How Much should i Feed my Dog ?
How much food should you give to your dog or your Pupp and how many times a day?
An adult dog eats once or twice a day, while a growing puppy can easily claim his portion of food up to 5 or 6 times a day.
The amount of food to feed your dog will depend on four factors:
1- Your dog’s breed , size and weight
2- The age of your dog
3- His physical activity and habits
4- The quality of the food you give him/her
My name is Samy, and I will enlighten you on this subject, which is very important because over or under feeding your dog could be the cause of many problems and diseases, here are some reasons that will dissuade you from feeding your dog or puppy anyhow:
Not only will your dog go through the garbage, or even the neighbor’s garbage if you don’t feed him properly, but he will also face a lot of other problems, here are a few of them:
A malnourished puppy will have growth problems, or even malformation.
A malnourished adult dog or a dog with reduced portions will lack muscle mass, energy and reduced immunity which will predispose him to fall sick more often, not to mention his coat will become dull and lose its shine …etc
An overfed dog will first of all become obese which will predispose him to several diseases …
You will find towards the end of the article a table that you can refer to to define and calculate how much food to give your dog according to his age, breed, size and especially on how many meals to divide this amount of food throughout the day.
The Puppy Weaning Period
When your puppy is between 6 weeks and two months old, you can start adding some kibble to his food after the feeding.
Preferably good quality puppy kibble, and adapted to his breed for optimal growth.
If the transition is difficult, you can initially wet the kibbles with milk.
Let’s start now with:
The number of meals a day
1- For a Puppy:
7 months will be enough for a puppy’s stomach to reach its initial development.
A puppy between 5 weeks and 3 months old will need to be fed 4 to 5 times a day.
From 3 months to 5 months, you will reduce the number of daily meals for the puppy to only 3 meals.
From 5 or more months, you will limit the number of daily portions you give your dog to only two if he is active and only one meal if he spends most of the day lying on the living room bench, keep the largest portion for the evening meal just before dark.
2- The number of daily meals for an adult dog
Only one meal a day is recommended for an adult dog, small or medium size.
You can divide this meal into two portions, i.e. two meals per day if your dog is of a large breed, this practice will prevent him from twisting his stomach.
An adult dog is always nourished one hour before or after a physical effort, or its daily training sessions, if you give him two meals (portions) per day, so that the evening portion will be twice as big as the evening portion.
How much food for my dog ?
The quantity of food to be given to your dog is generally indicated on the packaging of its croquettes or its industrial food.
I would say that you must respect the quantity indicated on the label, even give a little less food than what is recommended, especially if you are used to give your dog treats between meals, if he follows training sessions for example.
If you make your own dog food for your dog, you should know that the recommended amount of food is generally equivalent to 2 or 3% of your dog’s total weight, but I advise you to calculate the total calories of the ingredients you use in the preparation of these meals; otherwise, watch the weight of your Pooch and reduce the amount of food if you see that he tends to gain weight a little too quickly.
You should also reduce the portion sizes if your dog has been going all day without really exercising.
Dog Feeding Guide
Here is a table that will serve as a guide to calculate the amount of food to give your dog according to his age and size.
The Cups , are the Standard 8 OZ ones , You should also consider feeding two or three times this amount if you have a growing puppy.
You should normally find indications on the packaging of his food.
If you feed your dog with The Fresh Cooked dog food that I recommend, you will have a detailed guide and portions specially made for your dog for the whole week.
A dog’s daily nutritional requirements:
Normally, and contrary to human habits, a dog controls its own food intake.
If your dog is not suffering from an eating disorder, he will never finish his ration if it is too generous, which will give you an idea of the exact amount of food he needs.
- Nutritional requirements are twice as high in a puppy as in an adult dog.
- A small breed dog can also expend more energy in a day than a large breed dog that has spent the day in front of the TV…
- The same goes for a working dog, like a guard or hunting dog or only if your dog spends most of the day running around outside or in the park…
- If you live in Alaska for example, you will have to increase your dog’s ration, the amount of fat and the number of meals per day especially during the winter season…
- Whereas if you live in California, you will have to reduce your dog’s ration for example during the summer, especially in the middle of a heat wave and give your Pooch water at will.
To sum up; a dog that does not suffer from obesity, will need about 750 Kcal per day while an obese or inactive dog should only have between 350 and 400 Kcal per day.
Here’s a Calorie Calculator ( see it here : https://vetcalculators.com/calories.html ); that will give you an idea of how much food your dog will need to meet his daily needs.
Final Thoughts
Usually, we recognize a dog with an ideal weight with the following test:
His ribs don’t appear when you look at him, but if you press just a little bit with your fingers on his side, you’ll feel them.
And if you need to press too much to feel your dog’s ribs, know that he is overweight and you must reduce the amount of food you give him.
