How Much Food Should I Feed My Dog – A Brief Dog Feeding Guide

If you are a dog owner, one of the things that often bother you most is to how much food should I feed my dog? Well, giving your dog right kind and amount of food is precisely what you are looking for, right? But due to lack of knowledge you often fail to nurture your pets and instead feed them in a way that is rather harmful for their health. So let’s take a look at the dog feeding habits in detail.

Depending upon the specific breed, there are few dogs that continue to gobble their food even after their belly is full thereby building up fitness problems. Such dogs like Brittany spaniels or Golden Retrievers have a higher metabolic rate and usually carry more weight than others. Hence you need to worry about how much food should I feed my dog especially if you are unable to witness the ribs of your dog or if the uppermost part of the rear body is smooth, which means your dog has become weighty. On the contrary, some dogs only guzzle little amount of food. If the dog is in growing age, it will certainly gobble large amount of food as compare to grownups.

How Much Food Should I Feed My Dog

As far as question of how much food should I feed my dog is concerned, do not give a free hand to your dog. It’s because when you provide a bowl that is filled with food, your dog might not help himself stop eating it once he is satisfied. As a result, such dogs are more inclined to become obese counter to those having scheduled feeding. This is because you cannot actually ascertain the actual amount of food your dog is having on a daily basis.

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So always try to avoid free feeding your dog. Besides, as you shop around for dog food in the market you’ll come to know that every packet of food is normally accompanied with guidelines. These guiding principles are specifically written for that very food you’re buying. Depending upon your dog’s weight, they specify different amounts of food to dine. Thus read these instructions very carefully before giving the same to your dog.

Though cooking your dog’s food at home is the perfect way to feed your pet but it’s easier said than done. You can also choose from the 8 Best Dog Foods at The Doggypedia. What’s more, the real problem crops up when you don’t know how much food should I feed my dog since dogs cannot just break off their meal on their own.  Anyways, let’s have a look at how much food should I feed my dog according to the age patterns.

Feeding Patterns According To Age For How Much Food Should I Feed My Dog

For Puppies Less Than 8 Weeks

The babies must always stick to their mothers for at least four weeks after they are born because otherwise they might easily be prone to get diseases. That is primarily due to the lack of mother’s milk which is quite nourishing for their health. However as they turn up to four weeks, you may give them some hard substance to consume. For this, you may also mingle this solid diet with water or perhaps milk to make it smooth enough to eat.

For 8-Week-Old Puppies

If your puppy has reached eight weeks, you should try feeding him for almost four times daily. Unlike grownups, the dietary requirements of puppies are somewhat unusual and need correct quantity of calories, calcium and proteins in their diet. For this, just read the instructions written on the foodstuff and make it sure that meat is the first ingredient. Try giving your puppy Diamond Naturals Large Breed Lamb and Rice ($35) or Orijen Brand and the quantity ranges from 2 cups to 3 cups daily depending upon the puppy’s weight.

For Puppies More Than 8 Weeks

When your puppies turn up to more than eight weeks, just cut down the meal to 2 times per day only  and probably 3/4 of cup is fine.

For 6-Month-Old Puppies

This is the age where the teeth of puppies develop and they may turn into picky feeders. But do not curtail their food and give them healthy food for 2 times per day. Still if he doesn’t eat anything for about 2 days, seek advice from your vet. Try feeding your puppy with not more than 2 cups of branded food like Beneful.

For 1-Year-Old Puppies

A one-year-old puppy seems like a fully developed dog however it’s not. This stage is known as ‘maintenance period’ of a puppy. Even now he is a baby dog and you must continue to nourish him with nourishing food. There are some high quality food brands like Nature’s Logic, GO Natural, Solid Gold, Atemis Fresh Mix and so on that make healthy dog food for both puppies and parents. Anyways for a puppy reaching 8 or 9 months old or even 1 year old, you must feed him 2 times daily.

In order to find out how much food should I feed my dog, you need to look various things into account. We’ll here try to give you a rough idea regarding the amount of food you can provide but deviations from these rules are possible. So keep it in mind to read the instructions written on the label of every food packet and do not solely depend on the general guidelines. But these amounts can help you figure out the correct size and amount of food you want to give.

While feeding your dog, try to spread out the meal into 2 times per day instead of giving him at one time. Since puppies are at growing stages, so they need more nutritious food than adult dogs. Now slice up dry food into two equal sections and replace canned food having the same size as of dry food. In this way, you can feed your dog while you don’t have to change his meal instead he will have his food in both dry and wet form.

Let’s go through precisely how much food should I feed my dog so that he may digest his food completely without having stomach or other problems.

A Quick Guide To How Much Food Should I Feed My Dog

For Yorkshire Terrier, Toy Poodle, Chihuahua, Miniature Dachshund and weighing almost 10 to 11 lbs, take 3/4 cup (8 oz. cup) dry food and slice up into two equal sizes while replacing it with canned food of the same size. Typically for such breeds, the total amount of feeding ranges from 3 to 5 ounces.

For Scottish Terrier, Miniature Poodle and weighing 15 to 25 lbs, take almost 1 cup (8 oz, cup) of dry food and slice up into two equal sizes while replacing it with canned food of the same size. Typically for such breeds, the total amount of feeding ranges from 3.9 to 6 ounces.

For Springer and Cocker Spaniel breeds, Basset Hound, Beagle, Cavalier King Charles, Bull Terrier, Jack Russell, Brittany Spaniel and weighing 30 to 50 lbs, take almost 2 cups (8 oz. cup) and slice up into two equal sizes while replacing it with canned food of the same size. Typically for such breeds, the total amount of feeding ranges from 10 to 12 ounces.

For Golden Retriever, Labrador, Collie, Boxer, German Shepherd and weighing 55 to 75 lbs, take almost 2.5 cups (8 oz. cup) of dry food and slice up into two equal sizes while replacing it with canned food of the same size. Typically for such breeds, the total amount of feeding ranges from 16 to 18 ounces.

For St. Bernard, Great Dane, Mastiff, Pyrenees and weighing more than 75 lbs, take almost 4 cups (8 oz. cup) of dry food and slice up into two equal sizes while replacing it with canned food of the same size. Typically for such breeds, the total amount of feeding ranges from 24 to 30 ounces.

Final Tips For How Much Food Should I Feed My Dog

Last but not the least; it is not only the question of how much food should I feed my dog but there are few other considerations too to look for like:

Do not change the timing of your dog’s meal. If you feed your dog one hour later than the usual timing, it’ll disturb the bathroom timing of the pet.

Do not experiment too much with the brand name of your dog’s food. It is because the digestive system does not normally accept too many variations in meal and may result in diarrhoea or stomach problems.

Water must always be clean and fresh. Do not forget to replace the existing water with the new one with no less than 1 time on a daily basis. Also the bowls must be hygienic.

Do not feed your dog in large amounts.