Nutrition
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11 min
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Knowing how to best feed your dog to ensure optimal health is not always straightforward. Owners generally find it hard to decide:
Read on to learn a little more about best feeding practices.
Typically, the frequency of feeding will depend on the dog’s age. As a rule of thumb, we feed young puppies very regularly; at least four times a day. This is because they have small stomachs and are less able to regulate their blood sugars. Once pups reach about three months of age, we should be able to increase the portion they are given and taper their feedings down to three times daily. It is at six-month-old that it is usually advised that dogs are offered two meals and these should be given in the morning and evening. Some owners are comfortable continuing this pattern lifelong, while others may choose to go on to feed their dogs once a day. For an in depth guide for feeding puppies read our Puppy Feeding Guide blog piece.
Many small lap dogs are picky eaters as adults and will only want to eat once a day. However, a larger dog who is active may well need a couple of meals a day to keep them fuelled. This is especially true for working dogs and those who get a lot of exercise. Listen to your dog; they will soon let you know if they are hungry!
Every Pooch & Mutt diet has a feeding guideline which can be found on the packaging as well as online. The guideline takes into consideration the nutrient profile and calorie content of the food, as well as the dogs weight and age.
If you find your dog is constantly leaving food behind, they are likely being overfed. More often than not, this is because they are receiving their calories elsewhere; in the form of treats and dental chews! Remember, no more than 10% of a dog’s diet should be made up of treats so it may be time to cut down.
Of course, a guideline should not be solely relied upon as each dog as their own individual metabolism. As well as following a guideline, keep an eye on your dog to ensure they are a good Body Condition Score. You may find you need to alter the recommended amount they are fed over time in order to prevent them from becoming over or under weight.
Dogs who are over-weight should not be fed for their current weight. So, if your dog weighs 20kg but should weigh 18kg, we should provide the amount recommended for an 18kg dog. Using a kitchen scales to weigh out food has been proven to be a lot more accurate than ‘eyeballing’ the amount or using a measuring cup.
TOP TIP: You will achieve best results by feeding a diet specifically designed to help portly pooches such as Pooch & Mutt Slim & Slender. With ingredients that promote satiety as well as fat breakdown, you are guaranteed results.
Again, dogs should be fed for their target rather than their current weight. While your dog may only weigh 10kg, if they should weigh closer to 12kg, this is the weight we should feed them for. For those who struggle to put on weight, feeding their meals little and often may prove easier for them to manage.
You may opt to offer only wet dog food, only dry food or a mixture of the two.
Wet Foods:
Dry Foods:
Animals with chronic medical conditions such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Chronic Kidney Disease or Diabetes will generally benefit from specific veterinary-formulated diets which are prescribed by their vet. These diets should not be started without medical advice.
For dogs who do not require prescription diets for medical diseases, owners might wish to take a look at Pooch & Mutt’s functional dog foods. These are designed for those with minor health or behavioural issues and include calming and sensitive stomach dog food. The ingredients are specifically chosen to benefit these dogs and help combat their problem.
Comments (114)
Hi Kieran,
If you enter your pups age in the feeding guideline calculator, along with their expected adult weight, it should give you the daily amounts. If you aren’t sure, reach out to our team on [email protected] :)
I am in the process of changing my two labradors from Royal Canin Maxi Light kibble to your Slim and Slender. Please could you tell me how much I should be feeding them to enable them to reach their ideal weight.
Dog 1 is 50kg and is 9 years old – his ideal weight should be 40-45kg
Dog 2 is 42 kg and is 4 years old – his ideal weight should be 35-40kg
They both have a walk of 1 – 1 1/2 hours per day plus garden exercise.
Hi Debra,
Our team have tried to reach you directly to discuss this with you, but the email keeps bouncing back. Would you please be able to reach out to the team on [email protected] and we can come back to you with feeding guidelines :)
Hi,
We have a 15 week old male whippet puppy, he currently weighs 7.4kg. His adult weight is estimated at 11kg. I would like to feed him a mix of Wet and dry. Can you advise on the amounts he should have of each food please?
Many thanks
Hi Kelly,
Our team will reach out to you directly to discuss feeding guidelines for your pooch! :)
Hello,
I have a Jack Russell (8 years old) and weigh her food every time I feed her (2x a day). I wanted to know if I’m giving her the proper amount as it seems too little according to the recommendation.
I give her around a total of 70g of dry (50g) and wet food (20g) in the morning and the same in the evening, totalling 140g a day. I do give her 1 dental stick around lunchtime but that’s all.
She goes for a walk twice a day as well. Am I doing the right thing?
