How much food should a puppy eat by age? More, per kilo of body weight, than an adult dog — because a puppy is growing fast, and growth is hungry work. A puppy under four months old needs about three times its resting energy requirement, a puppy over four months about twice, and an adult about 1.6 times — and the amount changes every few weeks as the puppy grows. This guide is the puppy food guide by age in words: the calorie tables for puppies by weight and by age, how to work out portions in cups and grams, the feeding schedule from weaning to adulthood, the mistakes that most often lead to an overweight or underfed puppy, and the foods a puppy should never eat. It uses the resting energy requirement (RER) formula vets use, with the puppy factors that suit each age.
The puppy year is when feeding habits are set for life, and it is also when feeding mistakes are easiest to make, because the right amount changes so fast. A puppy that is overfed grows up overweight, and a puppy that grows too fast — especially a large-breed puppy — puts extra strain on developing joints. A puppy that is underfed grows up stunted. Both problems are much harder to fix in adulthood than to prevent in puppyhood. Weigh the puppy every two weeks, adjust food as it grows, and use the tables below as a starting point, then adjust by body condition: you should be able to feel the ribs easily under a thin layer of fat and see a waist from above and from the side, even in a puppy. This guide gives the numbers to start from, and your vet fine-tunes them for your individual puppy.
How many calories does a puppy need by age?
Veterinary nutritionists start with the resting energy requirement, or RER — the calories a dog burns at rest in a neutral temperature, doing nothing at all. The formula is: RER equals 70 times body weight in kg to the power of 0.75. Daily needs are then the RER multiplied by a factor for life stage and activity: about 3.0 for a puppy under four months old, about 2.0 for a puppy from four months to adulthood, about 1.6 for a typical neutered adult, about 1.8 for an intact adult, and about 2.0 to 3.0 for a very active or working dog. So a puppy of 10 kg has an RER of about 395 calories, and at the 2.0 factor it needs about 790 calories a day — against about 630 for the same dog as a neutered adult. A puppy of the same weight under four months, at the 3.0 factor, needs about 1,185 calories a day.
These factors are the standard ones used in veterinary nutrition, but they are still starting points. A very active puppy that plays hard all day needs more than a calm one that sleeps most of the day, and a puppy that has been neutered typically needs about 10 to 20% fewer calories than before, so expect to cut food a little after the operation and watch the waistline. The right amount is the one that keeps growth steady and the puppy lean: weigh the puppy every two weeks, and if weight is rising too fast, cut food by about 10% and re-weigh in two weeks rather than changing everything at once. If weight is not rising at all, or the puppy is losing weight, mention it to your vet promptly — a puppy that is not growing needs a vet check, not just more food.
Puppy daily calories by weight and age
Use the table below to find your puppy's daily calories. Find the row nearest the puppy's current weight — not its expected adult weight — then pick the column that matches the puppy's age. The adult column shows what the same dog will need as a neutered adult, so you can see how much the amount will fall as the puppy grows up, and why the switch from puppy food to adult food matters.
| Body weight | Puppy under 4 months (×3.0) | Puppy over 4 months (×2.0) | Neutered adult (×1.6) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 kg | 355 | 235 | 190 |
| 5 kg | 700 | 470 | 375 |
| 10 kg | 1180 | 785 | 630 |
| 20 kg | 1985 | 1325 | 1060 |
| 30 kg | 2690 | 1795 | 1435 |
| 50 kg | 3950 | 2630 | 2105 |
Re-check the table every two weeks as the puppy grows, because the amount changes quickly: a puppy that weighed 5 kg a month ago and weighs 10 kg now needs almost twice the food it needed then, and feeding last month's amount to this month's puppy is underfeeding. Note that calories are the real target and cups are only a translation — different foods have very different calorie densities, so always check the kcal per cup or per 100 g on your own bag or tin and work from that. The cups figures below assume a typical dry food at around 350 kcal per cup, a common figure, but your food may differ by a wide margin, and the bag's number always wins over this guide's.
How much food in cups and grams per day
For a puppy of 10 kg over four months old needing about 790 calories a day, that is roughly 2.3 cups or about 225 g of a typical dry food at 350 kcal per cup. For a puppy of 5 kg over four months needing about 470 calories, it is roughly 1.3 cups or about 135 g. For a puppy of 20 kg over four months needing about 1,330 calories, it is roughly 3.8 cups or about 380 g. For a puppy under four months, the same weights need about half as much again — a 10 kg puppy under four months needs about 1,185 calories, or roughly 3.4 cups or about 340 g a day. Split the daily amount into three to four meals for a puppy under six months — morning, midday, afternoon, and evening — then two meals a day from about six months. Small, frequent meals suit a puppy's small stomach and fast metabolism, and they make it easier to see appetite changes, which are often the first sign of illness in a puppy.
If you feed wet food, use the tin's kcal figure to convert: a typical wet food is around 70 to 100 kcal per 100 g, so a 10 kg puppy over four months needing 790 calories would need roughly 930 g of wet food a day, split across meals. Mixed feeding is fine as long as the total calories add up — the common mistake is to give a full measure of dry food plus a full tin of wet food, which roughly doubles the ration. Measure food with scales or a measuring cup, not a mug or a handful: a cup in one house can be half as much again as a cup in another, and that hidden extra is often the whole reason a puppy is overweight. Treats count too: they should stay under 10% of daily calories, which for a 10 kg puppy is under about 80 calories of treats a day — a few small training treats, not a handful of biscuits.
