Skipping out on weighing the food you give your dog can lead to obesity in later life for puppies across the UK.
Vet-recommended dog food brand Barking Heads’ vet, ITV This Morning’s Dr Scott Miller, explains the knock-on effect of improperly-measured portions and overfeeding puppies, along with how much owners should be feeding pups daily.
Why is weighing your puppy’s food so important?
Owners that don’t weigh out the correct amount of food for their puppies can often – albeit with the best intentions – end up feeding their pups more than they actually need. Consistently feeding your puppy more calories than they need can have serious consequences in later life; it’s a sure-fire way to put your pup on the road to obesity, especially if they are a breed more prone to the condition, like a Golden Retriever. As young adults, undergoing a medical procedure that affects their hormones and metabolism, like being spayed or neutered, can also encourage weight gain so good discipline when it comes to measured food portions is key to healthy and lean dog.
Obesity in dogs can reduce their lifespan if owners don’t step in to help their pup lose weight; it can cause several issues for your dog’s health, like increased risk of arthritis, heart disease, skin conditions and some cancers. Overall, obesity lowers a dog’s quality of life significantly.
Finding the right balance when it comes to how much to feed a puppy is often harder than with adult dogs, as puppies need more nutrients than their grown-up counterparts.
For this reason, owners should never transition their pet from dedicated puppy food to adult food until their pup is ready to do so; this time comes between six and 12 months old, depending on the breed. Puppy foods are formulated with all the nutrients young dogs need, while adult dogs don’t need as much fat or calcium as puppies.
How much food should I give my puppy?
So, how much food should pet parents feed puppies? That depends on the puppy’s size, age, and activity level. An easy way to figure out how many grams your puppy needs a day would be to use a tool but there’s also a handy equation to follow.
To find out how many grams to feed your pup every day, first weigh your puppy to get their exact weight. From there, take 20g of puppy food for every 1kg of your puppy’s weight. For example, if your puppy weighs 10kg, they will need 200g of puppy food per day.
The total grams should be spread across the day; so following the example, 50g four times a day for a puppy between eight weeks and four months old (younger puppies need feeding in smaller amounts, more frequently), or 100g twice a day for a puppy six months or older.
How much should my puppy weigh when fully grown?
Small breeds
Small-sized breeds are dogs that usually weigh less than 11kg when fully grown. Some example breeds include Chihuahuas, Pomeranians, Yorkshire Terriers, Maltese, and Dachshunds. It’s recommended they are fed a small breed puppy food.
Medium breeds
Medium-sized breeds will weigh between 12kg and 23kg when fully grown. Some examples of medium-sized breeds are Cocker Spaniels, Whippets, Beagles, English Springer Spaniels and Border Collies.
Large breeds
Large-sized breeds are the slowest dogs to reach maturity, but will weigh the most at 25kg and above. It’s a broad group of dogs as there are many varying-sized dogs within this category – from Great Danes and Golden Retrievers to Afghan Hounds and Saint Bernards. Owners should choose a diet of large breed puppy food, which is specially-formulated to maintain steady and healthy growth.
Which breeds are most likely to gain weight?
Although any dog can be susceptible to gaining weight, research shows that these breeds are most prone to obesity:
- Beagle
- Golden Retriever
- English Springer Spaniel
- Border Terrier
- Labrador Retriever
- Cocker Spaniel
- Shih-tzu
- German Shepherd Dog
- West Highland Terrier
- Jack Russell Terrier
So, remember to weigh out your puppy’s food carefully to prevent overfeeding and help them live a happy, healthy life without the risk of causing obesity; it’s easier to prevent than it is to fix.
