How much should I feed a Labrador? Feeding chart and portion guide

If you've ever stood in the kitchen holding a scoop while a Labrador stares at you, making it very clear they haven't eaten in weeks, you're in good company. Labradors have a reputation for being hungry, and it turns out that reputation is earned.

Working out the right amount feels like it should take two minutes. The bag gives you one number, your breeder gives you another, and your dog's position is that all of them are too small. So let's go through it properly: how much a Labrador needs at different weights and ages, which food makes the most sense for a dog this size, and how to tell whether you've got it right.

How much food does a Labrador need?

A fully grown Labrador is a medium-to-large dog. Most settle between 25kg and 36kg once they've finished filling out, with females generally lighter than males, and working-line dogs often leaner than show-line ones of the same height.

As a starting point, an adult Labrador of average size on a moderate amount of exercise (roughly an hour a day) will usually need somewhere between 390g and 475g of dry food daily, split across one or two meals.

We can't give exact gram-by-gram amounts here, and we'd never pretend to. The right number depends on which food you're using, because different recipes pack different amounts of energy into each gram. It depends just as much on your own dog: how much they move, whether they've been neutered, their age, and the weight they're starting from. What we can do is give you a framework, then show you how to check it against the dog in front of you.

Whatever dog you have, it's always best to weigh their food. Scoops and cups can be inaccurate, as kibble can vary slightly from batch to batch. A quick measure on the kitchen scales helps ensure your dog gets the right amount at every mealtime.

Labrador feeding chart by weight

The chart below is a general guide to daily dry food for an adult Labrador, based on ideal body weight rather than current weight. If your dog is carrying a bit extra, feed to the weight they should be, not the weight they are.

These figures assume a low to moderate exercise routine of around an hour a day. Always cross-reference with the feeding guide on your own food's packaging.

These are daily totals, not per-meal amounts, so divide by however many meals your dog is having. The ranges are wide on purpose - a Labrador who spends the weekend swimming and a Labrador who spends it on the sofa won't need the same food at the same weight.

If you're feeding wet and dry together, reduce both, so you're not doubling up. As a rough guide, 100g of wet food replaces around 25g to 30g of dry food, though this varies between recipes, so check both packs and weigh what you serve.

The food you choose changes the number

This is the part most feeding charts skip, and it's the reason two Labradors of identical weight can be on quite different portions.

Energy density varies between recipes. A food with more freshly prepared meat and fish ingredients and a higher fat content delivers more calories per gram, so your dog needs less of it by weight. A less energy-dense food needs a bigger bowl to reach the same place. Neither is better; they just land in different spots on the chart.

Which is why the number that actually matters is the one for the food in your cupboard, not a general average. Every recipe page on our site has a feeding calculator built in: pick a recipe from our dry dog food range, pop in your dog's age, weight and activity level, and you'll get the amount for that specific food.

For most adult Labradors, a complete dry dog food fed in the right portions is a great place to start. Our core dry recipes are made with freshly prepared meat and fish ingredients as the number one ingredient, with no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives, and they're developed alongside our in-house pet nutritionists. As a rough guide, feeding an average 28kg Labrador on a large bag of Harringtons dry food works out at around £1 a day, depending on the recipe and how much your dog needs to eat. It's a useful benchmark when comparing different foods.

Labrador puppy feeding chart by age

Puppies are fed on the weight you expect them to reach as an adult, not the weight they are today. That catches a lot of new owners out, because it means your 12-week-old is eating a surprising amount for something that still fits in a laundry basket. It makes sense when you think about it: they're building bone, muscle and organ tissue at a pace they'll never match again, and doing it on top of running about all day.

For most Labradors, that means feeding towards a target of around 28kg to 30kg from the start.

Amounts climb through the main growth phase and then come back down once your dog reaches adulthood. That's normal, and it isn't a sign anything has gone wrong. Growth is expensive; maintenance isn't.

The amount depends on what you're feeding here too. Recipes made for puppies are more calorie- and nutrient-dense than adult ones, so you feed less of them to reach the same target. Feed an adult recipe to a puppy, and you'd have to feed noticeably more of it - which is one reason we'd point you towards a food made for puppies through that first year. Our puppy food includes carefully made hypoallergenic recipes if your pup seems sensitive to change.

Getting the calcium and phosphorus balance right matters for a dog this size. The FEDIAF nutritional guidelines set upper limits on calcium in food made for larger-breed puppies, because too much during rapid growth may affect how the skeleton develops. A complete puppy food handles that balance for you.

Puppies under eight weeks shouldn't be working from a chart at all. Have a word with your breeder, or get in touch with our customer services team and we'll talk it through.

How often should you feed a Labrador?

Smaller, more frequent meals suit puppies. Adults do well on fewer.

8 weeks to 3 months: three or four small meals, spaced fairly evenly through the day.

3 to 6 months: three meals. Most puppies start leaving food at one of them around this age, which is usually your cue to drop down.

6 to 12 months: three meals still works while they're growing, though plenty of owners move to two around this point.

Adult: one or two meals. Two is what we'd lean towards for this breed.

That last point needs a bit of explaining. Splitting the day's food across two meals shortens the gap between them, and with a Labrador that can make a real difference to how settled they are between meals - and to how interested they are in the kitchen bin.

