My Border Collie is 11 months old and a bit small for her size due to being mistreated by the person she was rescued from. She does not eat very much at all. I give her one cup of high quality dry food (Purina Pro Plan Selects for puppy) with a small scoop of wet food (Newman’s Own Organic dog food) every night and she usually only eats a small portion of it. She weighs 30lbs. How much SHOULD she be eating?
Matthew
Comments
That’s not normal. Have you taken her to the vet yet? It sounds like she might have an injury of some kind, or perhaps an illness. Scared or not, dogs still eat.
i have a border collie, and she has never been the type to eat alot, maybe its just the type of bread or something? .. i’ve always wondered that though i always felt like i was starving my dog or something hahah!
This is not normal, get her to a vet as soon as you can. Also, give her some in the morning as well, not just at night.
You can look on the back of your dog food bag, it usually says how much your dog should be eating next to the wieght. If not, I would contact your vet, although some dogs just don’t eat as much as others, its better to be safe 
My 40# aussie eats 2 cups a day, half in morning and other half at night.
While 30 lbs is small for a BC, it certainly is not unusual for the smaller dogs of the breed to be in that range. I have a friend who has a male that is only 32 lbs, but he is fit and healthy and herds sheep every day. Some BCs are smaller. While I understand your concerns from this dog not being in a good home, but I highly doubt the dog is small due to the previous home. I think the dog is just one of the smaller of the breed.
I would read your food bag, see what it suggests for your dogs weight, age and activity level, and then discuss this with your vet. It might be that you will need to step up to a higher protein food so that your dog is getting more from her smaller meal choices.
My BC isn’t the best of eaters either. Sometimes, I think it is the breed in general. I know of a few BCs that are like this actually. My friend adds cottage cheez to her dogs food to increase appetite and it seems to help. For my girl, it seems to be enough that I add warm water, just enough to cover her food that helps.
First of all, don’t ever go by the guidelines on a dog food bag. Those are meant to sell dog food. Most of them are way over what a dog should eat to be a healthy weight. I have had BCs for 21 years. I stop feeding straight puppy food at about 16 weeks of age to keep the puppy’s growth rate slow and steady. You may want to consider giving her half adult/half puppy for the dry. I feed twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. She may not be able to eat all of what you are giving her at one time. It’s better for them to eat more than just once a day. Two of my adult males and my adult female (18 tall, 30 lbs.) eat 2/3 cup with a T. of canned 2x a day. My other adult male eats 1 cup in the AM and 1/2 cup in the PM with canned. They are all very active and maintain a healthy weight very easily. I feed Prairie Nature’s Variety dry kibble, Merrick and Eagle canned. I hope this helps!
