This is where it gets fun. Your puppy’s stomach is roughly the size of a ping-pong ball. So you can’t just dump a bowl of food and hope for the best. They need three to four small meals per day, spaced evenly apart.
How Often Do 8 Week Old Puppies Eat
Why so many meals? Because their blood sugar drops faster than your energy at 3 PM on a Monday. A routine keeps them from getting hangry and helps with potty training. Typically, a 8-week-old Labrador retriever mix might eat about ½ to 1 cup of food total per day, split across those meals.
Check the bag’s feeding chart, but don’t panic if your puppy is a little under or over. Every puppy is different—some are tiny foodies, others are picky princes. Just watch their body condition; you want a slight hourglass shape, not a sausage.
What About Treats? (Spoiler: Yes, But Be Smart)
Treats are the currency of puppy training. You need them. But at this age, tiny, soft treats are your best friend. Think pea-sized bits of boiled chicken, diced cheese, or puppy-specific training treats the size of a raisin.
Avoid anything hard, like antlers or large bones—your pup’s baby teeth are as fragile as plastic forks. And never, ever give them onions, garlic, grapes, raisins, chocolate, or xylitol (an artificial sweetener). It’s a short list, but those are genuinely dangerous.
Also, go easy on the peanut butter. It’s a classic, but many brands contain xylitol, so check the label. If the ingredients list says "xylitol," you’ve got a no-go zone. Better safe than sorry, right?
Feeding Schedule for 8-Week-Old Puppies | How Much & How Often to Feed