Try to keep mealtimes roughly consistent. Dogs like a routine, and a predictable feeding pattern tends to make everything else easier, house training included.

Why Labradors are so often hungry

If it feels like your Labrador thinks about food more than other dogs do, there's some real science behind that.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge found a deletion in a gene called POMC, which is involved in appetite regulation, in a large share of Labradors. It was first reported in Cell Metabolism in 2016, and a follow-up study published in Science Advances in March 2024 described a double effect: affected dogs seem to feel hungrier between meals, and they appear to burn around 25% fewer calories at rest than dogs without it.

Around one in four Labradors carries it. In flatcoated retrievers, it's closer to two in three.

Two things follow, and both are useful to know.

The first is that a Labrador asking for food is not necessarily a Labrador who needs food. In the Cambridge work, dogs carrying the variant tried noticeably harder to get at food - but when given unlimited access, they didn't actually eat more than dogs without it. The drive was stronger than the need.

The second is that some Labradors may do better towards the lower end of any feeding guide rather than the higher end. If your dog is gaining weight on the amount the chart suggests, despite a normal amount of exercise, that's information about your dog rather than a fault in the chart.

It's also why treats deserve some thought with this breed. WSAVA guidance is that treats should make up no more than 10% of a dog's daily calories, and whatever you hand out should come off the meal rather than sit on top of it. A couple of dental chews, a few training rewards and a corner of toast add up faster than you'd expect. Using a small handful of their own kibble for training is a simple way round it - your dog won't mind, and you won't have to recalculate anything.

How to tell if you're feeding the right amount

The chart is a starting point. Your dog is the actual answer.

Three checks, done once a month, will tell you most of what you need to know.

Ribs. Run your hands along your dog's side. You want to feel the ribs easily under a thin covering, rather than having to press to find them.

Waist from above. Looking down, there should be a visible narrowing behind the ribcage.

Tuck from the side. The belly should slope up from the ribcage towards the hind legs rather than running straight across.

The PDSA's body condition score guide has photographs that make this much easier to judge at home, and it's a quick thing to do while you're giving them a fuss.

Alongside that, keep an eye on energy levels, coat condition and firm stools. Weigh your dog now and then too - most vet practices are happy for you to pop in and use their scales, and a run of numbers over a few months tells you far more than any single weigh-in.

If your dog needs to lose or gain weight, that's a conversation to have with your vet rather than something to work out from a chart. They'll assess body condition properly, rule out anything medical, and set a rate of change that's safe. For a Labrador carrying a significant amount of extra weight, ongoing veterinary support makes a real difference - and it's a common enough situation that no vet will be surprised by the question. A quick chat with your vet can help put your mind at ease.

Which food to choose for a Labrador

Labradors don't usually need a specialised diet. As a food-loving medium-to-large breed, most do very well on a complete adult dog food fed in the right portions. In many cases, getting the basics right and feeding consistently is more important than looking for a particular ingredient.

For most adult Labradors: one of our core dry dog food recipes. Rich in Lamb & Rice and Rich in Turkey & Veg both come in a 15kg bag, which is the size that makes day-to-day sense for a dog eating this much. Freshly prepared meat and fish ingredients first, no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives, and honestly priced for something you're buying every month.

If your dog has a sensitive tummy or itchy skin: our Just 6 recipes cut the ingredient list back to six key ingredients, which makes it far easier to work out what your dog is reacting to. It isn't a better food than our core recipes - it's built for a different job. Some dogs simply do better on something simple. True food allergies in dogs are rarer than people assume, somewhere in the region of 0.2% to 2%, but sensitivities are more common, and a short list of ingredients gives you a clean place to start.

For older Labradors, typically from around seven or eight, a senior dog food recipe brings the energy density down to suit a dog who's slowing a little without losing any of the enthusiasm.

Get the bag size right

This is the thing large-dog owners most often get caught by, and it's an easy win.

A Labrador eating around 430g a day gets through a 1.7kg bag in about four days. The same dog takes roughly five weeks to finish a 15kg bag. That's a weekly shop versus a monthly one, and it keeps the food fresher because you're not opening a new bag every few days.

Store it in its original bag inside a container rather than tipping it loose - the bag's liner is what protects the fats from going stale once it's open.

If you'd rather not think about it at all, our recipes are available on a dog food subscription, so the right bag turns up before you run out, and it saves you up to 15% on every order.

Switching your Labrador onto a new food

Take it over seven to 10 days rather than all at once. Labradors will happily eat a brand new food from day one, which is exactly how owners get caught out - your dog is delighted, and their digestion is playing catch-up.

• Days one to three: 75% old food, 25% new food 

• Days four to six: 50% old, 50% new 

• Days seven to nine: 25% old, 75% new 

• Day 10 onwards: new food only

Slightly loose stools during the changeover are common. If they're still loose a week after you've finished the switch, give your vet a ring.

Feeding a Labrador well isn't complicated, but it does ask for a bit of discipline - mostly because your dog will always argue for more. Weigh the food, feed to the weight your dog should be rather than the weight they are, check their body condition every month or so, and adjust slowly when you need to.

If you're ready to sort the food itself, have a look through our dry dog food recipes and use the calculator on whichever one you like the look of - it'll give you the exact daily amount for that recipe, which beats any general chart. And for more on feeding, growing and life with a dog, our pet advice blog has plenty more.