Hi Guys, you may have read from my previous post that I feed my 9 month old pups 3 smaller meals a day

I am going to ry and change onto 2 larger meals a day on the advice I was given from Champdog members, 1 complete dry and 1 meat

However they are only small dogs, pug and cavalier and i'm worried the origjen will be too high in protein for them, at the moment I am giving them a small orijen breakfast, followed by science plan and then natures menu

Is there any other lower protein foods which are recommended for smaller dogs?

My Cavalier is hypoactive all of the time but I put that down to the breed

Now I am worried i'm not doing the best for my dogs, I walk them twice a day and money isn't a deal I just want what is best for them

My Pug does itch sometimes but not excessively but now i'm worried that this is becuase of Orijen from what I read in an otehr post

i have my two tibetan spaniels on arden grange adult chicken and rice,which is not specifically for small breeds and they do very well on it and my king charles(not cav) is on arden grange puppy which is smaller pieces and higher fat/protein and seems to agree with him.all also have tripe and/or lamb mince with their dry food and have had no problems at all with it.hope this offers some help,roy.

Food is often one thing that us dog owners beat ourselves up over!!  Is it enough, the right type, too cheap, too expensive?  It's also the one subject on CD that will split the vote...

The truth is that there is no absolute right answer.  What works for one dog, may not be right for another.  What is ok for one owner, doesn't work for another, and so on.

2 meals is sensible for your age of dog and I'd suggest you just concentrate on that bit for now.  You can save changing food til another date if you like - give yourself a bit more time for research perhaps, or to speak with your breeders (different ones presumably).  Also you can wait until you've finished some of the food before deciding. 

It worth considering that neither the behaviour or itching may be attributable to food.  Allergies are very common at this time of year - ask any hayfever sufferer!  Also you have two very young puppies being raised like litter mates - that's bound to ensure that mayhem ensues.  You're lucky only one of them is a bit hyper :) 

Just a thought - 2 walks a day for your pups sounds like a lot.  Remember that they still do not need too much formal exercise at this age.  5 mins per month of life is a very good rule.  At this stage it's probably more important that they are well socialised, and that they get enough one to one training with you.  If they become too attached to each other they'll tune you out.

>At this stage it's probably more important that they are well socialised, and that they get enough one to one training with you.  If they become too attached to each other they'll tune you out.

Definitely. At this young age at least one walk per day must be without the other one, to ensure you remain the important one, not not the other dog.

Thank you for all your comments and suggestions.

At the moment they are taken out in the morning 20 mins and then veening after meal times 20 minutes

Perhaps taking them out of the way of each other will help calm the hyper one down

I think i'll look into another complete food which I can alternate from day to day as one of their meals and continue with meat as their second

So many brands to choose from I will try and conduct some research first

Many thanks

Andrea