Growth question...how fast is too fast?

There are different schools of thought about how fast is too fast, although I think pretty much everyone is in agreement that you don't want them to grow super fast. I followed the slow growth plan, which has a recommendation that a puppy gain no more than an average of 2 pounds a week. Here is a link from my puppy's breeder's website about the slow growth plan.
http://www.jrsgoldenangels.com/slowgrow.html
That said, obviously not everyone subscribes to this philosophy and it is on the low end of ideas about acceptable growth rates. It's something that I believe in, but it is not the only approach. Puppies can tend to have growth spurts, so I wouldn't worry about it too much unless this is the norm. 5 pounds a week is a lot. Also, people are used to seeing puppies that are overweight, so even if he doesn't look overweight to you, he might be. You should be able to feel his ribs very easily.

My vet has always said let them eat as much as they want (but within limits). I can't leave food out the entire time because my Basset gained 10 lbs with each puppy. A good momma dog cleans up after the babies--her excuse. Neither one of my Goldens was an overweight puppy, but I saw other Goldens that were younger than mine (at the time) and they were monster-sized. The owner thought they looked healthy; I thought too big too fast. My daughter's dog also got overweight because she followed the bag's recommended amount. She didn't consider lack of exercise as a factor when determining the amount of food.

I can definitely still feel his ribs easily, but you're right, 5lbs a week is a lot! I have been following the bag's recommended amount which was 2 1/2 cups a day, but now that he's 32lbs it says 3 1/4 cups a day. He gets excercise regularly, but maybe this is still too much?
I guess I'll just weigh him on my scale tonight, and keep track weekly and see if this was just a crazy growth spurt?

Hank had a big jump between 8 & 10 weeks (9 lbs.) but when he went at 13 weeks he had only gained 5 lbs.

The recommended amount on the bag is almost always too much. It is in the dog food company's interests for you to feed too much and keep buying more. I have heard vets as well as many on here agree that the bag amounts should not be followed. Metabolism varies from dog to dog. It is hard to give recommendations for a variety of metabolisms and exercise levels, so weight gain and feel/look of the body is generally the best thing to go by. Good luck!

Shadowboxer said:

I can definitely still feel his ribs easily, but you're right, 5lbs a week is a lot! I have been following the bag's recommended amount which was 2 1/2 cups a day, but now that he's 32lbs it says 3 1/4 cups a day. He gets excercise regularly, but maybe this is still too much?
I guess I'll just weigh him on my scale tonight, and keep track weekly and see if this was just a crazy growth spurt?

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2 1/2 cups a day sounds very reasonable.

I like to feed pups 3/4 of a cup 4x a day until 12 weeks, and then 1 cup 3 times a day or a little less- which seems inline with what your food says. With Tango and Finn, I had to feed a little more but with Tally, I had to feed a little less. 3/4 of a cup 3x a day was what Tally ate.

Wyatt grew pretty fast from 11.5 weeks to his last vet appt at about 21 weeks. I think his average gain every two weeks was 7-8 lbs. He had a huge growth spurt during that time, so he never appeared overweight--actually looked really lanky for a while. Now he's slowing down at a little over 5 months. We fed him the same amount as you at the beginning and the vet recommended switching to 1 cup 3x per day when we took him for his 12 week checkup.

He's going to be a big boy! I just had Bailey weighed yesterday and she weighs 37 pounds at 5 months and 3 weeks.

Bailey weighed 28 pounds 2 weeks ago and she usually gains 2 pounds a week. We feed her a cup (sometimes a little less) 3 times a day and of course she gets a lot of treats during the training sessions. She's due for weigh in and rabies shot next week, so I am curious to see how heavy she is.