Puppy Feeding Portion & Schedule
Turn puppy weight into daily meals and cups
Puppy feeding portion, schedule and growth FAQ
Where do the daily calories for my puppy come from?
The calculator starts with a standard resting energy requirement (RER) for dogs (70 × bodyweight0.75 in kg), then multiplies it by a growth factor based on age and how far your puppy is from their expected adult weight. This follows the same “RER × life-stage factor” logic many vets use as a starting point before adjusting for body condition and lifestyle.
Why do you ask for expected adult weight?
Expected adult weight helps the tool tell whether your puppy is closer to the baby stage (<50% of adult weight), the mid-growth stage, or nearly adult size. Young pups closer to 30–40% of adult weight usually get a higher growth factor than those already at 80–90% of adult size. If you do not know the number, you can leave the box blank and the calculator will use age alone.
How many meals per day should a puppy get?
Typical ranges are:
- 6–12 weeks: 3–4 small meals per day.
- 3–6 months: usually 3 meals per day.
- 6–12 months: often 2 meals per day.
- Large/junior dogs 12–18 months: commonly 2 meals per day.
The age band suggests a default, but you can pick the meals per day that matches your routine and then check with your vet, especially for toy breeds and giant breeds.
Do I have to fill in kcal per cup from the bag?
Strictly speaking, no — the tool can always show kcal/day and kcal/meal from your puppy’s weight and age band. But entering the kcal per cup lets it convert that energy into cups and grams per meal, which is what you actually scoop. If you cannot find the number, ask your vet team or the food manufacturer’s support line.
Why does my vet’s plan look different from this calculator?
Your vet might be aiming higher or lower than this tool because they know your puppy’s breed, growth curve, body condition score and medical history. They may also tweak calories for neutering, intense training or health issues. In all of those cases, the vet’s plan wins — treat this page as a way to translate their mg/kg or kcal/day numbers into cups and meals, not as a second opinion.
Can I use this for large-breed puppies?
You can use the tool to keep the math tidy, but large-breed puppies have special growth and calcium needs. They often need diets specifically labelled for large-breed growth plus very careful calorie control. Always pair this calculator with your vet’s advice and a large-breed puppy food that meets current AAFCO/WSAVA-style standards.
How should I adjust portions over time?
Weigh your puppy regularly, check their body condition, and review the plan with your vet at each visit. If weight or shape drifts away from the target curve, your vet may tweak calories, meal size or the number of meals per day. The copyable summary on this page makes it easy to send your current plan and growth history ahead of an appointment.
How to use this puppy feeding portion & schedule calculator
The goal of this page is to turn a few simple numbers — your puppy’s weight, age band and food label — into a clear daily plan: calories, meals per day, and a realistic cups and grams per meal guide.
1. Start with units, age band and weight
The calculator loads in pounds (lb) first for US users. If your scale or vet chart is in kilograms, switch the unit box to kg; the results will then list kg first with lb in brackets. Pick the age band that best matches your puppy (for example 3–6 months for many fast-growing pups), then enter today’s bodyweight in the matching unit.
2. Add an expected adult weight if you know it
If you have a breed weight chart, breeder paperwork or vet estimate, type that number into the expected adult weight box. The calculator uses the ratio between current and adult weight to nudge the growth factor: puppies under about half of their adult weight usually need more calories per kg than those nearly fully grown. If you do not know this figure, leave the box blank — the tool will fall back to the age band alone.
3. Enter kcal per cup and pick meals per day
Look for a line on your puppy food bag that lists kcal per cup. Enter that in the food energy box so the calculator can convert calories into cups and grams. Then choose how many meals per day you currently feed (for example, 3 meals for a 4-month-old pup). The age band text explains whether your choice lines up with common vet guidance.
4. Read daily calories, cups and grams per meal
When you tap Build feeding plan, the left side of the summary card shows:
- Your puppy’s weight in the chosen unit and the other unit.
- Estimated kcal per day for growth at that age.
- The number of meals per day used for the calculation.
- Approximate kcal per meal.
The right side shows the cups and grams per day and per meal when kcal per cup is filled in; otherwise, it reminds you to add the food label to see scoops.
5. Copy the plan and walk it into your vet’s office
Use the Copy summary button to drop the full plan into a note or email. That summary includes your inputs, the calculator’s calorie estimate and the cups/grams per meal. At your next visit, your vet can review it alongside body condition scores, growth charts and lab results and then fine-tune the numbers for your individual puppy.
Think of this tool as a portion-math helper: it keeps conversions and daily splits neat so you can focus on choosing good food, watching growth, and letting your vet handle the medical decisions.
How the puppy feeding math and schedule suggestions work
Behind the scenes, this page uses the same style of calculations many veterinary teams use: a resting energy requirement (RER) based on current weight, multiplied by a growth factor that reflects life stage, then divided into sensible meals and converted into cups and grams.
1. From bodyweight to resting energy (RER)
Whatever unit you choose, the calculator converts weight into kilograms. It then applies:
RER (kcal/day) = 70 × (bodyweight_kg)0.75
This is a widely used formula for dogs’ baseline daily energy needs at rest. Puppies need significantly more than RER, which is where the growth factor comes in.
2. Growth factor from age band and adult weight
For each age band, the tool stores a typical growth multiplier and then nudges it based on how far the puppy is from their expected adult weight:
- 6–12 weeks: roughly 2.5–3.0 × RER.
- 3–6 months: roughly 2.0–2.5 × RER.
- 6–12 months: roughly 1.6–2.0 × RER.
- 12–18+ months (large/junior): roughly 1.4–1.8 × RER.
If you provide an expected adult weight, the calculator estimates the current/expected ratio: puppies far below 50% of adult weight lean towards the higher end of the band; those above 80% lean towards the lower end.
3. From daily calories to cups and grams
Once it has daily calories, the math is straightforward:
Daily kcal = RER × growth_factor
Kcal per meal = Daily kcal ÷ meals_per_day
If the food bag’s kcal per cup is filled in, the tool then uses:
Cups per day = Daily kcal ÷ kcal_per_cup
Cups per meal = Cups per day ÷ meals_per_day
For grams, it assumes a typical 110 g per cup of dry puppy food:
Grams per day ≈ Cups per day × 110
Grams per meal ≈ Grams per day ÷ meals_per_day
You can refine the gram estimate by weighing a level cup of your own food once and adjusting future scoops to match that real-world number.
4. Why these numbers are only a starting point
Even the neatest formula cannot see body condition score, muscle mass, activity level, breed or illness. That is why vets use tools like this as a first draft and then adjust up or down over time. Use this calculator as a way to keep the arithmetic consistent and to have a clear, shareable feeding plan, while your veterinarian remains the final word on what is right for your individual puppy.
References and further reading on puppy nutrition and feeding schedules
Pair this calculator with trusted veterinary resources whenever you plan puppy meals:
- WSAVA Global Nutrition Guidelines — international guidance on building nutrition plans for dogs and cats, including growth life stages.
- 2019 AAHA Canine Life Stage Guidelines (PDF) — life-stage framework for puppies, young adults, adults and seniors, used by many veterinary teams.
- VCA Animal Hospitals — Feeding Growing Puppies — practical overview of meal frequency, portion control and avoiding under- or over-feeding as puppies grow.
- AKC — Puppy Feeding Fundamentals — breeder- and vet-informed tips on how much and how often to feed puppies of different sizes.
Always let your own veterinarian review any calculator-based plan, especially for large-breed, toy, rescued, underweight or medically complex puppies.