Puppy Feeding Guide: How Much and How Often to Feed Your Puppy by Age

In short: feed your puppy little and often, four meals a day from 8 to 12 weeks old, dropping to three by 6 months and two from around 6 to 12 months. How much depends on their expected adult weight and age, so always weigh out food against the chart on your puppy's specific pack rather than a generic figure online. Choose a grain-free recipe made for puppies, not an adult formula, and switch to adult food gradually once they are close to full size, generally around 8 months for dogs under 10kg and up to 2 years for dogs over 26kg, per Kennel Club guidance.

Getting a new puppy is exciting and more than a little overwhelming, and feeding is usually the first thing new owners get anxious about. The good news is that puppy feeding is more straightforward than it looks once you know the three things that actually matter: how much, how often, and when to change it up. Below is a complete puppy feeding guide by age and weight, built from the feeding charts on our own natural grain-free puppy recipes and backed by published guidance from the Kennel Club, UK Pet Food (formerly the PFMA), the vet charity PDSA, and research from the Royal Veterinary College's VetCompass programme.

In this article

• How much should I feed my puppy?
• How many meals a day does my puppy need?
• Puppy feeding chart: how much by age and weight
• When should I switch my puppy to adult food?
• Common puppy feeding mistakes
• FAQ

How much should I feed my puppy?

The honest answer is: it depends. A puppy's daily amount is worked out from their expected adult weight, their current age, and the calorie density of the specific food you are using, which is why one brand's 100g and another brand's 100g can mean very different amounts of energy. A naturally formulated grain-free recipe with a high freshly prepared meat or fish content, like the recipes we make ourselves, tends to be more calorie-dense than a cereal-heavy budget food, so puppies often need slightly less by weight, not more.

The reliable way to get this right is to weigh your puppy every couple of weeks, check the feeding chart on the back of the pack for their current weight and age band, and adjust from there based on body condition rather than the bowl looking full or empty.

How many meals a day does my puppy need?

Puppies have small stomachs and fast metabolisms, so little and often works far better than two big meals. As they grow, the number of meals drops while the amount at each one goes up.

Puppy's age	Meals per day
8 to 12 weeks	4 meals
3 to 6 months	3 meals
6 to 12 months	2 meals
12 months onwards	1 to 2 meals (adult)

This schedule matches the guidance published by UK Pet Food, the trade body representing the UK's pet food manufacturers (formerly the PFMA). Large and giant breeds often stay on three meals a day for longer than small breeds, simply because they need a bigger daily total than two sittings can comfortably hold.

Puppy feeding chart: how much by age and weight

Every one of our natural grain-free puppy recipes carries its own feeding chart on the pack, worked out by expected adult weight rather than current weight, since that is what actually determines a growing puppy's energy needs. Here is what that looks like for our Chicken, Turkey & Salmon Puppy recipe, as a guide:

Expected adult weight	2 to 4 months	4 to 6 months	6 to 12 months
1 to 4kg	45 to 70g	65 to 75g	65g to adult
5 to 10kg	95 to 155g	140 to 165g	140g to adult
11 to 20kg	145 to 260g	225 to 270g	215 to 270g
21 to 30kg	200 to 380g	325 to 390g	295 to 375g
31 to 45kg	275 to 525g	445 to 530g	380 to 480g

These figures are a starting point, not a rule. Every puppy is different, so adjust for breed, activity level and body condition, and always introduce a new food gradually over two weeks alongside plenty of fresh water.

Chicken, Turkey & Salmon

Salmon, Haddock & White Fish

80% Poultry Training Treat

Reflective Puppy Collar & Lead

When should I switch my puppy to adult food?

This comes down to your puppy's expected adult weight rather than age alone. According to the Kennel Club, dogs under 10kg are generally considered adults by around 8 months old, dogs between 11kg and 25kg reach adulthood at about 1 year, and dogs over 26kg do not fully mature until somewhere between 15 months and 2 years old.

