Puppies eat more for their size than adult dogs. A common raw feeding guide starts at around 8 to 10% of a young puppy’s current weight a day, split over four meals, and eases down towards adult amounts of 2 to 3% by about a year to 18 months.
Raw food for a puppy works on the same idea as for an adult dog: muscle meat, bone and organ. The difference is the amount, which changes almost month by month, and the number of meals.
How much raw food to feed a puppy, by age
This is a guide many raw feeders use. It’s based on your puppy’s current weight, so weigh them every week or two and recalculate.
| Age | Per day, % of current weight | Meals a day |
|---|---|---|
| 8 to 10 weeks | about 8 to 10% | 4 |
| 10 weeks to 4 months | easing to about 8% | 4 |
| 4 to 6 months | about 6 to 7% | 3 |
| 6 to 9 months | about 5% | 3 |
| 9 to 12 months | about 4% | 2 |
| From 12 months | easing to 2 to 3% | 2 |
As an example, a 12-week-old puppy weighing 8 kg would eat about 640 g a day at 8%, split into four meals.
At 8 to 10 weeks, published raw feeding guides range from about 8 to 10% of current weight, easing to about 8% by four months. Our feed calculator uses 8% from 2 to 4 months over four meals, then 6.5% from 4 to 6 months over three, 5% from 6 to 9 months over three, 4% from 9 to 12 months over two, and 3% from a year. It nudges the share about 10% up or down for a quieter or busier puppy. If you enter the weight your puppy is expected to reach as an adult, it also keeps the daily amount at or under 3% of that adult weight, which brings bigger puppies down sooner. If a young puppy is lean and always clears the bowl, move towards 10%, and go by your puppy’s shape either way.
| Puppy | Age | Share (calculator) | A day | Each meal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small breed, 3 kg | 3 months | about 8% | about 240 g | about 60 g, four meals |
| Medium breed, 8 kg | 3 months | about 8% | about 640 g | about 160 g, four meals |
| Medium breed, 14 kg | 5 months | about 6.5% | about 910 g | about 300 g, three meals |
| Large breed, 25 kg | 7 months | about 5% | about 1.25 kg | about 420 g, three meals |
For a large breed, the adult-weight cap often comes in. A 25 kg puppy expected to reach 35 kg is capped at about 1.05 kg a day, 3% of 35 kg, rather than 1.25 kg.
Some raw feeders use a different rule instead: about 2 to 3% of the weight the dog is expected to reach as an adult. Whichever you use, watch your puppy’s shape and adjust. You should be able to feel their ribs easily without seeing them.
Where to start
Keep it simple. When people ask us about a pup of around eight weeks, we suggest starting with small amounts of Chicken Mince. It’s a single protein, so it’s easy to see how your puppy gets on.
From there, Puppy Mix is the blend we made for younger dogs. It’s beef, chicken, offal and green tripe. Our calculator also suggests Breeders Mix and single-protein minces for younger dogs, and you’ll find them together in our raw puppy food range.
If your puppy came from a breeder who raw feeds, ask what they’ve been eating and start with the same protein. Changing one thing at a time makes it easy to see what suits them. If you’re the breeder, our guide to weaning puppies onto raw food covers the weeks before this.
Switching a puppy to raw
- Mix a small amount of raw into their current food.
- Increase the raw share every couple of days over a week or so.
- Watch their stools. If they go loose, hold where you are until things settle, then carry on more slowly.
Our guide to switching to raw has a fuller plan. Skip the fasting step it mentions for young puppies.
Bones and organ
Puppy Mix already has offal in it. If you start on Chicken Mince, bring organ in once your puppy is settled, the same way as for an adult dog. For whole raw bones, talk to your vet or your breeder about when and which to introduce.
Large-breed puppies
Big breeds such as Labradors, German Shepherds, Huntaways and Great Danes grow for longer than small ones, often until 18 months or more, so they stay on puppy amounts for longer. Use the same table, based on your puppy’s current weight, and recalculate every week or two as they grow.
The thing to watch with a big puppy is weight. Many vets and breeders suggest keeping large-breed puppies lean as they grow rather than pushing them to grow fast, so check their shape often and trim the amount if they start to look round. Ask your vet to check their growth at each visit.
Breeders Mix and Puppy Mix both make a good base for a big puppy, and buying in bulk makes sense at these amounts: a 20 kg puppy eating 5% of its weight gets through about 1 kg a day, or a 10 kg carton every 11 days or so. The feed calculator has a large puppy covered: choose Puppy, then their age.
Portioning for a puppy
Our mixes and minces come as blocks of about 500 g. A puppy eating three or four small meals a day is easy to set up for:
- Thaw a block or two in the fridge overnight.
- Split it into meal-sized tubs, or keep it in one lidded container and scoop each meal out.
- Keep two to three days’ worth in the fridge, and pop the rest straight back in the freezer. Raw meat thawed in the fridge can be refrozen.
- Weigh your puppy every week or two and work the amount out again.
A small-breed puppy on about 240 g a day takes about two days to finish a block, and a big one on over a kilo a day can go through two blocks a day. Our guide to portioning raw dog food has more on splitting a box.
Ordering for a growing puppy
Because the amount changes as they grow, many owners order a box at a time to start and move to a subscription once they know how long a box lasts. You can set an order to repeat every 1 to 8 weeks and change or pause it in My Account before the weekly cut-off. Delivery is $5 an order whatever the weight.
Hygiene with a puppy in the house
Puppies explore everything with their mouths, and they tend to be messy eaters. Feed them on a surface that’s easy to clean, pick up anything left after the meal, and wash bowls and hands afterwards. Our guide to thawing and storing raw food has the routine.
Puppies change fast. Ask your vet to check their weight and condition as they grow, and talk to them before switching if your puppy has any health concerns.
Puppy questions
When does my puppy move to adult amounts?
Gradually, through their first year or so. Most dogs are on adult amounts somewhere between 12 and 18 months, with bigger breeds often at the later end.
How do I portion such small meals?
Our food is cut into blocks, so you can thaw one at a time in the fridge. Weigh a scoop of food once, then you know how many scoops each meal needs.
Common questions
How much raw food should a puppy eat?
About 8 to 10% of their current weight a day at 8 to 10 weeks, easing to about 8% by four months and down to adult amounts of 2 to 3% by about a year to 18 months. The tables above and the calculator work it out by age.
How many meals a day for a puppy?
Four meals up to about four months, then three until about nine months, then two. That’s what the calculator plans too.
Can a puppy eat adult raw food?
Yes, at puppy amounts. Chicken Mince, Breeders Mix and our single-protein minces are suggested for puppies by the calculator as well as Puppy Mix.
Can puppies eat raw eggs or fish?
Once they’re settled on their main food, as a small extra. Our guides to raw eggs and raw fish cover both.
How do I know my puppy is the right weight?
Feel for the ribs and look for a waist. Our guide to the dog body condition score shows how to check.
More guides
Dog body condition score: is my dog the right weight?
Check your dog's ribs, waist and tummy tuck on the 9-point scale, then adjust raw amounts, with a worked example for a 20 kg dog.
Weaning puppies onto raw food: a guide for breeders
Week-by-week weaning onto raw food for breeders: texture, meals, amounts per puppy, feeding mum and how many boxes a litter goes through.
Can dogs eat raw fish?
Why raw feeders add fish, why to freeze it first, how much to feed and what to know about bones.