Puppies are great companions we can give to the younglings of our home. Having puppies will make them more responsible and grow as a person. Puppies help a lot in your child’s advancement to his or her teenage years.
However, sometimes some of us are unable to help these creatures reach their full potential and become healthy. Puppies’ nutritious factors are completely different as well as sensitive from that of adult dogs. Taking care of puppies is a hard job and not everyone can accomplish it.
So, for example, you get to have a 6 month old puppy, and now you need to figure out how much you need to feed the little fella for his/her proper growth. Afraid not as we have gone down the rabbit hole and figured things out for your ease.
Therefore, all you need to do to keep your little fella happy and healthy is to keep reading below. Also make sure to have some pens and papers ready as well, since it might get technical.
How much to feed:
When we are feeding young animals, we need to follow strict rules otherwise the amount of food could be disastrous for their health. Therefore, according to the puppy feeding chart if your puppy is 6 months old it should be around 5kg, for that puppy 120-195g of food should be enough.
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Puppies can be high-maintenance animals just because of their few young years. They require a lot of attention and nutrition. That is one of the reasons parents usually do not get pets easily and are more hesitant to get one in the first place.
There are many factors to consider when feeding your little pup. The first is their breed, the second is their body weight, and other things come into measuring the amount of food we need to give them.
However, for keeping things simple you need to understand these two points are the most crucial among anything else.
As you keep going through these passages, you will understand the science and the reasoning behind all the things that are mentioned here. To learn how you can determine the amount of food you need, keep reading below.
How to determine and calculate how much to feed:
Two simple ways to find the amount of feed you need to give your puppy are discussed in brief below.
20g per 1 kg of body weight:
To feed our puppy 20g per 1 kg of body weight every day, if we have a puppy of 11 lbs or 5 kg then we will need to give the puppy 100g of food per day.
After getting the amount of food we need, we can just divide them into portions and feed that to our pets over a day.
5-6% of their growing body weight:
Another way to find the amount of feed we need to give our puppies is that as a general rule puppies need to be fed 5-6% of their growing body weight. Vice versa the adult dog needs to be fed 2-3% of its ideal body weight.
This declaration is not completely applicable to all breeds of dogs.
Nutrition requirement:
Puppies aged 2 to 3 months old need 4 meals a day. Puppies aged 3 to 6 months old need 3 meals a day. Puppies aged 6 to 12 months need only 2 meals a day.
This is the daily amount of food a typical dog needs throughout their life as they grow, the less amount of food they need. They need to have a lot of food during their puppyhood because of the growth requirements.
Puppies need a balanced diet that gives them their energy, keeps their body humming as well as makes their brain work harder. All of that will help them grow healthy.
How much to feed a 6 month old puppy by weight:
| 6 month old dog weight (KG) | 6 month old dog weight (lbs) | Recommended amount of food |
|---|---|---|
| 1.3-5.4 KG | 3-12 lbs | 1/2-1 1/2 cups |
| 5.8-9 KG | 13-20 lbs | 3/4-1 1/3 cups |
| 9.5-22.6 KG | 21-50 lbs | 1 1/8-2 1/3 cups |
| 23.1-34 KG | 51-75 lbs | 1 1/2-3 3/4 cups |
| 34.4-45.3 KG | 76-100 lbs | 2 7/8-6 1/3 cups |
| 45.8+ KG | 101+ lbs | 6 1/3 cups + 1/3 cup (for every 10lbs over 100) |
How often to feed a 6 month old puppy:
Many people make the mistake of overfeeding their new pets. But they have to know that feeding too much food to the puppies can be risky for their health.
However, if you want to give them the proper amount of food and let them become healthy, then you need to simply follow the recommended food chart.
Young puppies need a lot of feeding during their growing-up process to get the best nutritional gain they can get to adulthood. Puppies require multiple feedings daily more than 3 times daily when they’re smaller than 6 months.
As they get older their feeding times should decrease along with their age. This happens because the amount of energy decreases in their body. It helps them slow down the metabolism rate and grow up at a steady pace.
Therefore, during this time the puppies need food servings twice daily and not any more than that. This will give them enough nutritional gains they need daily. This way your puppies will not be hungry or look malnourished.
What food is best for a 6 month old puppy:
Puppies can sometimes become a hassle because of their dietary preferences. They can be a handful as well, and that is because of how high maintenance they are. When we give puppies adult dog food, it can be hazardous for their health.
Puppies when young do not have as well-developed jaws as an adult does. They also have a smaller opening than an adult does. Thus, this does not allow them to properly fit the adult food in their mouths.
Moreover, adult food is also very much chewier and harder to bite down on when compared to puppies. Below we are going to list some of the best puppy food you can find for our 6 month old puppy.
Make sure to check the labels to see if they contain nutrients like the Omega Fatty Acid DHA, which contains a lot of calories, fat, and extra protein.
- The Farmer’s Dog Subscription Dog Food
- Hill’s Science Diet Puppy Large Breed Dry Dog Food
- Royal Canin Small Puppy Wet Dog Food
- Royal Canin Small Puppy Dry Dog Food
Feeding schedule and best times to feed a 6 month old puppy:
Since we are exclusively talking about a 6-month-old puppy the scheduling is adjusted to that age as well. Keep reading below to know more.
7 am in the Morning:
This is the best time to start your puppy’s day. This allows them to have the most energy throughout the day. Large breed dogs have a slower metabolism and thus feeding them early morning can be great for their digestive system.
Allowing them to have more time to digest food and use that energy properly from food. Then again smaller dogs have higher rates of metabolism and that makes things easier for them.
5 pm in the Afternoon:
This is the last time you should feed your dog throughout the whole day. If you plan on feeding your 6-month-old puppy three times a day, then you need to feed them by the 5 o’clock mark.
This way they will have ample time to digest the food and hit the potty one last time before bed. If we are giving the puppies food three times, then we could feed them during Noon, preferably around noon.
What foods to avoid:
When it comes to food for your puppy then there are a lot of things that we need to avoid. Puppyhood is also perfect to get pet insurance as well.
Since they will not cover any pre-existing illness or disease but rather if they find themselves biting or chewing something they should not.
However, after making sure they have insurance for anything that could happen in the future. We should take the utmost care in managing things around them so that nothing comes into contact with the little puppies.
A particular few should be kept away from your puppies at all times. Such as Chocolate, Coffee, and Caffeine materials.
Also Salt, Salty Snack Foods, Onions, Garlic, Chives, Raw/Undercooked Meat, Eggs, Grapes, Raisins, Citrus, Milk, Dairy products, Xylitol, Coconut, Coconut Oil, macadamia nuts, Alcohol, avocados, and raw bread dough, especially the ones made with yeast.
The above mentioned food should be avoided at any cost to keep your beloved pup healthy and out of risk.
Final Thoughts
An average puppy that is 6 months of age right now, should at least weigh around 5 kg or 11-13 lbs. We should feed them during the morning and before evening to keep them healthy and growing with an effective amount of nutrition. Puppies of this age require 120-195g of food daily.