How much to feed a 3 month old puppy

3-Month-Old Puppy: Vet Approved Guide of What to Expect

Welcoming a new puppy into your home can be an overwhelming experience. At 3 months old, your fluffy bundle of joy is at a crucial stage in their development, and as a new owner, you may not know how to care for them to ensure that they become a well-rounded adult dog. But dont worryweve got you covered with this guide.

Read on as we explore what you should expect at this age, so you can navigate this phase of puppyhood in the best possible way!

Behavior

A 3-month-old puppys behavior is characterized by nipping and chewing, sudden bursts of energy followed by almost comatose naps, plenty of curiosity and exploration, and of course, mischief!

At this stage, you can also expect them to start teething, which explains their obsession with chewing everything that comes their way. Biting is how puppies may communicate and express their desire to play, but it is essential to discourage this behavior. Otherwise, you may face more severe problems once they reach adult size.

Start socializing and training your puppy as early as possible, but keep in mind that their attention span is short at this age. So, keep training sessions brief, and focus on basic commands for now, like sit, give paw, and lie down.

Puppy Food Basics

During this stage, choosing a high-quality, nutritionally balanced puppy food is critical to support their rapid growth and development. Look for options with essential nutrients like protein, fat, calcium, digestible carbohydrates, and omega-3 fatty acids like docosahexaenoic acid for bone health and brain development.

Feeding Schedule

Typically, by 3 months of age, your puppy will need three to four meals per day. During this time, your puppy could start to lose their chubby belly. Keep puppy-sized portions while their bodies grow. Dont hesitate to talk with your vet to determine the best feeding plan based on the breed and size of your tiny four-legged companion.

Breed-Specific Growth

Different breeds grow at different rates, so understanding your puppys breed characteristics will help you monitor their weight and growth rate. Large breeds may generally experience a more prolonged growth period, with a few continuing to grow for up to 2 years, while smaller breeds will grow more slowly and generally stop between 6-12 months of age.

Weight Monitoring

Regularly monitor your puppys weight to ensure that they are growing at a healthy pace. Consult your vet if you have concerns about your puppys growth or if you are unsure about their ideal weight range.

Training

Its best to start training your puppy as early as possible. This way, you can begin to socialize them, prevent any behavior issues before they occur, and teach them basic commands.

Using treats is an excellent way to train your puppy and reinforce positive behaviors. Be sure to choose treats that are appropriate for their size and age, and keep in mind their overall calorie intake. Overfeeding can lead to weight issues, so strike a balance between treats and regular meals.

Crate Training

Crate training is a positive way to create a safe and secure space for your puppy. It aids in housebreaking and provides your puppy with a sense of security. Introduce the crate gradually, using positive reinforcement to associate it with comfort and relaxation.

You can make your puppys crate extra cozy without breaking the bank. Theres no need to buy a fancy dog bed, as all the chewing is likely to ruin it, anyway. Instead, place down a few soft, cheap blankets for a cozy spot. Toss in a few puppy-friendly toys, and youre all set! If possible, keep the crate in your bedroom so your pup feels close to their new family.

Exercise

As you might expect, a 3-month-old puppy is bursting with playful energy. The best way to get them to use up their energy without harming the development of their bones is to aim for one or two short walks of about 5 minutes for each month of their age (so, currently, about 15 minutes). Dont overdo it, and avoid jogging with your little one for now, as the impact of running or too much exercise could lead to injury and improper development.

Socialization

Properly socializing your puppy during this critical phase of their development will have a positive impact on their long-term behavior. Therefore, do not neglect this essential step in their transformation into a confident, happy, and balanced adult dog. Introduce your puppy to new people, animals, objects, places, and other unfamiliar things, but always do it gradually so as not to frighten them. Joining puppy classes is another fun way to strengthen their social skillsand yours too! Just be sure to only associate with dogs that arent showing signs of illness and that have been vaccinated.

Sleep Requirements

Puppies need plenty of sleep to support their growth and development. At 3 months old, your puppy may sleep up to 20 hours per day! Ensure that they have a comfortable and quiet place to rest, and establish a consistent bedtime routine to promote healthy sleep habits.

Here are tips that can help make your puppy sleep more soundly:

• Respect your puppys sleep by avoiding disturbances when theyre resting. While cuddling is tempting, refrain from letting them rely on you to fall asleep. Keep an eye on them, as theyll likely need to go outside once they wake up.
• Teach your puppy where to sleep by guiding them to a designated spot like a crate or dog bed. Encourage napping in a quiet area, helping them learn that its their dedicated sleep space.
• Establish a routine that balances play and rest, ensuring that your puppy gets enough sleep.
• Be aware of signs of tiredness to prevent overstimulation, and guide them to their sleeping area to wind down.

Grooming

Grooming your 3-month-old puppy involves gentle brushing to prevent tangling, using a puppy-friendly shampoo for a bath about once a month, and occasionally trimming their tiny nails. You can also introduce them to cleaning their ears with a damp cotton pad and brushing their teeth. If your puppy has long hair, you can take them to a professional dog groomer for a whole new experience.

