Your 9 month old puppy is nearing adulthood. This means their dietary needs are changing. As your puppy grows, they will need different amounts of food. Eventually, they can transition from puppy food to an adult dog food.
How much to feed a 9 month old puppy?
When it comes to how much to feed a puppy, it will vary greatly based on your puppy age and weight. It’s important to feed your pooch the right amount of food to keep them at a healthy weight, and to support their growth.
How Much to Feed a Puppy By Weight at Maturity
One way to determine how much to feed your puppy is to use their weight at maturity as a guideline. How do you determine how much your pup will weigh once they are finished growing?
One way to determine your puppy weight at maturity is to multiply their weight at 4 months old by 2. Another method is to search for breed averages for your dog’s breed.
Lastly, if you want high accuracy, you can have a dna analysis performed. This will give you a very clear picture of your dog’s weight and size at maturity, but it’s a bit expensive.
Feeding at 9 months based on weight at maturity guidelines:
- 3-12 pounds – Feed as an adult
- 12-20 pounds – 1 to 1 1/2 cups
- 21-50 pounds – 2-3 cups
- 51-75 pounds – 2 1/2 to 4 3/4 cups
- 76-100 pounds – 4 to 7 cups
- 101 pounds and over – 7 cups plus 1/3 cup for each 10 lbs of body weight over 100 lbs
The recommendations above are for puppies from 9-11 months. At 12 months and over, the guidelines changes again.
Guidelines for feeding at 1-2 years are:
- 3-12 pounds – Feed as an adult
- 12-20 pounds – Feed as an adult
- 21-50 pounds – 2 to 4 1/4 cups
- 51-75 pounds – 2 5/8 cups to 6 1/4 cups
- 76-100 pounds – 5 5/8 cups to 11 cups
- 101 pounds and over – 11 cups plus 1/3 cup for each 10 lbs of body weight over 100 lbs
Feeding Puppies Based on Current Weight
You can also choose to feed your puppy based on their current weight. Technically, you should feed them based on their ideal weight. However, if you don’t have a puppy growth chart handy, it’s fine to use their current weight as long as they aren’t significantly over or under weight.
Feeding guidelines for puppies 6-12 months old
- 3 lbs. – 1/2 cup
- 6 lbs. – 3/4 cup
- 10 lbs. – 1 1/4 cups
- 15 lbs. – 1 2/3 cups
- 20 lbs. – 2 cups
- 30 lbs. – 2 3/4 cups
- 40 lbs. – 3 1/3 cups
- 50 lbs. – 4 cups
- 60 lbs. – 4 2/3 cups
- 70 lbs. – 5 1/4 cups
- 80 lbs – 5 2/3 cups
Following Package Guidelines
Your best bet for determining how much to feed your pup is to follow the guidelines on the package. This is because each dog food has a different nutritional value. A premium food might be more nutrient dense, and require less volume of food than another brand.
Canned Food Amounts
If you want to feed your puppy canned food, or combine their dry food with canned food, you’ll need to know how canned food equates to dry food.
3 oz of canned food is equivalent to 1/4 cup dry food. So, if your dog needs 2 cups of dry food, you would need to feed them 24 ounces of canned food.
How often to feed a 9 month old puppy
Young puppies require feeding as much as 4 times a day. Between 3 and 6 months, you can begin feeding them 3 times a day. At 6 months and beyond, you can feed them twice a day.
What to feed a 9 month old puppy?
Some breeds will be ready for adult food by 9 months. Others will need to stay on puppy food longer. Their size also plays a role in the type of food you should be feeding your 9 month old puppy.
Small Breeds
Small or toy breeds can transition to adult food at 9 months old, if they haven’t already. You may choose a formula created for small breeds, but this isn’t necessary at this stage.
Medium Breeds
Medium breeds may need to stay on puppy food a little longer. If they have been spayed or neutered, they have reduced nutrition requirements.
So, if your puppy has been spayed, it’s safe to change them to adult food at 9 months. If they haven’t, continue feeding puppy food until they are a year old.
Large Breeds
Large breed puppies should be on puppy food designed for large breeds until at least 1 year of age. They grow slower than smaller breeds, so they require puppy nutrition for a longer period of time. If they are not spayed or neutered, you may want to continue feeding them puppy food until 13 or 14 months.
Wet vs Dry Food
Both wet and dry food can be purchased in puppy and adult dog formulas. Wet food contains more water, which can help with hydration. Most dogs prefer the taste of wet food, and its easier to chew.
The meat found in wet food is typically less processed than the meat in dry food. Protein and fat content is usually a bit higher for wet food as well.
Wet food cannot be left in your dog’s bowl for more than a few hours. After 4 hours, it can grow harmful bacteria. It’s more expensive than dry food, and messier for you.
Dry food is easy to prepare, and isn’t messy. Some dry foods contain probiotics which can aid digestion. Many vets believe that kibble can help your pooch keep their teeth clean as well.
Which is better? It really depends on the preferences of you and your pup. You can also mix wet and dry food, for the best of both worlds. You can mix them together with each meal, or serve one meal of wet food and another of dry food.
Should I Feed My Puppy Specialized Food?
Some owners wonder if they should be feeding their dog a special food. There are foods for overweight dogs, active dogs, and foods that focus on helping or preventing a specific health problem.
Any quality food should be nutritionally balanced and complete. This means as long as they are eating the right food for their age, you don’t have to opt for a specialized food.
If you wish to choose a specialized food, there’s no harm in it either.