Puppy feeding and growth
How much should an 8 month old puppy eat?
Last updated 23 September 2026 · How we write and check this
Short answer
Small breed puppies are often at or very near their adult food amount by eight months, while medium breeds are approaching theirs. Large breed puppies at this age are usually still six to ten months away from full size and need meaningfully more food than a full grown dog of the same eventual weight.
Small breeds essentially finished growing
Many small breeds reach their adult height and close to their adult weight somewhere between 9 and 12 months, so an eight month old small breed puppy is often eating close to what it will eat as an adult already. Keep checking weight monthly rather than assuming growth has fully stopped, since a small dose of extra growth can still happen.
Medium breeds in the final stretch
A medium breed puppy at eight months, expected to land somewhere around 15 to 25 kg (33 to 55 lb) as an adult, is usually well into its final growth stretch, with most of the remaining gain being muscle fill rather than height, so portions may only need small upward tweaks from here.
Large breeds still have real growing to do
A large breed puppy at eight months has typically reached somewhere between half and two thirds of its adult weight, so it still needs a large breed puppy formula and a food amount well above what a same sized adult dog would eat, right through to somewhere between 12 and 18 months.
Key takeaways
- Small breed puppies are often close to their adult food amount by eight months.
- Medium breeds are usually in the final stretch of growth around this age.
- Large breeds still need noticeably more food than an adult of the same eventual size.
- Reweigh monthly to catch the point when a puppy's growth genuinely slows.