Puppy Raw Feeding & Weaning Guide

Puppies bring so much joy with their playful, cheeky personalities. Their silly antics keep us smiling, and their cuddles warm our hearts. Life feels a little brighter with them by our side, which is why we want to give them the very best care we can.

One simple (and hugely beneficial) way we can show our puppies how loved they are is by providing them with the best possible start to a healthy, happy life. Feeding puppies a raw diet is a fantastic way to contribute to their growth, development, strong immune system and overall health as they (quickly) become adult dogs.

Like the young of all species, puppies need specific nutrients to grow and thrive. While genetics, environment, and their mother’s health during pregnancy play important roles, proper puppy nutrition is crucial for their development and lifelong well-being.

Feeding puppies the correct amounts of key nutrients increases their chances of becoming healthy strong adult dogs, as well as helping them to avoid certain growth deformities and other diseases that can occur due to nutritional imbalances [1].

Their muscles, bones, digestive and endocrine systems, brains, eyes and other systems all rely on good quality, balanced nutrition to function and perform optimally, especially as they’re still forming.

As nature would have it, the best diet for growing puppies is the one their parents would find for them in the wild: raw, lean animal proteins, healthy fats, offal (organ meats), bones for minerals and calcium, and small amounts of plant fibre. These ingredients provide growing pups with all the essential nutrients their bodies require, setting them up for a healthy life down the road.

A fresh, natural, raw dog food diet helps create the ideal internal environment for healthy puppy growth and development, giving them the best shot at optimal health. Our article on the benefits of raw feeding dives deeper into how this works.

The good news? You don’t need to prepare meals yourself. We’ve taken the hassle out of raw feeding with our Raw Puppy Food, carefully created to meet FEDIAF nutritional guidelines for puppies. Each meal is a precise blend of top-quality ingredients, delivering the perfect balance of essential nutrients for maximum health benefits.

Here’s a snapshot of a few benefits of raw feeding for puppies:

• Balanced digestion/gut health
• Healthy skin and shiny, glossy coat
• Stronger immune system
• Balanced energy
• Cleaner, healthier teeth and gums
• Appropriate weight gain/maintenance
• Healthy bone and joint development
• Healthy, appropriate muscle growth

Don’t just take my word for it

For example, a 2021 study found that puppies fed a raw diet rich in tripe, organ meats, and fish oil supplements were significantly less likely to develop atopic dermatitis as adult dogs [2]. This is just one of many studies reinforcing the long-term health advantages of natural, species-appropriate nutrition.

Meanwhile, in 2020, researchers studied how unprocessed meat diets affect the likelihood of developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) later in life. Puppies at various growth stages were fed either a raw diet or a processed diet. The results? Puppies raised on a raw diet showed significantly fewer cases of IBD as adults [3].

In recently weaned puppies, making the switch to raw puppy food should be relatively easy. Since they’ve only been eating their current diet for a short time, it’s highly likely they will accept their new food without issue. Simply replacing their old food with high-quality, raw puppy food like ProDog’s Puppy Formula will often complete the transition.

It’s a good idea to start off with a single protein at first, so as not to overwhelm your puppy’s digestion. Also, in cases of puppies with sensitive tummies (or older puppies who have grown accustomed to their diets), switching to raw puppy food more gradually might be a better option. Replacing their current food with the new one, a quarter of a portion at a time over a four-day period, will ease them into their new diet more gently.

Here’s how that might look:

Day 1:
Replace one quarter of current food with raw puppy food

Day 2:
Replace one half of current food with raw

Day 3:
Replace 3 quarters of current food with raw

Day 4:
Replace entire portion with raw puppy food

For a more detailed explanation, have a look at our article, How to Switch to Raw Dog Food.

If you have the option, weaning puppies straight onto raw puppy food is a fantastic way to get them started on the right path to balanced nutrition. More and more breeders are doing this for their litters, giving developing pups a stronger chance at a healthy life from the start.

As puppies begin eating solids at ideally 4 weeks, this is the perfect time to introduce them to, lean, plain raw meals such as turkey, fish, and chicken. Or you can use our puppy range of meals with added fluid, such as whelping milk or bone broth for dogs, and further blend into a fine paste to create a paste type consistency suitable for weaning.

Typically, around 5-6 weeks of age, as their teeth and digestive systems become more robust, puppies can transition to consuming different protein sources. At this stage it is likely the fine mushy weaning paste can be exchanged for our specialised puppy meals, which are minced to an extra fine consistency specifically for smaller mouths and teeth to handle easily.

When feeding puppies a new food, or any food for that matter, a relaxed environment will benefit them in several ways. First, calm and quiet surroundings will help them feel more comfortable and reassure them that it’s safe to eat.

Second, they won’t feel the need to rush through their meal in order to escape the chaos around them, or worse: avoid eating altogether. Any new addition to puppies’ lives should be done in this way, to create a positive association for them to remember throughout their lives.

