How Much Should You Feed Your Puppy?
When working out the amount you should be feeding puppies, the best place to look is the packaging of your selected puppy food formula. This will show you the daily amount your puppy will consume against their age, usually shown in months, and their weight. When selecting the weight category, it is important to note that on Carnilove packaging this refers to the expected adult weight of the dog. Of course, you will not know this exactly, but your best estimate should be based on the ideal breed average or size of the parent dogs. As your puppy grows your estimated adult weight may change and the feeding portion should be adjusted as needed.
Before you bring your new puppy home, you should ask the breeder or rehoming center the current routine and number of times a day they are being fed. It is recommended to stick to a similar routine for feeding for the first couple of weeks, at least, after you bring the puppy home.
For example, if your new puppy is 12 weeks old, has an expected adult weight of 15kg and is currently being fed 3 times per day you would use the table on the packaging to work out they require 110g of per day. You would then split this amount into three meals for your puppy.
It is important to remember that the feeding amount is a guide. It is best to monitor your puppies weight gain and stools and make any small adjustments as needed for your individual dog.
What Should You Be Feeding Puppies at Different Ages?
Carnilove puppy foods are specifically formulated to support the growing needs of your puppy. Available in Salmon & Turkey Puppy Food, Salmon & Turkey Large Puppy Food, True Fresh Turkey Puppy and True Fresh Chicken Junior Large Breed, each is tailored to nurture your little hunter’s wild instincts. As puppies reach maturity and stop growing, their nutrition needs change, and this is the time to think about moving onto an adult food. The time your dog reaches maturity can vary between breeds but more importantly the size of your puppy, from anywhere between 12 months for small dogs and as long as 30month (fed Carnilove) for some large breeds.
When Do You Stop Feeding Puppies 3 Times a Day?
Your pup is likely to be ready to drop from being fed three times a day down to twice a day at around six months of age. If your pup loves their lunch, to make this transition less abrupt you can still take a portion of their daily kibble to use for enrichment during the day for example for training or in feeding toys.
Wet Food vs. Dry Food for Puppies: Pros and Cons
Carnilove wet puppy food and Carnilove dry puppy food both provide complete nutrition for your growing pup with high meat content, no grains and no potato. Each puppy may have their own preferences but the choice to provide wet, dry or combination of both is up to you.
Particularly for puppies and young dogs, you may find that you want to use a portion of their daily food to create enrichment opportunities and this may affect which format of food you choose to purchase (our pouches work very well with lickimats whereas due to soft pate consistency whereas our kibble is great in a snuffle mat!).
Transitioning Puppies to Adult Dog Food: When and How
When you are content that your puppy has reached maturity and stopped growing, it is time to think about transitioning onto adult food. Your vet can help advise if you are unsure. We recommend for this transition selecting an adult food with a similar animal protein to their puppy food. For example, if you are currently feeding Carnilove Puppy Salmon and Turkey formula, you may want to consider transitioning to the food.
It is best to slowly transition your puppy to the adult food. Starting with 75% of their puppy food and 25% of the adult food, slowly adjust this over a number of days until they are on 50% puppy and 50% adult. Continue to make the change over a period of a 7-10 days, gradually increasing the amount of adult food and reducing the puppy food until they are on 100% adult food.