How Much To Feed Your Dog
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Feeding the right amount of a high-quality dog food is one of the simplest things you can do to help keep your dog healthy. Feed too much and you put your dog at risk for obesity. Feed too little and nutritional deficiencies are possible.
If you’re wondering “how much food should I feed my dog?” you’re in the right place. Our dog feeding guide is here to help.
Key Takeaways
- The right amount of food for your dog depends on several factors, including their age, weight, activity level, and health status.
- Start with the feeding chart on your dog food’s packaging, then adjust based on your dog’s body condition and your veterinarian’s advice.
- Puppies, adult dogs, and seniors all have different nutritional needs and should follow age-specific feeding guidelines.
- Feeding your dog the correct amount of food helps prevent obesity, which is linked to many serious health conditions.
Factors That Affect How Much You Should Feed Your Dog
Many factors play a role in how much you should feed your dog:
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Age: Puppies need more energy (calories), more protein, and more of certain vitamins and other nutrients compared to adult dogs.
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Size: Larger dogs need to eat more than smaller dogs.
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Activity level: Dogs who get a lot of exercise need more food.
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Reproductive status: Spayed and neutered dogs need fewer calories than unaltered dogs. If your dog is pregnant or nursing, she’ll need to eat more food to support herself and her puppies.
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Body condition score: Overweight dogs should eat fewer calories than a dog who’s at a healthy weight. Alternatively, dogs who need to gain weight should eat more.
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The food you offer: Some foods are very calorie- and nutrient-dense, meaning a little goes a long way.
A dog’s nutritional needs can vary as they get older or as their lifestyle or health status changes. It’s also important to remember that every dog and every situation is unique—what’s ideal for one dog may not work well for another.
How Much Food Should I Feed My Dog?
Determining how much food your dog should eat isn’t always easy, but lots of help is available. The best place to start is on the label of the dog food that your pet eats. Look at the packaging and you will find a feeding chart that provides recommendations tailored to that specific dog food.
A calorie calculator can also help, but the results are just an estimate. Your dog’s specific needs can be as much as 50% more or less than what is typical.
Body condition scoring is a good way to fine-tune how much food to give your dog, and of course, always partner with your veterinarian.
Adult Dog Feeding Chart
Healthy adult dogs are the easiest to feed. They’re done growing, so their nutritional needs should be fairly consistent over time—unless something big changes in their lives.
The most important factor is their weight.
Use your dog’s ideal weight to figure out how much food to offer. This target weight goal may be lower than your dog’s actual weight if they’re overweight, or a little higher if they’re too thin. Get your dog weighed at their next vet appointment and keep track of their weight or opt for a pet scale, like the Brecknell MS15, to do it at home.
Let’s look at an example of how much to feed your dog. Below is the feeding guide for the Purina Pro Plan dry dog food.
The food contains 379 calories (kcal) per cup, so the ranges would be similar for any adult dog food that has a similar calorie content:
| Weight Range | Feeding Amount Per Day |
|---|---|
| 3–12 pounds | ½–1¼ cup |
| 13–20 pounds | 1¼–1⅔ cups |
| 21–35 pounds | 1⅔–2⅓ cups |
| 36–50 pounds | 2⅓–3 cups |
| 51–75 pounds | 3–3¾ cups |
| 76–100 pounds | 4–4⅔ cups |
| Over 100 pounds | 4⅔ cups, plus ⅓ cup for each 10 pounds of body weight over 100 pounds |
Puppy Feeding Chart
Puppies are more complicated.
In their early months, they require extra calories, protein, and other nutrients to fuel their growth.
Large and giant dog breed puppies have different nutritional needs than small- and medium-breed puppies, and they should be fed a large-breed puppy formula for proper bone and joint development. Talk to your vet about which formula is best for your puppy, how much to feed as they grow, and how long to feed the puppy formula.
As they get closer to their full-grown size, their nutritional needs become more like those of an adult dog. So look up both your puppy’s current weight and their age to determine how much dog food to give your dog.
