Feeding schedules and amounts

[zevy]

Hi I'm getting my puppy soon he will be 8 weeks old when I get him. I have read about the different issues with over and underfeeding so I want to make sure I get it right. This will be my first pup and don't really know how to feed him at his different ages is there some sort of guideline showing how much to feed them at different ages and how many times a day?

[Cassidy's Mom]

How much to feed is going to depend on WHAT you're feeding him. Different foods can be more or less calorically dense than others. Obviously if you're using a food with 300 kcals per cup you'd feed him more than you would if you were using a food with 500 kcals per cup.

When you get him he'll probably be on 3 meals a day, which is fine for a while. I've had two puppies that I got at 9 week old that were on two meals a day from the time they came home, but I did lots of training with them so they also got training treats during the day. Halo, our most recent dog, came home at 10 weeks old, and she was on 3 meals a day for a couple of months before I cut her back to twice a day.

Your breeder will probably give you an idea of how much to feed at first. If he seems overly skinny, feed him more. If you can't feel his ribs and he's looking chubby, cut back his food a little. It's not rocket science - a frequent rib check to gauge his current condition will always work as a way to tell if he's getting the right amount of food.