How Many Cups of Food for a Puppy: Expert Feeding Guide

If you’re wondering how many cups of food for a puppy are appropriate, the answer depends on the food as well as your puppy’s age, weight, activity level, and other factors. A highly active large-breed 9-month-old puppy eating a relatively low-calorie food will eat more cups of food than a lazy toy-breed 2-month-old puppy eating a high-calorie food.

The food you choose to feed your puppy should have a feeding chart on it to give you a general idea of how much to feed daily. Or, you can feed your puppy We Feed Raw, and we’ll tell you exactly how much of our food to give your puppy daily to help them grow up healthy and strong.

Understanding Puppy Portions: How Many Cups of Food for a Puppy?

How many cups of food for a puppy depends on the calorie content of the food and your puppy’s age, weight, activity level, and other factors. Most bags or cans of dog food provide a chart with daily feeding amount suggestions. You may need to play around a bit with how many cups of food will keep your puppy growing at a healthy pace.

At We Feed Raw, we remove the guessing games. Our quiz asks a bunch of questions about your puppy so we can determine their perfect daily dose. Then, we tell you how much to feed your puppy each day, deliver food to your door, regularly check in to see how your puppy is growing, and adjust feeding and delivery amounts if necessary.

How Often To Feed A Puppy: Creating The Ideal Schedule

Puppies have tiny tummies and big appetites. Young puppies should eat 3-4 times per day until they’re about 4 months old, at which point they can drop down to 2-3 meals per day. Adult dogs can eat once or twice a day.

You may want to feed dinner as early as 5 pm to reduce the chances of your puppy needing to go potty in the middle of the night.

Choosing the Right Puppy Food

Did you know that puppies fed a raw diet have been shown to be less likely to develop digestive issues, skin allergies, and ear infections as adults compared to kibble-fed puppies?

When you choose We Feed Raw, not only do we tell you exactly how much to feed your puppy each day, but we also go the extra step and do a cold-pressure process on our food to inactivate potential pathogens, making it safe for young immune systems.

Speaking of immune systems, We Feed Raw is excellent for gut health, and about 70-90% of your puppy’s immune system lives in their gut, so our food also supports a healthy immune system.

Nutritional Differences: Puppy Food vs. Adult Dog Food

Some foods are labeled for puppies or adult dogs only. If you choose to feed puppy food, you’ll need to switch to adult dog food when your pup reaches their adult size (typically around a year of age, or a little later for large and giant breeds).

Or, you can choose a diet that meets AAFCO nutrition standards for dogs of all life stages, including the growth of large-breed puppies, like We Feed Raw. Then you don’t need to worry about switching your puppy’s food when they grow up.

The Best Diet for Puppies: We Feed Raw

The best diet for puppies is a nutritionally complete and balanced raw diet like We Feed Raw. While your tiny puppy may not look much like a wolf on the outside, their digestive tracts are nearly identical. Dogs’ pointy teeth, hinged jaws, highly acidic stomachs, and short intestines indicate that they are still designed to thrive on a diet full of raw muscle meat, organ meat, and bone rather than a highly processed carb-rich diet.

We Feed Raw uses a cold-pressure process to inactivate potential pathogens, making our food safe for sensitive puppy tummies.

Best yet, we ask a bunch of questions about your puppy, then tell you exactly how much of our food to feed them each day—and then we deliver frozen fresh raw patties directly to your door for convenience.

Take our quiz to get started now.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How many cups of dog food for a puppy should I feed daily?

The amount of dog food you give your puppy daily will depend on the calorie content of the food as well as your puppy’s age, weight, activity level, and other factors. The chart on the food you choose gives you a general idea of how many cups to feed daily, but you may need to adjust the amount depending on how your puppy grows.

How many cups of dog food for puppy is appropriate if I'm unsure about its weight?

A puppy’s current weight is very important when determining how much food to feed them, but you can also estimate based on your puppy’s expected adult weight. Either way, how much you feed your puppy will also be determined by the food’s calorie content, your puppy’s activity level, and other factors.

How many cups of dog food per day for puppy are recommended for larger breeds?

Since each dog food has a different calorie content and each puppy has a different activity level, it’s hard to give general guidelines on how many cups of dog food per day for a puppy. Use the chart on the food to get a general idea or choose a company like We Feed Raw that will tell you exactly how much to feed your puppy daily.

How many cups of dry food for puppy should I provide at each feeding?

How many cups of dry food you feed your puppy depends on your dog’s age, activity level, and weight as well as the calorie content of the food. You wouldn’t feed your puppy the same number of cups of a 600-calorie per serving food as you would a 300-calorie per serving food, for example.

How many cups of food a day for a puppy are necessary for proper growth?

Every puppy needs different amounts of food for proper growth. You should use the chart on the food you select for a general idea and adjust from there, or choose a company like We Feed Raw that tells you exactly how much to feed your puppy.

How many cups of food for a puppy is too much?

If your puppy becomes so squishy that you can no longer feel their ribs or if they seem to be growing too quickly, you are probably feeding them too much food and need to cut back. If you choose our company, We Feed Raw can tell you exactly how much of our food to feed your puppy each day.

How can I be sure I'm providing the correct number of cups of food for a puppy?

You’ll want to keep an eye on your puppy’s body condition as they grow to determine whether you’re feeding them the proper amount. You should be able to easily feel—but not see—your puppy’s ribs, and they should have an hourglass shape when viewed from above.