This feeding guide for the Blue Buffalo Wilderness Rocky Mountain Recipe makes it easy to determine how much to feed your puppy as they get older:
| Weight Range | Feeding Amount Per Day: 1–3 Months Old | Feeding Amount Per Day: 3–5 Months Old | Feeding Amount Per Day: 5–7 Months Old | Feeding Amount Per Day: 7–12 Months Old |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 5 pounds | ½–1 cup | ½–¾ cup | ¼–½ cup | ¼–½ cup |
| 6–10 pounds | 1–1½ cups | ¾–1 cup | ½–1 cup | ½–¾ cup |
| 11–20 pounds | 1½–2½ cups | 1–1¾ cups | 1–1½ cups | ¾–1¼ cups |
| 21–40 pounds | 2½–4¼ cups | 1¾–3 cups | 1½–2½ cups | 1¼–2¼ cups |
| 41–60 pounds | 4¼–5¾ cups | 3–4 cups | 2½–3½ cups | 2¼–3 cups |
Senior Dog Feeding Chart
Senior dogs are on the other end of the spectrum.
Veterinarians usually consider dogs to be seniors when they reach 7–12 years of age, depending on their size.
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Giant breeds: 7 years
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Large breeds: 8 years
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Medium breeds: 10 years
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Small breeds: 11 years
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Toy breeds: 12 years
A dog’s lifestyle and health status should also be considered. Senior diets often (but not always) have lower calorie counts than adult dog foods, to help prevent unhealthy weight gain as dogs become less active with age.
The food may contain ingredients to support joint health or help manage other conditions that become more common as dogs get older.
Your veterinarian can help you pick the right time to make the switch to a senior dog food.
Below is the feeding guide for Wellness Complete Health senior dry dog food:
| Weight Range | Feeding Amount Per Day |
|---|---|
| 18–23 pounds | 1–1⅓ cups |
| 24–45 pounds | 1⅓–2¼ cups |
| 46–65 pounds | 2⅓–3 cups |
| 66–85 pounds | 3–3⅔ cups |
| 86–105 pounds | 3¾–4⅓ cups |
| 106–125 pounds | 4⅓–4 ¾ cups |
| Dogs over 125 pounds | Add ¼ cup per additional 10 pounds |
How Many Times a Day Should a Dog Eat?
You may have noticed that dog feeding guides tell you how much dog food to feed per day. But most dogs shouldn’t have just one meal a day, so you’ll have to divide the amount of food on the feeding chart by the number of meals your dog eats daily.
Recommendations vary, based on a dog’s size and age:
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Large and giant breeds:
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For puppies up to 4 months of age: three meals per day
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For adults and seniors: two to three meals per day
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Small and medium breeds:
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For puppies up to 4 months of age: three meals per day
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For adults and seniors: two meals per day
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Toy breeds:
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For puppies up to 4 months of age: four to five meals per day
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For puppies 4–6 months of age: three meals per day
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For dogs 6 months of age and older: two meals per day
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Why It's important To Feed Your Dog the Right Amount
Feeding dogs correctly matters! Underfeeding can lead to low energy levels, poor immune function, and other problems, but overfeeding is far more common.
In fact, the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention estimates that 59% of dogs are overweight or obese, which puts them at increased risk for health problems including:
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Reduced quality of life
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Shortened lifespan
If your dog is overweight, an over-the-counter diet dog food such as Hill's Science Diet Adult Perfect Weight may help.
Dogs who need to lose a lot of weight tend to do better on a prescription weight loss food, like Hill's Prescription Diet r/d Weight Reduction Chicken Flavor Dry Dog Food.
Your vet will be able to help you choose the best course of action.
While it requires some work to determine how much food to give your dog, your efforts will be rewarded with all the extra healthy years you get to spend with your fur friend.
How Much To Feed Your Dog FAQs
How often should I feed my dog?
Generally, it is best to feed your dog twice a day, but how often to feed your dog varies based on your dog’s age, breed, size, and any underlying medical conditions.
How many cups of food should I feed my dog each day?
Check the label on your dog’s food for the feeding chart recommended by the pet food company for that specific dog food. You should also speak with your vet about how much to feed your dog. Your vet will make a specific nutrition plan considering your dog’s age, size, body condition, activity level, and health status.
