How Much to Feed a Puppy: A Practical Guide for New Dog Owners

Working out how much to feed a puppy is one of those things that sounds like it should be simple, but never quite feels like it. The back of the bag gives you a number, your breeder says something different, and your puppy is staring at you like they haven't eaten in three days when it's only been two hours.

The truth is, there's no single magic number. How much your puppy needs depends on their age, their breed, how big they'll be when they're fully grown, and what type of food you're giving them. But some solid guidelines will get you in the right ballpark, and that's what this guide is here for.

How much food does a puppy need?

Puppies burn through a lot of energy. They're growing fast, exploring everything, and their bodies are building bone, muscle, and brain tissue at a pace they'll never match again. As a rough guide, puppies need around twice the calories per kilogram of body weight compared to an adult dog of the same breed.

A common starting point you'll see mentioned is around 20g of dry food per 1kg of body weight per day. So a 5kg puppy would get around 100g of dry food daily, split across their meals. But this really is just a starting point. Different brands pack different amounts of energy into each gram, so a nutrient-dense food might need smaller portions than a less calorie-rich one.

The most reliable thing to do is check the feeding guide on the back of your specific food, weigh the portions on kitchen scales (not a measuring cup - those can be way off), and then adjust based on how your puppy looks and feels over the following weeks.

We can't give exact gram-by-gram feeding guides here because the right amount varies between products, and what works for our Harringtons puppy food won't be the same as another brand's recipe. What we can do is give you a framework to work from.

Puppy feeding chart by weight and age

The chart below gives you a general idea of daily dry food amounts in grams. These aren't brand-specific - they're based on typical puppy food energy densities and widely used veterinary feeding guidelines. Always cross-reference with the guide on your own food's packaging.

Small breed puppies (adult weight under 10kg)

Medium breed puppies (adult weight 10-25kg)

Large and giant breed puppies (adult weight over 25kg)

A few things to keep in mind with these numbers. They're daily totals, not per-meal amounts - so divide them by however many meals your puppy is having that day. The ranges are wide because a lazy Cavalier King Charles and a bouncing Springer Spaniel won't need the same amount, even if they weigh the same.

You'll also notice that amounts go up during the main growth phase (roughly three to six months) and then gradually come down as growth slows. That's normal. Your puppy isn't eating less because something's wrong; they just don't need as many calories once the rapid growth phase eases off.

How often should you feed a puppy?

Puppies have small stomachs but big energy needs, which means smaller meals spread throughout the day work much better than one or two big ones.

As a rough guide:

8-12 weeks: Four meals a day. Their stomachs are tiny at this stage and can only handle small amounts at a time. Space meals out roughly evenly through the day - breakfast, lunch, afternoon, and early evening work well.

3-6 months: Three meals a day. Drop the afternoon meal when your puppy seems ready. Most puppies naturally start leaving food at one of their meals around this age, which is a good sign they're ready to go down to three.

6 months onwards: Two meals a day. Breakfast and dinner. Most dogs stick with this pattern for the rest of their lives, and it suits them well. Some owners keep three meals going a bit longer for giant breeds, which is fine too.

Try to keep mealtimes roughly consistent each day. Dogs are creatures of habit, and a routine helps with toilet training too - what goes in on a schedule tends to come out on a schedule.

The PDSA recommends giving your puppy about 20 minutes to eat, then picking up whatever's left. Leaving food down all day can lead to grazing, making it harder to track how much they're actually eating, and can attract flies in warmer months.

Why puppy food is different from adult food

You might look at puppy food and think "it's just smaller kibble", but there's more going on than size. Puppy food is formulated differently because growing dogs have different nutritional demands.

Higher calorie density. Puppies need more energy per mouthful. Puppy food packs more calories into smaller portions, so their little stomachs can actually keep up with what their bodies need.

More protein. Growing muscles, organs, and tissues need protein, and puppy food delivers more of it per serving than adult recipes.

Balanced calcium and phosphorus. This is a big one, especially for large breeds. Puppies need the right ratio of calcium to phosphorus to support healthy bone development. Too much calcium can be harmful to large breed puppies, causing skeletal problems during their rapid growth phase. The FEDIAF nutritional guidelines set specific upper limits for calcium in large breed puppy food for exactly this reason.