Want to set your puppy up for success from day one? Check out our expert puppy-prep guide, Welcoming a New Puppy, written by ProDog Raw’s canine behaviourist, Caroline Spencer. It’s packed with practical tips to help you create the perfect environment for your new furry family member!

As all puppies will vary in size depending on breed, genetics, and other factors, portion calculations for their meals are unique to each pup. As a general rule, it’s recommended to feed 8-week old puppies around 8-10% of their body weight in raw puppy food each day, which is usually divided up into four meals (more information on feeding frequencies in the section below).

As puppies grow, the percentage of body weight they need in food decreases, though individual factors like health, weight, and specific nutritional needs can affect this [4].

To keep things simple, use our raw dog food calculator—it takes the guesswork out of feeding by helping you determine exactly how much raw puppy food to feed in just a few clicks. Puppies grow fast, so be sure to weigh them regularly and adjust their feeding amounts as needed using the calculator’s easy-to-follow instructions.

As puppies are little growing machines, it’s essential that they eat frequently throughout the day. This helps them to maintain their required energy levels, as well as promoting healthy growth and development. Their daily food allowance should be portioned equally into the number of meals appropriate for their development stage.

A general schedule of puppy feeding looks something like this:

Up to 16 weeks:
Four meals a day

17 to 24 weeks:
Three meals a day

24 + weeks:
Two meals a day

Adult dogs:
One to two meals a day

As your puppy grows, monitoring them regularly is essential. This helps to identify any potential weight issues (e.g, underweight or overweight), health issues, and ensures that they’re developing as they should be throughout the various developmental stages.

Since the expected weight gain will be different for each pup due to size, breed, and nutritional differences, regular vet visits during their first year of life are crucial. This will allow your vet to advise you of any changes that need to be made, whether that’s feeding more, less, or changing the frequency of their meals.

As far as weight maintenance is concerned, there are a couple of things you can do at home to ensure your pup is on the right track. They should be a little chubby, of course, but their tummies shouldn’t be hanging low or protruding out to the sides more than a little. You should be able to feel their ribs, but not see them, and they should be getting a good amount of age-appropriate activity each day. Consult your vet or our expert feeding advisors if you’re concerned.

Depending on breed, size, age, nutrition, and various other factors, ideal weight will be unique to each puppy. For example, you may have picked the runt of a litter, who likely won’t be expected to grow at the same rate as their siblings. Conversely, you may have a giant breed puppy, who will undoubtedly grow faster than you’d ever expect!

The point is, each puppy should have a specific ideal weight that meets their individual health needs, and this can’t always be predicted. However, canine professionals such as veterinarians, canine nutritionists, and others like them are experts at this sort of thing. Consulting a trusted professional regarding what your puppy’s ideal weight should be is a great way to help them stay on track.

You can help by ensuring they receive the right amounts of essential nutrients at the right frequency, as well as providing the age-appropriate exercise/play they need to grow up healthy. Feeding your pup high-quality raw food like ProDog’s raw puppy food, paired with natural treats for puppies(steering clear of the junk-filled ones), is a great way to support their health and development.

Feeding puppies a raw diet requires a specialised type of raw food, as their nutritional requirements differ from those of adults. For this reason, the nutrient ratios in puppy and adult raw food are also different: puppies require more protein and fat, as well as higher levels of Omega 3’s, calcium, phosphorus, and other nutrients to support their rapid growth.

For this reason, raw puppy food is the best way to go in order to provide your pup with all they need during their developmental period. This time will come to an end at about 24 weeks when the rapid growth phase has finished. At this stage I recommend switching your (much bigger) puppy over to adult raw dog food, which will continue to help them grow and develop through their adolescent and adult lives.

Please note you’ll still need to continue to use our puppy feeding calculator guideline amounts as they still require a higher percentage of food until they reach full maturity/ adulthood.

At ProDog Raw, every meal we create, puppy or adult, is expertly formulated by canine nutrition specialists and approved by vets. We’re committed to providing top-quality, balanced nutrition for dogs at every life stage.

However, our Puppy Formula is specially designed to meet the unique nutritional needs of growing pups. It’s created to deliver the precise blend of nutrients puppies need to develop, grow, and thrive. It meets FEDIAF (European Pet Food Industry Federation) nutritional guidelines, ensuring the right nutrient balance for optimal health.

FEDIAF’s standards help prevent nutritional deficiencies by setting clear guidelines for pet food quality, so you can trust that every ProDog meal supports your dog’s best health, whether they’re just starting out or already fully grown.

Feeding puppies a raw diet is the most natural way to set them up for lifelong health. Fresh, whole-food ingredients fuel their growth and development, delivering the essential nutrients their little bodies need to thrive.

Give your puppy the best possible start with our expertly created Puppy Formula raw food. Have questions or need personalised feeding advice? Our expert advisors are here to help, reach out anytime.