Mixed Breed Puppy - Expected Adult Weight
Updated
The amount you feed your puppy is based on its Expected Adult Weight.
It can be trickier to estimate this with a mixed breed pup but we can help.
The aim is to get reasonably close to what you expect the adult weight will be. Use the following tips to help you do this:
- Take the weight of the parent dogs and average it. For example, with a 12kg male and an 8kg female, we would recommend beginning with the puppy feeding chart for a dog likely to reach 10kg. Weigh your puppy and start at the low end of the range, you can always adjust afterwards.
- Most medium-sized dogs are about 2/3rds their adult size by 6 months. If your puppy is around this age you can use the following formula to get close to a sensible expected adult weight (current weight divided by 2 then multiplied by 3).
- If you have a toy or small breed dog (Jack Russel/Minature poodle etc) they will reach their adult weight earlier than a large or giant breed dog. You can factor this into your calculation. For example, if the parents were both small breeds then your dog will start to really slow down in terms of growth by 6 months.
- If you have a rescue and have no idea about the parents' weights you will be better off feeding according to body condition and stool consistency. Weigh your dog now. The rescue centre may give you some idea as to the age of your puppy and you can use this as a starting point. For example, if your puppy is estimated to be around 3 months of age and weighs 4kg start by using the puppy feeding chart for a 16kg expected adult weight. This is just to get started. You will then watch the dog's body condition and increase if looking too lean or decrease if looking too fat. Your vet will be able to help with this too. Similarly, if stools are too soft this is an indication that the amount of food being fed is too high. Reduce it little by little until stools firm up.
- Be aware that for many breeds males are larger than females and when calculating the expected adult weight this should be kept in mind
Remember all these tips are just to get you going. Monitoring your dog's body condition and feeding accordingly is a fantastic way to keep your dog in good health. Even if you have been given a predicted weight by a breeder, keeping your eye on body condition is sensible. For many dogs, changes in activity levels may also mean an adjustment to the amount of food required.
Read more about how to check if your dog is a healthy weight here.