DHA for brain development. DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is an omega-3 fatty acid that supports brain and eye development in young dogs. A 2023 peer-reviewed study found that puppies supplemented with DHA-rich fish oil showed improved cognitive function compared to those on low-DHA diets.

Smaller kibble. This one is partly about size - tiny puppy mouths can't handle big chunks - but it also affects how well they can chew and digest the food.

Feeding adult food to a puppy might seem like a cost-saving move, but it can leave them short on the nutrients they need during the most important growth window of their life. Stick with a food that's labelled as complete for puppies, and you'll know the balance is right.

Wet food, dry food, or both?

There's no single right answer here - it depends on your puppy, your routine, and what works for your household.

Dry puppy food (kibble) is convenient, stores easily, and tends to be more cost-effective gram for gram. It also gives puppies something to crunch on, which some dogs seem to enjoy. Portion control is easy because you can weigh it precisely.

Wet puppy food has a higher moisture content (usually around 75-80% water), which helps with hydration. Some puppies prefer the smell and texture, and it can be easier to eat for very young pups who are still getting used to solid food. The trade-off is that it doesn't keep as long once opened - transfer any leftovers to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to two to three days.

Mix-feeding (wet and dry together) is what a lot of owners end up doing, and for good reason. It gives your puppy variety, combines the convenience of kibble with the palatability of wet food, and can help with fussy eaters. Around 46% of dog owners in the UK already mix-feed.

If you're mixing wet and dry, you'll need to adjust the portions of each so you're not accidentally doubling up. A rough rule is that 100g of wet food replaces about 25-30g of dry food, though this varies by brand. Check the feeding guide on both products and do the maths, or use a kitchen scale and your puppy's body condition as your guide.

Our puppy wet food is designed to work alongside our dry recipes if you want to mix things up.

How to tell if you're feeding the right amount

The feeding chart and the back of the bag are starting points, not gospel. The real test is how your puppy looks and feels.

What you're aiming for: Ribs you can feel with a light touch but can't see. A visible waist when you look down from above. A slight tummy tuck when you look from the side. Good energy levels, a shiny coat, and firm (not runny) poos. The PDSA's body condition score guide has pictures that make this easy to check at home.

Signs you might be feeding too much: Soft or runny stools, a pot belly that doesn't go down between meals, rapid weight gain, or your puppy regularly leaving food in the bowl. Overfeeding a puppy isn't just about extra weight - in large breeds especially, growing too fast can put stress on developing joints and bones.

Signs of underfeeding: Ribs and hip bones that are clearly visible, low energy, a dull coat, or your puppy finishing meals in seconds and then searching for more food. If your puppy seems constantly hungry but is a healthy weight, that might just be a puppy being a puppy - they're not always the best judges of their own appetite.

Weigh your puppy regularly in those first few months. Most vet practices will let you pop in and use their scales for free, and tracking their weight over time is the most reliable way to spot any trends. Your vet can tell you if their growth rate is on track for their breed.

What about treats?

Treats are part of life with a puppy, especially during training. But they need to come out of your puppy's daily food allowance, not on top of it. The WSAVA guideline is that treats should make up no more than 10% of their daily calories.

That 10% adds up faster than you'd think. A few dental chews, some training treats, and a bit of cheese, and you've already blown past it. A few things that help:

Use their own kibble for training. Set aside a small portion of their daily dry food and use those pieces as rewards during training sessions. Your puppy won't know the difference, and you won't need to recalculate anything.

Go small with treats. Puppies don’t care about the size of the treat; they care about the moment of getting one. A tiny piece works just as well as a big one for reinforcing good behaviour. Our FreshBakes treats are suitable for pups from 8 weeks old and are soft and easy to break up.

Track what everyone gives. If there are multiple people in the household, it's easy for a puppy to get treats from three different people in an afternoon without anyone realising. Pick one person to be in charge of the treat jar, or keep a tally on the fridge.

Adjust meals on heavy training days. If you've used a lot of treats during a training session, take a small amount out of their next meal to balance things out.

Switching your puppy's food

Whether you're moving from the food your breeder was using, changing brands, or transitioning from puppy to adult food, the same approach applies: go slowly.

