How Much Food Does My Dog Need

How Often Should You Feed A Large

Giant breed dogs usually need to consume more calories to maintain weight. But you dont want to overfeed at a single meal because this can increase the risk of GDV/bloat. For this reason, meals are spread out to two or three per day. Typically I do not recommend feeding more than 2.53 cups per feeding.

How Do You Make Homemade Dog Food

But A Far More Important Factor To Determine Is Your Dogs Current Weight

Activity level is worth considering, but its not something to get too hung up on.Most dogs fall with the inactive or average categories. In these scenarios, starting with 2% of their body weight is a good course of action. If you believe your dog is more active, consider bumping their starting percentage up to 2.5 3% of their body weight.

Where Does Your Dog Fall?

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How Much Food Does A Dog Really Need

It seems not many a day goes by where were not hearing more about the rise and rise of obesity. Sadly, our pets are also widening around the girth.

It is of course easy to control the amount of food your dog is eating and it is essential that you gauge your dogs weight on a regular basis to ensure that it doesnt get obese.

Homemade Dog Food Serving Size In Cups

In making your own dog food, you might be wondering how much homemade dog food serving size in cups would be better.

Get yourself a set of measuring cups for homemade food for dogs. Something like this is what I also use.

For most of my homemade dog food recipes, I typically include serving sizes in the article.

I generally recommend feeding the below amount:

1/2-3/4 of a cup of food for every 25 pounds of body weight

While this doesn’t seem like a lot, you need to remember that a well-balanced homemade food meal is much more nutrient-dense than most commercial diets.

When you make homemade dog food, ideally, you’re using high-quality, whole-food ingredients rich in protein and moderate fat, carbohydrates, and vitamins.

On the other hand, commercial dog food brands are processed and contain fillers that are only added to the recipe to make your pet feel like they’ve had enough to eat.

Thankfully, homemade dog food does not include these types of ingredients .

This type of feeding is also better for your dog’s digestive tract and digestion and will reduce the amount of stool a dog creates.

It’s a win for you and the dog.

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Read Dr Kristy Conns Advice:

Congratulations on your newest four-legged addition to your family. I understand the excitement and trepidation that comes with bringing home a furry ball of joy. You want to do right by her and that includes making sure she is getting the correct amount of nutrition. This is a popular time of year for bringing home puppies so Id like to take the opportunity to review basic puppy feeding guidelines for the first year of life while covering your question which may also answer any future questions you or other readers may have.

Step : Special Considerations For Life Stages

Puppies:

Feeding puppies raw food isnt any more difficult. The only thing you need to keep in mind is theyll eat more than adults to fuel their rapidly growing bodies.When can you start puppies on raw?Immediately.Many raw-fed breeders wean their puppies directly onto raw from their mothers milk. You can begin feeding raw the day you bring your puppy home.How much should you feed?There are two options to use to determine quantity:

Feed 2-3% of expected adult weight.Granted, this is easier to figure out with purebred puppies than mixed breeds. But if you have a good idea of how much your dog should weigh, feel free to go this route.

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Move On From Puppy Food

Puppy food is very high in calories and nutritional supplements so you want to switch to adult food once your puppy begins to approach maturity. There is no set age when the switch should be made because it will vary with the breed and individual dog.

In general, the smaller the dog the faster they reach maturity. Small breeds up to 30 pounds mature around ten to twelve months of age although some toy breeds reach maturity even sooner. Medium breed dogs up to 80 pounds will reach maturity between twelve to sixteen months and I believe your puppy may fall into this category. It really depends how much Great Pyrenees she has in her. Large breed dogs weighing more than 80 pounds can take up to two years to reach maturity.

When making the switch to adult food, do it slowly over the course of one to two weeks by gradually mixing in increasing amounts of the adult food with decreasing amounts of her puppy food to minimize gastric upset.

The Importance Of Balanced Homemade Recipes

Not all homemade dog food recipes will provide all of the nutrients that your dog needs, which is exactly what you need to work with an expert to figure out your individual dog’s specific nutritional needs and how best to meet those needs.

In a recent study, researchers tested 200 homemade dog food recipes, many of which were written by veterinarians.

They found that only 9 of them provided all of the essential nutrients in the right concentrations to meet the minimum standards set for dogs by the Association of American Feed Control Officials .

Only 5 of the recipes provided the essential nutrients in the right concentrations to meet the National Research Councils minimum requirements for adult dogs.

This doesn’t mean that recipes are bad most of them can hardly reach those nutritional needs without adding too many calories.

It means that you need to add supplements to your homemade dog food meals to make them balanced.

You will choose some of those specifically for a dog’s breed or health condition.

For example, if your pet is predisposed to hip and joint issues, you may need to include a joint supplement.