Feeding a puppy by age
From weaning to about 3 months, a puppy needs a puppy food — one labelled complete and balanced for puppies or for all life stages — fed in four meals a day, little and often, with fresh water always available. The puppy is growing fastest in these weeks, and its stomach is smallest, so frequent small meals are essential. From 3 to 6 months, feed three meals a day, and keep weighing every two weeks: this is the age when growth is fastest and when the amount changes most. From 6 to 12 months, feed two meals a day, and start to watch for the change from puppy to adult: the puppy's growth slows, its energy levels settle, and the amount it needs stops rising every fortnight. The puppy feeding schedule guide covers the same ground in more detail, and the feeding schedule generator builds a timetable from your puppy's age and size.
From 12 to 18 months, most dogs can move to an adult food and two meals a day — but ask your vet when to switch, rather than switching at the first birthday out of habit, especially for a large or giant breed, where steady growth matters more than fast growth. A large-breed puppy food, designed to support steady rather than rapid growth, is often a sensible choice in the puppy stage for a large or giant breed, because rapid growth and excess weight in a large-breed puppy strain developing joints. The switch should be gradual, over a week, mixing the old and new food in increasing proportions, because a sudden change upsets a puppy's digestion. If your puppy is neutered, expect to cut food by roughly 10 to 20% after the operation. The puppy dog food calculator guide gives the same numbers by breed size, and the puppy age in human years chart explains the life stages the feeding follows.
Common feeding mistakes with puppies
The most common mistake is free-feeding — leaving a full bowl down all day. It makes it impossible to know how much the puppy has eaten, it hides appetite changes that are often the first sign of illness, and it is the fastest route to an overweight puppy. The second is feeding by the bag's chart alone: bag charts are generous, because they are written for active dogs and rounded up, so treat them as a maximum, not a target. The third is treat creep: a biscuit here, a piece of cheese there, and the puppy's daily calories rise by a quarter without anyone noticing. The fourth is overfeeding to make the puppy grow faster: rapid growth and excess weight in puppyhood, especially in a large breed, strain developing joints and set up weight problems for life — a puppy should stay lean enough that you can feel its ribs easily at every age.
The fifth mistake is feeding an adult food to a puppy, or a puppy food to an adult: a puppy food is richer in protein, fat, and calcium than an adult food, because growth needs them, and an adult food does not give a puppy what it needs to grow properly. The sixth is switching foods suddenly, which upsets digestion — change foods gradually over a week. The seventh is table scraps, which are often fatty, salty, or simply too many calories, and which teach begging. If your puppy has a health condition, ask your vet or a veterinary nutritionist before choosing a special diet — therapeutic diets are medicines in food form and should not be chosen by guesswork. The puppy weight predictor estimates adult weight from the puppy's current weight and age, and the dog ideal weight calculator gives a target range for an adult dog.
Foods a puppy should never eat
Some everyday foods are toxic to dogs and should never be given, in any amount: chocolate, cocoa, and coffee; grapes and raisins; onions, garlic, leeks, and chives; xylitol, also called birch sugar, found in some sugar-free gum, sweets, and peanut butter; macadamia nuts; alcohol; and cooked bones, which can splinter. Raw dough, mouldy food, and very fatty scraps are also dangerous. If your puppy eats any of these, call your vet or an animal poison line straight away — do not wait for symptoms and do not try to treat it at home. Keep a note of what was eaten, how much, and when, because the vet will ask.
A puppy is more vulnerable than an adult dog to the same hazards, because its body is smaller and its organs are still developing. A small amount of a toxic food that an adult dog might survive can be serious for a puppy, and a bout of vomiting or diarrhoea that an adult recovers from in a day can leave a puppy dehydrated and weak. Keep the diet simple, consistent, and measured, and keep anything the puppy should not eat out of reach — including the kitchen bin, which a determined puppy can still raid. If you are unsure whether a food is safe, do not give it, and ask your vet.
For related reading, see the puppy feeding schedule guide, the puppy dog food calculator guide, the dog food calculator, the puppy weight predictor, the puppy age in human years chart, the feeding schedule generator.
Frequently asked questions
How much food should a puppy eat per day?
A puppy of 10 kg over four months old needs about 790 calories a day at the puppy factor of 2.0 — roughly 2.3 cups or about 225 g of a typical dry food at 350 kcal per cup. A 5 kg puppy over four months needs about 470 calories, and a 20 kg puppy about 1,330. A puppy under four months needs about half as much again. Re-check every two weeks as the puppy grows.
How many times a day should I feed a puppy?
Four meals a day until about three months, three meals a day from three to six months, then two meals a day from about six months. Small, frequent meals suit a puppy's small stomach and fast metabolism, and they make it easier to see appetite changes, which are often the first sign of illness.
When should I switch from puppy food to adult food?
Usually at about 12 to 18 months, but ask your vet — large and giant breeds mature more slowly and may need puppy food for longer. Switch gradually over a week, mixing the old and new food in increasing proportions, and cut the amount to the adult factor of about 1.6 at the same time.
How do I know if my puppy is overweight?
Feel the ribs: you should feel them easily under a thin layer of fat without pressing hard. Look from above for a visible waist. If you cannot feel the ribs or there is no waist, the puppy is probably overweight — cut food by about 10% and ask your vet to check growth against the expected adult weight for the breed.
Should I feed a large-breed puppy a large-breed food?
A large-breed puppy food is often a sensible choice for a large or giant breed, because it is designed to support steady rather than rapid growth. Rapid growth and excess weight in a large-breed puppy strain developing joints, so steady growth matters more than fast growth. Ask your vet what suits your puppy.
What foods are toxic to puppies?
Chocolate, grapes and raisins, onions and garlic, xylitol, macadamia nuts, alcohol, and cooked bones are all dangerous for dogs of any age. If your puppy eats any of them, call your vet or an animal poison line immediately and tell them what was eaten, how much, and when.
Results on this page are estimates for general information only and are not veterinary advice. If your pet is ill, underweight, overweight, pregnant, or has a health condition, consult your veterinarian before changing diet or care.