Puppies do great on raw, with a few adjustments
Raw feeding suits puppies well, but they are not just small adults. Growing dogs need more food relative to their size, and their needs change quickly month to month. The good news is that starting a puppy on raw is straightforward once you know the two things that are different: how much to feed, and how often to reassess.
How much to feed a puppy
Where an adult dog eats around 2 to 3 percent of its body weight a day, a puppy eats well above that, and the rate tapers as they grow. A rough guide by age:
- 8 to 16 weeks: around 8 percent of current body weight per day.
- 4 to 6 months: around 6 percent.
- 6 to 8 months: around 5 percent.
- 8 to 12 months: around 4 percent, easing toward the adult rate.
Because a puppy's weight changes fast, the amount changes fast too. The simplest way to stay current is to pop your puppy's weight and age into our feeding calculator and use the puppy setting, then re-check it every couple of weeks as they grow. Split the daily amount across three meals a day while they are young, dropping to two meals as they mature.
Getting started
If your puppy is coming off a kibble or is new to your home, ease them in gently rather than switching everything at once. Our 10-day transition guide works for puppies too, just at their higher feeding rate. Start with a single protein, get things steady, then begin rotating for variety.
A note on balance and your vet
Growth is the stage where getting the diet right matters most, especially the calcium and phosphorus balance that supports healthy bones. Our grinds are made with fresh ground bone and six organs to provide a broad range of nutrients, which takes the guesswork out of building a bowl from scratch. Even so, puppies are the one group we always recommend dialing in with your veterinarian, who can track your puppy's growth and flag anything specific to their breed or size.
Ready to start? Browse the full collection, or keep reading with why six organs per grind matters.
This article is educational and is not veterinary advice. Puppies have specific nutritional needs during growth, so please work with your veterinarian when starting or changing your puppy's diet.