Once your puppy is 3 months old, its time to start using shampoo and conditioner. Make sure to choose products that are designed for dogs and that are pH balanced.If youre in a hurry or your pup seems too reluctant to get in the water, consider using dog wipes.

Healthcare

During this stage, your puppys vaccine schedule is ongoing. While its great to let them explore, ensure safe interactions with familiar vaccinated pets to reduce disease risks. Make sure youre taking your pup in for regular veterinary visits, which likely wont be a problem if youre on a proper vaccination schedule. Your vet will be able to make recommendations on diets, treats, and other essentials and make sure they are growing and developing as they should.

Vaccines and Boosters

Your puppy will visit the vet frequently for vaccines, as puppies require multiple boosters. The distemper combination series usually starts between 6 and 8 weeks and ends around 12-16 weeks with rabies available after 12 weeks of age. Talk to your vet about non-core vaccines (such as Lyme disease, leptospirosis, and canine influenza) based on your puppys lifestyle and local disease prevalence.

Final Thoughts

Adopting a new puppy is a unique experience that is not without its challenges. Like most babies, 3-month-old puppies can be particularly intense during this phase of their development, alternating between exuberant energy, restful naps, frequent feeding, nipping, and chewing on everything. But when you know what to expect, navigating and appreciating this short period of your new fluffy treasures life becomes more manageable. Make sure to cherish every precious moment with your little one, as they grow up way too fast!

Featured Image Credit: anetapics, Shutterstock

Puppy Feeding Fundamentals

Walk down the dog food aisle of any large pet-supply store, or peruse the shelves at a boutique pet-food shop, and you can quickly become overwhelmed. This is especially true for puppy owners, and probably even more so for first-time puppy owners. When did it get so complicated? Back in the day, dog food options were far more limited, and even responsible dog owners didnt worry too much about what went into their dogs dish.

The process may now be somewhat more involved, but thats a good thing. Higher quality ingredients with better sourcing and specialized diet formulas lead to overall better health for our puppies. And every bit as important as what to feed your puppy is having an understanding of his special nutritional needs.

All puppies are different, so if you have any concerns or questions about your puppys food, feeding schedule, or nutritional health, always consult your breeder or veterinarianthats what theyre there for.

Many puppy owners wonder, How long should I feed puppy food? Here is a general timeline for what your puppy needs at each stage of his first year of life.

Feeding YourPuppy: A First-Year Timeline

• 612 weeks: Growing pups should be fed puppy food, a diet specially formulated to meet the nutritional needs for normal development. Feeding adult food will rob your puppy of important nutrients. Four feedings a day are usually adequate to meet nutritional demands. Large breeds should be fed unmoistened dry food by 9 or 10 weeks; small dogs by 12 or 13 weeks.
• 36 months: Sometime during this period, decrease feedings from four to three a day. A pup should be losing her potbelly and pudginess by 12 weeks. If she is still roly-poly at this age, continue to feed puppy-size portions until body type matures.
• 612 months: Begin feeding twice daily. Spaying or neutering lowers energy requirements slightly; after the procedure, switch from nutrient-rich puppy food to adult maintenance food. Small breeds can make the switch at 7 to 9 months; bigger breeds at 12, 13, even 14 months. Err on the side of caution: Better to be on puppy food a little too long than not long enough.
• After age 1: Most owners feed adult dogs two half-portions a day.

How much food should I give my puppy?

Theres a saying in canine feeding: Watch the dog, not the dish. Body condition, not the amount eaten or left in the bowl, should determine portion sizes. Portion sizes depend on individual metabolism and body type, and nutritional requirements vary from dog to dog. If your puppy occasionally skips a meal or picks at food, dont worry. It could mean she is ready to eliminate a feeding or that you have given her too much, in which case simply reduce the quantity served.

Also, if you are doing treat-based training with your pup, adjust the amount you feed at mealtime accordingly. Whenever training with treats, keep the treat as small as possible.

How often should I feed my puppy?

Like human babies, puppies start out needing many small meals a day, of a food formulated for their special nutritional requirements. Most, but not all, dogs finish meals quickly. To discourage picky habits, feed at regular times in regular amounts and dont leave food down for more than 10 to 20 minutes.

Your breeder will be an excellent source of guidance for both of these questions, as will your vet.

Is it worth it to buy expensive puppy food?

Premium dog food has higher nutritional density, so you can feed your dog less to achieve the same results. Also, premium foods have stable ingredient profiles; the composition of bargain brands can vary from batch to batch.

The major dog-food companies invest heavily in product development and research, constantly upgrading formulas to keep up with their competitors. This means that feeding premium food puts you on the cutting edge of canine nutrition.

Dry food, wet food, or both?

Many pet-food companies have worked with canine-nutrition scientists to develop special formulas for both large- and small-breed puppies.

