How Much Food Does A Puppy Eat
Toy breed puppies will need 4 to 6 meals per day for the first three months of their lives.
How much food does a puppy eat. Take your dog s lifestyle into account. Many food manufacturers provide similar dietary charts on the bag of food or on their website. The easiest way to remember how much to feed a puppy is to create a puppy feeding chart that matches your puppy s breed and weight at maturity. How much to feed a puppy and how often to feed a puppy depends first and foremost on his age.
Large breeds should be fed unmoistened dry food by 9 or 10. Puppies may need to eat three times a day or even more frequently depending on their size and age. To do this select a brand of puppy food consider asking your vet for any recommendations. To get the puppies off to the best possible start feed them the high quality puppy food recommended by your vet.
It s based upon a study published by the respected waltham centre for pet nutriton in leicestershire england. In general one three ounce can of wet food has ninety calories and equals approximately a quarter cup of dry food. Most adult dogs should eat two meals a day and puppies often require three or more feedings so you ll need to divide the amount in the table by the number of meals you are offering. If your vet helps you decide that your dog should eat 2 cups of a particular food per day and you want to feed two meals per day portion that out to 1 cup in the morning and 1 cup in the afternoon.
For optimal nutrition choose food with an american association of feed control officials certification on the label also look for puppy foods with high levels of the omega 3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid which is critical for brain and eye development. Medium breed puppies will require three meals per day and large breed puppies typically need 3 to 4. The frequency of feeding puppies goes down to 3 times per day at around 3 to 6 months of age and 2 times per day at around 6 to 12 months. 1 to use the calculator you ll need to know your dog s ideal weight this is what you believe your pet should weigh.
You can find specific information on purina dry and wet puppy foods on the package or can or on the brand websites. Feeding adult food will rob your puppy of important nutrients. Very young puppies need to eat a high quality puppy food diet approximately 3 to 4 times per day. Four feedings a day are usually adequate to meet nutritional demands.
You ll also need to know the number of calories in the specific dog.