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How Much Should a Belgian Malinois Eat? (Feeding Chart)

Belgian Malinois are good at socializing and being friendly to others. You can hardly find any dog for your home which would be easy to handle and safe to be with. Belgian Malinois is only sensitive towards strangers and friendly to known persons. 

Following the below tips and information regarding Belgian malinois would give you an idea on feeding them and help you to take care of them. 

How much should a Belgian Malinois eat?

A Belgian malinois can have 3 to 6 meals a day depending on its age, activity, and weight. The amount of food they need and the times when you need to provide them the food entirely depends on the Belgian Malinois. A slight uncontrolled feeding would lead to overfeeding or underfeeding. 

Usually, Belgian malinois are friendly and socialize easily with the surrounding people. They are also known for being the sweetest to humans. You definitely would want a dog that is friendly and would be comfortable around the home. 

But the Belgian malinois are aggressive when they meet new people. 

Not all the time, yet when they feel unsafe. If you already do have Belgian malinois in the home, you must already know that they are big dogs. You might think they would require more food. Well, it is not necessary that your Belgian malinois would need a huge amount of food.

Instead feeding them uncontrollably can cause them to get bulk. Apart from that, you can not also feed them only by depending on your intuition. You need to consider the age, activity level, and also weight of the Belgian malinois to give them the proper amount of food.

After a certain time period, you should reduce the frequency of feeding time as too frequent feeding can make them sick. You can provide them with kibbles, vegetables, proteins, and homemade cooked foods. And introduce them little by little to new ones. 

2 to 3 week old Belgian Malinois:

2 to 3 weeks Belgian malinois is still a baby. You can not feed them anything you want. The puppy would only need the mother’s milk at this age. If it’s not enough, you can give them milk formula. 

You do not need to worry about feeding them, instead do not make them work.

4 to 5 week old Belgian Malinois:

At the age of 4 to 5 weeks, the puppies can be introduced to a variety of foods. But only the liquid ones. Still, they would not be able to chew food unless they are liquid. 

So mix the solid foods with the water and give them only a small amount. 

6 to 7 week old Belgian Malinois:

Giving 3 to 4 times a meal is enough for a 6 to 7 week old Belgian Malinois. Almost 1.5 to 2 cups of a meal should be given to them. 

After 5 months, the puppies would be able to eat solid foods, little by little. You can give them full solid foods after 6 weeks. 

8 to 9 week old Belgian Malinois:

8 to 9 week Belgian Malinois would need 4 meals a day and the proportion should be divided properly. Where a daily meal would contain 2 to 3 cups of food. You can make them do smaller exercises to get them used to it.  

10 to 11 week old Belgian Malinois:

Well, at this age, you should try letting them out from their place and play with them. The more they socialize at this stage, the friendlier they would become. 

You can feed them 4 times a day while practicing a schedule with 3 to 4 cups of feed. 

3 month old Belgian Malinois:

As your Belgian malinois is already used to kibble foods and exercising more often. You can also try feeding them cooked nutritious foods. 3 to 4 times a day with 4 cups of meal a day would keep your Belgian malinois in shape. 

4 month old Belgian Malinois:

4 months old Belgian malinois are usually trained enough for small works. You can play with them, give them tasks. You can also give them raw foods at this stage. 

Apart from that, the meal can be reduced as the growing age is finally going to fade.

5 month old Belgian Malinois:

Your Belgian malinois is 5 months and is big enough to do small exercises on large scales. Still, do not tire them. You can reduce their meal size to 3 times a day with 3 to 4 cups of food. 

The time schedule can be managed as they would not sleep as much as being a baby. 

6 month old Belgian Malinois:

6 month old Belgian malinois can walk more now but with only small steps. If they get tired, you can provide them with 3 to 4 meals a day with a frequency of 3 times. 

As their metabolism slows down, you can slow down the feeding style. Yet, the normal range should be maintained. 

7 month old Belgian Malinois:

7 month old Belgian malinois would start walking for almost 30 minutes. Not more than this, as they would get tired soon. You can feed them kibbles and other nutritious protein and vegetables in the quantity of 3 to 4 cups. 