A sudden switch can upset your puppy's stomach because their gut bacteria need time to adapt to the new food. The standard transition takes seven to 10 days and looks something like this:

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

Days four to six: 50% old food, 50% new food 

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

Day 10 onwards: 100% new food

If your puppy gets loose stools at any stage, slow down and spend a couple more days at that ratio before moving on. Some dogs need a bit longer, and that's perfectly fine. If your puppy's stomach seems to struggle with transitions no matter how slowly you go, it might be worth looking at a sensitive stomach puppy food that's designed to be gentler on developing digestive systems.

If you're switching to a Harringtons recipe, the same gradual approach applies. Our puppy recipes are vet-approved and complete, so once the transition is done, your puppy will be getting everything they need from their meals.

When to move from puppy food to adult food

Breed size matters here more than you'd expect. A Yorkshire Terrier is pretty much done growing by the time they're nine or 10 months old. A Great Dane? They might still be filling out in two years.

Small breeds (under 10kg adult weight): Usually ready between nine and 12 months.

Medium breeds (10-25kg adult weight): Around 12 months for most.

Large breeds (25-40kg adult weight): Between 12 and 18 months, depending on the breed.

Giant breeds (over 40kg adult weight): Can take up to 18 to 24 months to finish growing. Great Danes, Saint Bernards, and Irish Wolfhounds are in this category.

Switching too early means your puppy misses out on the specific nutritional balance they need during their final growth phase. For large and giant breeds, especially, moving to adult food before they've finished developing can affect bone and joint health. When in doubt, a quick chat with your vet can help put your mind at ease - they'll be able to tell from your puppy's size and development whether they're ready.

Use the same 7 to 10 day transition method when making the switch to adult food.

Common puppy feeding mistakes

We see these come up again and again with new puppy owners:

Free-feeding. Leaving food down all day and letting your puppy eat whenever they want. It makes it almost impossible to track how much they're eating, can lead to overeating, and doesn't help with toilet training. Set meal times, put the bowl down for 20 minutes, then take it away.

Overfeeding because they look hungry. Puppies are very good at looking like they're starving. Those big eyes are convincing, but a healthy puppy on the right amount of food will seem hungry sometimes - that doesn't mean they need more. Go by body condition, not by the look on their face.

Not adjusting portions as they grow. A 12-week-old puppy and a six-month-old puppy have very different needs, even if they're the same breed. Check the feeding guide every few weeks and adjust. What was right last month probably isn't right this month.

Giving too many table scraps. The odd bit of plain chicken or carrot is fine as a treat, but it adds up. Certain human foods (onion, garlic, chocolate, grapes, and xylitol) are toxic to dogs, so it's easier to stick to dog-safe treats you can control.

Inconsistent meal times. Feeding at random times each day can unsettle your puppy's routine and make toilet training harder. Pick times that work for your schedule and try to stick to them.

Forgetting to account for treats. We covered this above, but it bears repeating. Every treat is food. If your puppy had a big training session with lots of rewards, their dinner should be a bit smaller.

FAQs

How much should I feed my 8-week-old puppy?

It depends on their size and the food you're using. As a rough guide, a small breed puppy (around 2-3kg) might need 30-50g of dry food per day, split into four meals. Check the feeding guide on your food's packaging for the specific amount, and weigh portions on kitchen scales rather than eyeballing it.

Should I feed my puppy wet or dry food?

Either works well, or a mix of both. Dry food is convenient and easy to portion. Wet food has more moisture, and some puppies prefer the taste and texture. If you mix the two, just make sure you're adjusting the portions of each so your puppy isn't getting more food overall than they need.

My puppy always seems hungry - should I feed more?

Not necessarily. Puppies can be relentless scavengers even when they're getting the right amount. Check their body condition first - if you can feel their ribs without pressing hard and they have a visible waist, they're probably fine. If they're looking thin, gradually increase portions and keep an eye on their weight over the next week or two.

Can I give my puppy adult dog food?

It's best to wait until they've finished growing. Puppy food has higher levels of protein, fat, calcium, and other nutrients that support development. Adult food won't provide the right balance for a growing dog, and could lead to nutritional gaps during a critical period. A natural puppy food formulated for growth gives them what they need without overcomplicating things. 

How do I know when my puppy is full?

Most puppies will eat until the food is gone, whether they're full or not - so don't rely on them to self-regulate. Weigh their food according to the feeding guide, offer it at set times, and let their body condition be your guide rather than their appetite.