Where, When & How Much to Eat

Weaned puppies are capable of obtaining all of the nutrition that they need from a commercial pet food or well-formulated home made food. Selecting a good food for your puppy and establishing proper feeding habits will contribute to health and vitality throughout his life.

Where and When to Eat? Feeding Areas and Schedules

As soon as your puppy is settled into your home, introduce her to her eating place and begin her regular feeding schedule. If the food you choose for your puppy differs from the food she received during weaning, transition to the new food gradually over several days to prevent stomach upsets. Here are some feeding guidelines to follow:

Feed your puppy in the same place and at the same times, each day. If you plan to meal feed your puppy, allow her 15 to 20 minutes to consume her meal and then remove the dish. This will establish regular eating habits and will also aid with your puppy’s house training.

Always provide fresh water to your puppy in several areas of your home. Bowls should be cleaned and refilled daily.

If you are meal feeding your puppy, she should be fed at least three times daily until she is five to six months of age. After six months of age, twice a day feeding is recommended.

If you provide food to your puppy throughout the day, fresh food should be offered daily. Any food that remains in your puppy’s bowl after 24 hours should be discarded before cleaning and refilling the bowl.

How Much to Feed?

The feeding instructions on the dog food package provide general guidelines that will help you to estimate an initial volume of food to offer to your puppy. Divide that amount by the number of meals per day to calculate the volume per meal. Here are some helpful tips for monitoring your puppy’s daily intake:

Begin to teach good mealtime manners as soon as your puppy arrives home. Prior to placing your puppy’s bowl in front of him, take a piece of kibble from his bowl and hold it slightly elevated above him as you quietly ask him to “sit”. Most puppies will naturally sit as they reach up towards the food. Reward him with the food piece as he sits, and place his bowl in front of him. As your puppy learns to sit on command, always require that he sits quietly immediately before he is fed.

Allow your puppy 10 to 15 minutes to eat. Any food that is not eaten within that time should be taken up. Offer food again later in the day, noting the amount that is fed and whether or not your puppy leaves some of the food.

After a few days, you should be able to determine an approximate quantity that your puppy requires to maintain a normal body condition. This usually entails slightly increasing or decreasing the recommended amount on the package guidelines.

As your puppy grows, the total amount of food that she needs each day will gradually increase until she is mature. Her energy needs will stabilize and then decrease slightly once she is an adult.

Provide a quantity of food that supports growth and muscle tone, but does not cause your puppy to be overweight. When in proper body condition, your puppy’s ribs should not be visible, but should be easily felt.