Most common supplements recommended to add to homemade dog food recipes include multivitamin supplements, hip, and joint supplements, omega-3 fatty acids , Vitamin A & E, calcium, and extra protein supplements.

Some good examples include the below:

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Why You Need To Know The Exact Serving Size Of Food

You may be wondering why you even need to figure out the right homemade dog food serving size in cups for your pet. Some pet owners assume that they can watch a dog’s weight and make sure they’re not gaining or losing.

This doesn’t seem right.

The consequences of feeding a dog too much or too little food are obvious. When overfeeding on calories, your dog will become obese, which then could lead to a slew of other health conditions: diabetes, joint problems, certain types of cancer, and heart and respiratory issues.

Feeding a dog too much food can also lead to vitamin toxicity. In such cases, too much of a good thing could be very bad.

For example, some of the most common vitamin toxicity cases are related to Vitamin A, which can cause bone spurs, lethargy, constipation, stiffness, and limping in dogs, and Vitamin D, which can lead to vomiting blood, seizures, muscle tremors, and abdominal pain in dogs.

At the same time, if you’re not feeding your dogs enough essential nutrients, they’ll be at risk of nutrient deficiency and becoming malnourished.

When you haven’t figured out the exact serving size of homemade dog food and do not realize a dog isn’t getting all of the essential nutrients, it will become weak, and a dog’s organs will start failing.

In the end, nutrient deficiency will lead to death if it’s not corrected in time.

Recommended Serving Size For Homemade Dog Food:

The amount of homemade dog food that your dog will require is dependent upon how much your dog weighs and how active he or she is. This amount varies from dog to dog. I suggest talking to your vet and getting their advice on a good starting point.

You can also monitor your dog to make sure they are maintaining their weight and staying happy and active.

This recipe makes about six cups of food, which is three days worth of food for Charlie who is about forty-five pounds. You can easily adjust this amount based on the weight of your dog. Also, feel free to scale this recipe up and double or even triple it, if you wanted to cook less often.

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How The Dog Food Calculator Works

First, the calculator estimates what is known as the Resting Energy Requirement of your Dog.

The RER is the amount of energy that your Dog needs when it is `resting`, that is when doing nothing. The calculator uses the current weight of your Dog to calculate your Dog`s resting energy.

Next, the calculator scales up the resting energy by a factor that corresponds to your Dog`s life stage and lifestyle . This scaled up energy value is the energy that your Dog needs to maintain its life when not resting.

Finally, the Dog food calculator divides the maintenance energy by the amount of energy in one cup of dog food to calculate how many cups of dog food your Dog needs.

How Much Raw Meat Does A Dog Need Per Day

For adult dogs, we would recommend splitting your dog’s daily intake into two meals. Doing this will be better for their digestion and also will reduce the probability of bloating in larger breeds. Doing this can also avoid your dog asking for more food between meals.

During their fast development stage, puppies consume nearly the same quantity of food as adult dogs. They burn more calories than adults yet have smaller stomachs. Hence, you’ll need to feed your puppy in smaller quantities many times a day.

Calculate the entire daily amount as usual, but divide it into numerous meals. When it comes to how often to feed a puppy, 3 to 4 meals a day is optimum.

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Faqs About Dog Feeding Guidelines

How often should I feed my dog?

• Puppies should be fed 4 meals a day, bringing this down to 3 meals a day at the age of 4 months until your pup is 6 months. It is important that the puppy is fed a diet designed for its age and breed size. There are diets specifically designed for puppies and young dogs which will ensure the growing dog receives the nutrition required for healthy growth and bone development. Browse our puppy food here.

• For dogs of 12 months or older, feed 1-2 times a day. Small breeds burn energy quicker than large breeds and should be fed 2-3 small meals a day. Little and often is key! Browse our adult & senior dog foods here.

Feeding Tips:

How much should I feed my dog?

Choose a high-quality dog food like our grain-free Canine Choiceand look at the recommendations on the label. Most high-quality dog foods recommend approximately 1-1/2 cups per 10kg of body weight per day for smaller breeds, since they require 15-25% more calories per pound than larger breeds. Large and giant breeds are more often fed 1 cup per 10kg.

You must also consider the following, and adjust the food amount accordingly:

• Actual calorie content of the food, current weight and projected target weight if necessary

• The activity level of your dog, low/moderate etc

• Other environmental variables

• Any additional calories from treats or table foods

• Does the amount to be fed in the feeding guidelines pertain to each meal or the daily amount?

How should I determine what to feed my dog?

What Happens If I Feed My Dog Too Much

Simply put: Your dog gets overweight. You may think to yourself, “Well, there’s just more of him to love.” And that may be true, but those extra pounds are not good for his health. If your dog eats too many calories every day, he may end up obesewhich means he could suffer from the related health issues that come with that condition, such as osteoarthritis, congestive heart failure, labored breathing, Cushing’s disease, skin disorders, some cancers, a shortened life span, and a reduced quality of life.