8 month old Belgian Malinois:

Soon, you should slow down their feeding rate. Well, it does not mean you should feed them a lower amount of food. Instead, only give them food 2 to 3 times per day. 

You need to introduce the Belgian malinois with less frequent time. 

9 month old Belgian Malinois:

At this stage, your Belgian malinois would take longer walks little by little. Well, after age, the Belgian malinois might be used to having 2 meals a day. Well, you can train them at this stage to have less food as well. 

But do not underfeed them as this would have a direct impact on their health. 

10 month old Belgian Malinois:

3 to 4 cups of food for the age of 10 the month-old Belgian malinois is perfect. You can also decrease the amount a bit if you find your dog seems bulkier. Well, the frequency would vary if the dog becomes too thin or bulky. 

They are almost 1 year and the schedule would differ. 

Belgian Malinois feeding chart:

AgeExpected dog Weight (pounds)Recommended amount of food per day (cups)Daily calorie intakeFeeding frequency
2 week3-51-2 cups1004
3 week3-51-2 cups1004
4 week4-82 cups2504
5 week4-82 cups2504
6 week4-81.5-2 cups2504
7 week4-81.5-2 cups2504
8 week or 2 month6-132-3 cups4504
9 week6-132-3 cups4504
10 week6-133-4 cups4504
11 week6-133-4 cups4504
12 week or 3 month15-223-4 cups 6604
4 month20-263-4 cups8004
5 month25-353-4 cups9004
6 month33-403-4 cups10003
7 month33-443-4 cups10003
8 month35-503-4 cups11003
9 month35-553-4 cups11003
10 month40-553-4 cups13003

Are you overfeeding your Belgian Malinois or not feeding enough?

Well, you would immediately know if you are overfeeding or underfeeding your Belgian malinois after observing its bodily conditions. Most Belgian malinoises are overfed while underfeeding is quite rare. 

Even though you give them kibbles every day, they would still not grow if their need is not fulfilled.

Well, kibble is nutritious. You can also provide them with cooked food if you have time for that. But only giving them food is not enough, the amount and the timing should have to be right. The right feeding time helps the Belgian malinois to get the food and use it for its metabolism. 

Apart from that, overfeeding can occur if you provide them with more food than they need. Often giving them snacks can be a reward but too often would lead them to be bulky. 

On the other hand, if they are working hard or playing too hard on a daily basis, they would require more food than usual. 

As a result, you might skip the part of considering the daily activity of the dog and feed them less. This can lead to not feeding enough food to them. Overall, feeding the right proportion of food can be difficult yet the average food quantity should be provided. 

How frequently to feed your Belgian Malinois?

Well, it fully depends on the age of your Belgian Malinois. Even, the height, and activity would also have an impact on deciding the feeding time. Most Belgian malinois need 3 to 6 meals a day. The proportion would also vary. 

This entirely depends on the stage of life of the Belgian Malinois. 

If the Belgian malinois is a young puppy, it would certainly need more food for its growth. Meanwhile, adult dogs require less food. It would vary with their age and also with the activity they do. 

You should at least feed them twice a day to fulfill their needs and also make them do less work unless they are adults.

Recommended feeding time:

Normally you would need your Belgian malinois to be fed at least twice a day. It is in the morning and in the evening. As the nighttime is sensitive to them, you should avoid feeding them just before sleeping time. 

In the case of puppies, you would need to feed them 3 to 6 times a day.

No matter what the portion is, divide it equally for every time of feeding. You can feed the puppy at 7 am in the morning, at lunchtime, in the evening, and also in dinnertime. 

Well, puppies spend most of their time sleeping, so choose the schedule according to your convenience.

Final thoughts

Overall, the amount of food required for the Belgian malinois depends on the puppy and also on the owner. In the case of food, you need to choose it on the basis of the dog, weight, and age. Meanwhile, the feeding time is on the owner as it should be convenient to feed the Belgian malinois.