Are you in the market for a puppy? Did you bring home your new furry friend? Is this the first time you’ve ever had a dog? Or is it your first time getting to know a dog breed?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you probably wondered how much to feed a puppy. How much dry food should they be having? And what’s the best schedule for providing them?
If you’re wondering how much to feed a puppy in the first two years of your puppy’s life, this article can help you figure out what you need to do.
How Many Times Should I be Feeding my Puppy Every Day?
Determining the number of times you should be feeding your puppy per day is essential for figuring out how much to feed a puppy. It doesn’t just matter the volume of the food your pup is eating; it also matters how that food is split up.
The younger your pup, the more frequently you should be feeding them. While adult dogs are typically fed about twice a day, puppies should be fed more frequently and in smaller amounts. The main reason for this is that smaller portion sizes are easier for puppy stomachs to digest.
For the first six to 12 weeks of your furry friend’s life, they should probably eat four times a day. This can be scheduled around your day, like when you plan to have meals or snacks. However, your dog must be introduced to some sort of regular schedule early on, so try to feed your pup at the same time every day.
By the time your pup is three to six months old, they should only be eating three times a day. So again, you should be maintaining a regular schedule. However, just because they’re eating less frequently doesn’t mean that you should be feeding them less overall food volume.
And by the time your puppy is between six and 12 months old, you should have narrowed down their feedings to only two per day.
How Many Cups of Food Should my Puppy Get?
According to Grange Co-op, this will vary based on both the weight and age of your pup. For example, a pup who is three pounds at eight weeks old should be eating a cup or more of food. But a dog who is eight months and the same weight could be eating as little as half of this amount.
Therefore, it might be helpful to search for guides on the internet that give more information, especially if the dog food you’ve purchased doesn’t come with more specific feeding instructions.
However, it should also be noted that some brands and variations of dog food will come with different feeding instructions. Some will even tell you what to do if you’ve set your dog a target weight goal. Of course, the amount you feed your pup will also depend on the breed and size of your dog.
Adding more complications to how much to feed a puppy, including portion sizes, could also depend on your furry friend as an individual. What I mean is that it’s essential to focus on your dog’s behavior around food.
How much to feed a puppy isn’t only dependent on how much food they do or don’t leave behind in their bowls. Instead, you should also be focusing on the overall health of your canine to make sure they’re getting the nutrients that they need to grow correctly.
Your dog’s appetite and metabolism may affect how much they’re interested in eating. Additionally, you may notice that your pup only picks at or avoids some meals, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to panic.
This could mean that you should reduce the number of times you’re feeding them every day or give them too much food in some or all of their meals.
How do I Keep my Puppy from Eating too Quickly?
Your puppy may have been bred and come out with a litter of puppies, which may incite their eating more quickly. If a puppy has many brothers and sisters, there’s generally less time to eat from the shared food supply provided to them, so your pup would have had to fight if this were the case.
You can purchase some bowls that dispense your pup’s food more slowly, meaning they wouldn’t have the same level of access to their food as they would in a completely open-facing bowl.
These slower dispensers can keep your furry friend from eating too quickly. If your canine friend is overeating food too fast, this could lead to some digestion issues and discomfort.
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