Big breeds need longer for a real biological reason, not just convention. Research from the Royal Veterinary College's VetCompass programme shows that growth plates in large and giant breeds close later than in small dogs, and that rapid growth combined with excess calcium intake is a key risk factor for developmental joint disease. That is exactly why puppy food for bigger breeds is formulated to steady growth down rather than speed it up, and why rushing a big-breed puppy onto adult food too early is best avoided.

Whenever you do make the change, the Kennel Club recommends allowing 7 to 10 days for the transition, gradually adding more adult food and less puppy food to the bowl each day. We cover the same gradual method in our 10-day grain-free switching guide.

Common puppy feeding mistakes

A few habits cause more feeding problems than anything else, and they are easy to avoid once you know to look out for them:

• Free-feeding. Leaving a full bowl down all day makes house-training harder and makes it easy to overfeed a puppy who is growing fast enough to gain weight quickly. Free-feeding is a known risk factor for obesity, and Royal Veterinary College VetCompass research puts obesity in around 1 in 14 UK dogs (7.1%), with calorie-controlled feeding shown to reduce the risk and severity of joint conditions such as arthritis later in life.
• Feeding by eye instead of by weight. A kitchen scale is the single most useful puppy-feeding tool you can own. Guessing "about a cupful" is where most overfeeding starts.
• Too many treats. Treats and training rewards should stay under about 10% of a puppy's daily calories, in line with PDSA guidance. A lean, high-meat treat goes further without tipping the balance.
• Switching foods too often. Puppies have sensitive digestion, and constantly changing recipes makes it harder to spot a genuine intolerance versus a normal wobble.
• Skipping the joint care question for big breeds. Large and giant breed puppies benefit from a recipe with added glucosamine and chondroitin, and from staying on puppy food for the full growth period rather than switching early.

Frequently asked questions

How much should I feed my puppy?

It depends on their expected adult weight, current age and the food you are using, since every recipe has a different calorie density. As a general guide, a puppy who will grow to 5 to 10kg needs roughly 100 to 175g a day of a typical grain-free puppy kibble, split across several meals, while a puppy heading for 20kg or more will need 200 to 400g a day depending on age. Always check the feeding chart on your specific pack rather than a generic online figure, and weigh food out rather than guessing by eye.

How many meals a day does my puppy need?

UK Pet Food (formerly the PFMA) recommends four meals a day up to 4 months old, three meals a day from 4 to 6 months, then two meals a day from 6 months onwards. Smaller breeds often stay on three meals a little longer than larger breeds, since they can struggle to eat enough in just two sittings.

When should I switch my puppy to adult food?

According to the Kennel Club, dogs under 10kg are generally adults by around 8 months old, dogs between 11kg and 25kg reach adulthood at about 1 year, and dogs over 26kg do not fully mature until 15 months to 2 years old, since their joints and bones take longer to finish developing. Switch gradually over 7 to 10 days rather than overnight.

Should I free-feed my puppy or stick to set mealtimes?

Set mealtimes are best for puppies. Free-feeding makes it hard to spot appetite changes early, harder to house-train, and easy to accidentally overfeed a fast-growing puppy. Royal Veterinary College VetCompass research links free-feeding to a higher risk of obesity, found in around 1 in 14 UK dogs. Measure out each meal and put the bowl down for 15 to 20 minutes before picking it back up.

Is grain-free food suitable for puppies?

Yes, provided it is a grain-free recipe specifically formulated for puppies rather than an adult formula. Puppy recipes carry the extra protein, calcium, phosphorus and omega 3 that a growing puppy needs, in a balance an adult grain-free food will not necessarily provide.

What if my puppy will not eat their food?

A day or two of a smaller appetite is common, especially around teething or a growth plateau. Warm the food slightly to release more smell, hand-feed a few pieces to start them off, and avoid switching foods repeatedly, which can make fussiness worse. If it goes on longer than 48 hours or your puppy seems unwell, speak to your vet.