Shockingly, more than 50 percent of dogs in the U.S. are overweight, according to the Cummings Veterinary Medical Center at Tufts University. So relying on the dog food bag’s feeding directions or letting your pup eat as much as he wants are probably not good approaches if you want to keep your dog healthy and active for as long as possible.

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How To Measure The Right Amount Of Dog Food For Your Dog

Research has shown that most owners over-measure a cup of dog food. As a result, most dogs owners overfeed their dogs. This is because dog owners do not level off the cup when measuring out the food they give to their dogs.

See how and how not to measure ONE cup of dry dog food in the picture below:

Note that one cup of dog food equals 8 oz of dog food or ~237 milliliters of dog food.

How Often And How Much Should You Feed A Puppy

iStock/ChristopherBernard

Puppies nutritional needs are of course different from an adult or even adolescent dog. For starters, they often eat more times a day than adult dogs. Depending on your puppys breed and age, she may eat up to four meals per day or two to three times the amount of an adult dog.

AKC recommends a method called watch the dog, not the dish. Giving puppies a schedule for their meals, and then taking away any leftover food 10-20 minutes after a meal is served, helps to establish good eating habits.

This method will help you to learn how much your puppy needs and helps your pup to establish good habits, as in: if youre hungry, eat!

If a puppy misses out by not eating enough at one meal, their hunger will help them finish their meal at the next feeding and learn to eat when the food is available. And because they have frequent meals, they wont go hungry for long.

How much your puppy eats is also dependent on her breed size:

• Toy and Small Breeds: 4-6 meals per day
• Medium Breeds: 3 meals per day
• Large Breeds: 3-4 meals per day

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Health Problems From Overfeeding Dogs

There are an increasing number of dogs suffering from this disease and in most cases this could have been avoided through the correct nutrition and monitoring the amount of food the dog has been eating.

Having a dog with diabetes will necessitate the injection of insulin or in some cases taking of pills to assist in the maintenance of the correct sugar levels in their blood.

Obviously this involves additional expense and inconvenience and there is also a danger that should the insulin level be incorrect your pet could die. All of this from simply giving them too much food? You bet!

Dog Feeding Schedule: How Much And How Often

DogFeeding Schedule: How Much and How Often?

The best way to keep your dog in good healthis feeding them the right amount of dog food daily. But many owners are leftwondering How much should I feed my dog? Feeding your dog toolittle can lead to lack of nutrition while over feeding can lead to obesity. Sohow much is the right amount to feed your dog?

Feeding Guidelines

The basic guidelines are normally on the backof your dog food bag. The feeding guide looks something like this:

This is a general feeding guide that you willsee on most dog food bags. These feeding guides should not be the only thingthat you base your dogs food intake. Owners should take into consideration ontheir individual dog. There is no such thing as an universal feeding guide.Your dogs age, weight and his activity levels also influences how much and howoften you should feed your dog.

Daily Feeding Frequently and Amount

-Puppies are growing and need all the nutrientsthey can get to grow healthy and strong. Because of this, it is normallyrecommended for them to eat twice as much as the serving size for adult dogs.

Puppies should be fed three to five times aday. This is because puppies have an abundance amount of energythey will burnoff a lot of calories throughout the day requiring them to need more fuel.

-Adult dogs and senior dogs should be fed twotimes daily.

-Lactating dogs should be fed three equalmeals a day.

Best Way to Starting a Feeding Schedule

Tips and Tools

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How Much Should I Be Feeding My Dog

Check the recommended feeding guidelines

Each pet food product has individual feeding guides based on the weight of your dog as well as the calories provided by the food. This should be used as the starting point for estimating how much food to offer your dog. These feeding guides have been carefully calculated, but as the name suggests, they are simply a guide and the exact amount fed must be tailored to your pets individual exercise requirements.

Different dietary formats have different energy densities, so it is important to weigh food and not estimate the quantity. Also remember that these feeding guides are determined based on daily servings so if youre feeding your dog multiple times a day, remember to divide the amount of food you feed them each time accordingly.

Consider your dogs unique characteristics

Factors including your dogs size, breed, age and weight will determine how much your dog should be fed. Certain breeds, such as Kelpies and Australian Cattle Dogs have higher energy levels than Bansenjis and Chow Chows. This will impact the amount of food and calories these breeds should eat every day. Similarly, a toy breed, such as a Yorkshire Terrier will eat much less than a giant breed, such as a Saint Bernard. These factors should be taken into account when you select the type of dog food, but also when you work out the right amount for your dog.