How Much Do Dogs Eat?

Last Updated on December 21, 2020 by Woody Pet

How Much Do Dogs Eat? It Could Be More Than You!

Feeding is quite an important process in the life of any living being, whether if it is a human, an animal or a vegetable.

While they vary between species, the premise is the same: Fill the body of the being with the required nutrients to continue living.

When it comes to dogs, the answer can be as complex as you may expect, even though they are as omnivores as we are. That however does not mean that everything we eat can also be eat by dogs. 

One of the best ways to keep dogs healthy is to feed them the right amount of a high-quality dog food.

Feeding your dog too much or not enough can have certain health consequences. So, with that in mind, how much do dogs eat? Let’s see why it matters and what you can do to determine how much to feed your dog.

How Much Do Dogs Eat

How Much Do Dogs Eat? The Correct Food Amounts

When it comes to dog’s feeding, they should strike a balance where they are not eating too much or too little.

If you feed your dog too little, they can suffer from nutritional deficiencies. However, if you feed your dog too much, it will eventually result in obesity and its related health issues

Some of those said health issues can be: Musculoskeletal problems like osteoarthritis, cruciate ligament ruptures, and intervertebral disk disease, congestive heart failure, labored breathing Cushing’s disease, skin disorders, some types of cancer, shortened life span and an overall reduced quality of life.

Giving your dog the right amount of quality dog food can help support your pet’s overall health and keep them feeling their best.

That is why the right amount of dog food matters but this alone does not answer how much do dogs eat?

How to find the right amount of dog food for your dog?

In the same line as how much do dogs eat, let’s see how to find the right amount of dog food for your dog.

Sometimes it would be quite amazing to see they eat way more than a human can eat, but that can be because of so many factors.

The correct meal size depends on factors like: Type of food, number of meals, body weight, metabolic rate and the amount of exercise your dog does.

In small toy breeds of dogs weighing around 3 to 6 pounds, the amount of food would be around the 1/3 and ½ cups, giving them between 139 and 233 calories.

Next up are the small breeds of dogs, which around 10 to 20 pounds should eat between ¾ of a cup and 1 1/3 of a cup, with calories ranging from 342 and 576 calories.

Medium sized breeds of dogs could eat between 1 ¾ cup and 2 2/3 cups with calories between 781 and 1145, while weighing between 30 to 50 pounds.

Finally, the big dogs should eat around 3 to 4 and a half cups, containing around 1313 calories to 1926 calories (even more than a human in some circumstances) while weighing between 60 to 100 lbs.

It is important to note that in even bigger and heavier dogs, you should feed approximately 1/3 cup for every 10 pounds when they are over 100 pounds.

And puppies may eat way more than adults, going for 2 to 3 times the feeding amounts of an adult dog.

How often should you feed a dog?

Continuing on how much do dogs eat, and related to how to give them the right amount of food, let’s see how often should you feed a dog?

A lot of different factors go into how often you should feed your dog. The type of food is relevant, especially when talking about bloat, as we will see later. Also important is your dog’s appetite and temperament, as well as the breed.

Small breeds and toy breeds do well with multiple feedings, as they can easily get hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) if fasted for too long. Large dogs could do well with only one meal per day – but should they?

Of course, it’s very handy to feed a dog once daily. But there are some drawbacks. The cons of feeding your dog one large meal per day are: The danger of bloat, hunger in dogs with hearty appetites and the higher acidity levels in the stomach.

It is recommended feeding your dog at least two meals per day. There are several drawbacks to feeding your dog only once a day.

However, if you would prefer only feeding once daily, you can try and see how your dog feels on this feeding schedule. If you feel like your dog would benefit from three meals per day, that’s certainly worth a try. It might help your dog feel full between meals.

Growing puppies have different needs than adult dogs. They cannot go as long without food.

When considering how many times a day a dog should eat, if your pooch is still growing, opt for at least two meals. Sometimes they can get as high as four meals for day (especially when they have between two to four months of age) and gradually going down to between two and three daily meals.

How Much Do Dogs Eat – Conclusion

In a short answer to how much do dogs eat, they would eat a lot if we let them. But that would not be the healthiest approach.

No, the best way is to adhere to what some charts that relate the dog’s weight with its intake of calories, like the one above in one of the questions, to make a safe and balanced diet.

The diet of a dog when it is growing up can be a bigger one than the one in adult dogs. It is a metabolically related issue and that probably happen with most mammals, including humans. However, that does not mean that you should keep it for the rest of its life. Its body would develop and use just the right amount the calories according to its activity and lifestyle.

Remember to always stick to a balanced diet. Too much food would not be beneficial and can make an obese dog. And the same goes the other way: Too little food would make a dog that can’t do its activities properly because of a lack of energy. 

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