, calcium supplement, and vitamin C from cranberry. Serve Your Dog the BreakfastThis meal has about 730 calories, which is great for a dog that weighs about 30 pounds. My dog hunter only weighs about 15 pounds, so I'm not going to give her the full portion today. Thanks for watching. To learn more, visit us on the Web at homegarden.about.com.