# How much food to feed puppy a day



## soxgrl09

How much dry food should a 10 week old puppy be fed a day? She's a 10 lb. goldendoodle. Thanks in advance!


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## DaneMama

soxgrl09 said:


> How much dry food should a 10 week old puppy be fed a day? She's a 10 lb. goldendoodle. Thanks in advance!


How many meals are you giving her a day? I would say that two or three is a good place to start. With each meal give either a half cup if only doing two meals, or 1/3 cup if you're doing 3 meals per day. Either way equaling 1 whole cup. Slowly increase that amount every week or two depending on body condition. 

It's ok and actually a good thing to be able to feel all her ribs under the skin and see the last few. Goldendoodles are large breed dogs and keeping them lean while growing, and throughout adulthood, will be ultimately better on their joints and health. People always like a cute, fat, round puppy...but those are the ones that end up with a lot more health issues down the road. People will see you with a lean (and very healthy) puppy and say "You need to feed your puppy! She's starving!!!!" but in reality, you really don't.

My dogs have always been nice and lean, you can see the last two or three ribs on all of them. I get the "You need to feed your dogs!" routine from many people because they have the misconception that their morbidly obese dog is healthy. But I just tell them that my dogs are lean and in shape unlike their obese dog that has what we call in the vet world an "a$$ awning" (the extra fat and skin that hangs down over the dogs butt when they are overweight) LOL


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## rannmiller

hahaha that's a nice term. Yeah I hate it when people think that animals that are a healthy weight are too skinny because people are so used to obese animals they don't know the difference. My dogs are also on the lean side and doing very well because of it. I think the amount you're supposed to feed is dependent on how big they're ideally supposed to be at maturity. So look at what the bag recommends, compare that to what you've been feeding, then ask us. Because some recommendations are just outrageous and others are spot on. Then you have to adjust it to how much your puppy actually needs. What food did you end up settling on?


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## CorgiPaws

*Three words: trial and error.* 

Start with what you think is a good amount, and adjust it accordingly. You'll know if she's gaining or losing weight, and from there you just feed more or less. 
Being able to feel the ribs isn't a bad thing, it's when the hips and sholders stick out that maybe some more weight isn't a bad idea. 
Each puppy is going to be different, and activity level has a LOT to do with it. 
My shepherd mix ate 2 c/day around that age. My Boxer puppy is 11 weeks old, and I offer her 3/4C three times a day, which she rarely finishes but is truely underweight.


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## soxgrl09

Good morning all and thanks for the replies. I think I was feeding her too much so I've cut back to 3 meals of a little over 1/4 cup per feeding equalling around 1 cup a day. I may give a little more, we'll see. She definitely gobbles it up quite quickly and looks around for more. I noticed that she was making alot of poop for a puppy since when I first brought her home, and yes of course my brother in law said wow she's skinny because you can feel her ribs. I definitely do not want a big old fat couch potato  so I want to be sure I'm feeding her correctly!!!!


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## SweetKisses

1 5/8 cups per day should be sufficient. You should be feeding three meals to a pup under 6 months and two meals a day to a pup 6-12 months. Once your dog is full grown you can switch to one meal a day. I still feed throughout the day though, and my Odin is three.


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