Every German shorthaired pointer owner wants to be certain that they are not only giving their pup the right food, but the right amount. Are you feeding them too much? Not enough? Is it the best diet for their needs?

If you have a German shorthaired pointer puppy, having the help of a feeding chart can be invaluable. The next time that you walk into the pet store, you can be certain that you are getting the right food for your pup.

How Much to Feed Your German Shorthaired Pointer Puppy per Day?

There are a ton of food calculators out there to help you estimate what is needed. But to get the right total, you need to ask the right questions.

German shorthaired pointer puppies get a certain amount of food per day depending on their age. Like other dogs, they begin roughly at the six-week mark with regular puppy food. From birth to the six-week mark, they will get mother’s milk. If mother’s milk isn’t available, a vet can prescribe a comparable formula.

At six weeks, they will graduate to roughly 1/3 cup of dog food per day. They might not take it; that is okay at this stage. They are still used to the mother’s milk and may not be receptive to having that dry dog food.

At the eight-week mark, they go to between ¼ and ½ cup at each meal, having 3-4 meals per day. They should be weaned off of the mother’s milk at this point. At ten weeks, they go to ½ cup per meal, still at 3-4 meals per day.

By the twelve-week mark, they get anywhere between ½ to 1 cup per meal, settling in at roughly 2-3 meals per day. By the time they are adults, they should be at a cup per meal, with 2 meals per day.

Finding the Right Diet

There are a few ways that you can go about feeding your German shorthaired pointer puppy. Having a German shorthaired pointer puppy feeding chart helps. There are kibble diets, wet food diets, and even raw diets. They can vary in terms of ease, nutritional value, and cost, so be aware.

They need to have a high-quality diet to keep them healthy and energetic. Make sure that whatever you choose, it isn’t full of sugars or fillers. If you choose something inexpensive, you will get a low quality. That means more sugars, more fillers, and a lot less nutritional value.

When you bring your puppy home, introduce them with roughly ¼ to ½ cup at each meal. The older they get, the more calories that they will need. You can slowly start to add more to each meal, but make sure that you don’t jump too high in value because it can cause gastrointestinal distress.

Raw Diets

There are those who are major proponents of a raw diet. That is because of the high nutritional value that it delivers, and the level of quality is simply unmatched. You know that you are getting no fillers or sugars along the way.

There are a couple of issues with a raw diet, especially for GSP owners. For one, it is expensive. Buying raw food can really stretch the budget in no time. If you don’t have that kind of budget available, you can quickly find yourself stressed out. Sometimes a wet or dry option is probably the better option, not to mention the ease in preparation compared to raw.

There is also the matter of gastrointestinal issues as well. Though dogs have a stronger digestive tract that disarms bacteria like salmonella, raw food can lead to imbalance. Making sure that your dog’s diet is as balanced as possible is quite difficult to achieve. Do your homework and make sure that you know what your dog needs to achieve the most optimal diet. Before long, you will have the best possible diet for your pup so long as you are okay with the prep and cost.

The Kibble Option

The most common option (and the easiest) is kibble. It is a great way to ensure balance but it all depends on the quality that you choose. There are plenty of high-quality options out there but if you choose something inexpensive, it can have a major detrimental impact on your pup’s diet.

There are good, there are bad, and there are ugly options. Do your homework to find out what is included and make sure to avoid the fillers and sugars that are all too common. The right dry food can be a perfectly good option to have.

Conclusion

German shorthaired pointers require a diet that is full of nutritional ingredients. They need to maintain high energy levels, especially as puppies and those low-value foods out there might not provide the proper nutritional value.

You can go with a dry, wet, or raw diet depending on your budget and the amount of time that you have to put into the endeavor. At the end of the day, you can give your GSP the proper diet that will set them up for health and happiness well into their adulthood.