Thank you! :)
My giant (72kg) four year old Great Dane cross Newfoundland is currently on home cooked ingrediants and i want to reintroduce grain free kibble as its a lot of work to cook his meals and inconvenient to take on our travels. I have ordered the salmon and sweet potato for sensitive stomachs as he does react to grain (gets itchy and sores), how much kibble should i give him to start.
I’m wanting to transition my 1 year old Cockapoo 9kg to the calm and relaxed dry food. Info says 80-130g per day but not sure exactly how much to give him
Thank you
Hi,we have a 13year old Labrador with poor kidney function , and are feeding her 135 grammes of senior renal kibble ,2 times a day, but are not sure if this is quite enough for a 30 kilo dog . Please advise Thanks
Thank you for getting in touch for feeding guidelines, our team will reach out to you directly to discuss these. If you haven’t heard from us in a few days, get in touch through [email protected] :)
Hiya,
I’m looking to start feeding my 7 yr old Bulldog (26kg) Pooch and Mutt, I want to start him on the Primal high meat dry food or just the complete dry food, but want to include wet food, would want maybe a ratio of 2/3 dry food and 1/3 wet food. Is there a good way to figure out how much this would equate to? Would I just take 2/3 of the recommended amount for him per day of the dry food, then 1/3 of what it recommends if he was just on wet food?
Thank you so much,
Tamsin
Hi Tamsin,
That’s absolutely correct! If you aren’t sure at any point, do reach out to the team on [email protected] and they are more than happy to help with this. :)
Hi, I have an 8.5kg Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppy and am feeding him your wet food. I’m a little confused on your feeding guideline for his weight (3/4 – 11/3). Could you explain how many cartons/packs he should have per day please?
My cavapoo weighs 9.3 KG and is 4yrs old. He has your dry mood kibble, but I want to add a bit of wet food for variety. How much dry food should I take out to put in about 30-40g wet food a day?
I’m very keen to make sure my 5 month old labradoodle does not become overweight.
I’ve been following the chart calculator and fairly sure I’m giving her exactly what she needs, currently 3 times a day (marginally less at lunch as is getting a number of training treats). She is very fit and beautifully socialised as I have a dog walking business.
I’ve no real idea of how heavy she will be fully grown. Her mum was a small working lab 17kilos and her dad a standard poodle. I’ve guesstimated between 22 – 25 kilos.
Currently she weighs 12.8 kilos and I’m feeding her 80-85 grams each meal.
She is definitely hungry and loves her food.
If you guys have any helpful information then I would be very grateful.
Thank you in advance
Karen
My sprocker spaniel bitch is 2 years old and spayed. She currently wrights 15.8kg and should weigh 13kg. How much per day should I give her? She’s on 2 X 100g per day. The vet calculated it should be more like 180g, I calcukate it more like 160g for a 13kg dog. Could you clarify please.
Our team will reach out to you separately via email to discuss these guidelines with you further from [email protected] :)
My cocker spaniel is nearly 2. She put on weight after she was spayed. She’s been on slim and slender for a few weeks and she’s beginning to get a waistline again. Is slim and slender a good food to keep her on or should I change to a different form of pooch and Mutt. I just want to make sure she’s getting the proper nutrients for
her age
Thankyou
Hi Valerie,
We are so pleased to hear your pooch has done so well on our Slim & Slender! You can absolutely keep them on this food if they are getting on well with it, or you can look at moving them over to our Adult Complete Superfood if you would prefer. :)
I have a three year old poodle and am feeding him your calm and relax dry food with fresh cooked chicken, am I ok to also give him the hemp chewies daily, he has always been a little anxious and very Barky. But don’t want to feed him both if your supposed to feed one or the other.
Hi Shaz,
You can absolutely feed these together, we would want to follow the feeding guidelines for both products and monitor for any adverse reactions. If you have any concerns, please reach out to the team on [email protected] :)
Hi
My 6 year old cocker is currently on butternut box, but I’m thinking of trying pooch and mutt but would like to try a kibble and wet food diet for him. He does have two good stools on a morning, but they can be sloppy on a night, I think this is just him. I am just finding the butternut box expensive and I struggle with space for it. Could you advise the best way to try this. He does have quite a sensitive stomach and he weighs around 15kg Thank you!
Hi Rebecca,
We do have our Health & Digestion dry food that would be a great option for your pooch with a sensitive tummy and we also have a Health & Digestion wet food, which you can use as a topper. If you would like to reach out to the team on [email protected], we can take a look into feeding guidelines for you. :)
Hello we have a 10 month old puppy Cocker Spaniel who is about 10.8kg her estimated adult weight is 13-14kg we have the calm and relaxed food for her and your wet food how much should we give her of each as we are worrying that we are under/over feeding her.
Hi Hollie,
If you would like to reach out to the team on [email protected] we can help you with this. :)
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