• Canned foodis the most expensive to feed, and dogs often find it most palatable. Be careful of all-meat claims, though. Your dog should have a complete, balanced diet to fulfill nutritional requirements. Meat alone may not do it.
• Semi-moist foodis available in one-serving packets. It is usually made to look like hamburger.
• Kibbleis the most economical, and the major makers offer a complete and balanced diet for dogs of all sizes and ages. Dry food can be fed exactly as it comes from the bag.

Some dog owners say there is an oral-hygiene advantage in hard kibble because the friction produced helps to keep the gums and teeth healthy. Kibble can be moistened, either with water or canned food. Although unnecessary, that addition may make food tastier.

Food for Big Puppies & Little Puppies

There are differences between the nutritional needs of small-breed and large-breed dogs, and that is especially true for puppies. Adult dogs who weigh less than 20 pounds are considered small-breed dogs. These puppies grow quickly and may reach adulthood by 9 months. Large-breed puppies (20 pounds and up), grow more slowlyit takes anywhere from 15 to 24 months to reach full size and maturity.

Chart Your Puppys Weight and Growth

• There are growth-and-weight charts available in print and online. Weigh the puppy weekly and record his progress, comparing him to breed-appropriate weight charts. Adjust his food intake to achieve an average rate of growth.
• Weighing a dog, even a squirming puppy, is easy. Just weigh yourself, then weigh yourself holding the puppy. Subtract the differencethats the puppys weight. Voila!
• Dont worry about an ounce or two either way; no two dogs, even within breeds, are built exactly alike.
• A young dog carrying too much weight has an increased risk of orthopedic problems, due to stress on immature joints. Obesity can also lead to diabetes, diseases of the heart and other organs, and general lethargy.

My puppy is begging! Should I feed him people food or table scraps?

One little French fry will invariably lead to another, and another. Before long, an obese dog will be crowding you off the love seat. Also, a steady diet of table scraps can create a nutritional imbalance, and certain ingredients and spices in your favorite dishes can cause upset stomach in dogs.

The pleading gaze of a begging dog can be irresistible. This is no accident. During his long partnership with man, the dog has perfected cunning methods of exploiting the human habit of associating food with affection. In prehistoric times semi-domesticated canines first cultivated human beings as a food provider. As the two species grew closer, dogs modified begging behaviors to maximize results: The more pathetic a dog seemed, the more scraps were tossed his way. Dogs have since refined this approach into a low-risk, high-reward hunting technique.

But dont be fooled: Begging is not an emotional crisis or a test of your love. Its what scientists might call an evolutionary survival strategy, or what the rest of us might call a scam. Allowing your dog to guilt you into overfeeding him, or serving him a steady diet of table scraps in a misguided show of affection, can have harmful or even fatal results.

Puppy Feeding Tidbits

• Feeding your pup the moment you get home may encourage puppy separation anxiety. Play or grooming is a more positive way to say hello.
• When medically necessary, you can purchase canned or dry prescription diets from veterinarians to feed dogs with kidney disease, heart disease, diabetes, and other serious conditions. These foods should never be fed without a prescription.
• Some vitamin or mineral supplements, when utilized incorrectly (such as extra calcium given to a large-breed dog on a good diet), will do more harm than good.
• Before making a major change in your dogs diet, consult with your veterinarian and, when possible, the breeder. Once the formula is chosen, stick with it. Sudden changes in food may cause digestion problems.
• Small portions of carrot or apple chunks are healthful low-calorie snacks most dogs love.
• Fresh water should be available at all times. During the summer months, consider setting up multiple indoor/outdoor water stations. To avoid a buildup of bacteria, wash the water bowl daily.

How to Switch from Puppy Food to Adult Food

When switching from puppy food to adult food, you should make the switch gradually over a period of a few days. A sudden change in your dogs diet may cause stomach upset. Talk to your veterinarian about the best food for your puppy.

Puppy Feeding Advice

Make sure everyone gets with the program

Your entire household must be committed to your dogs feeding regimen. If theres a soft touch for a handout in your family, your dog will find it and exploit it, thus undoing the good you are trying to do. Keeping a dog trim takes a conscious effort from everyone on your team.

Give a dog a bone? Careful!

Our best advice here is caution. Poultry and pork bones, or cooked bones of any kind, are strictly forbidden. They splinter into shards that can cause choking and serious damage to the dogs mouth, throat, or intestines. Any bone, in fact, once chewed into small pieces, can block the intestines and lead to a nasty bout of constipation, can cause lacerations of the mouth and internal organs, or can lodge in the throat with fatal results. It is important to note that bones have little if any nutritional value.

There are other ways to satisfy a dogs craving to chew. Commercially available chew toys and simulated bones are made for dogs of all sizes.

As the famous food writer M.F.K. Fisher wrote, First we eat. Then we do everything else. This is true for our pups, too.

Need help with your adorable new puppy? Training your dog can be challenging without expert help. Thats why were here to help you virtually, through AKC GoodDog! Helpline. This live telephone service connects you with a professional trainer who will offer unlimited, individualized advice on everything from house-training to behavioral issues.