How Much To Feed a Husky Puppy

Huskies are unmistakable with their soul-piercing blue eyes, thick coats, and boundless energy. During their first year of life, they grow rapidly and the diet you choose for your Husky will affect their health and bone formation. 

As a quick reference, this is the rough size and weight you can expect your Husky puppy to grow to, as you may wonder as your puppy shoots up how big will they get: 

What is the best diet to feed a Husky puppy? 

The best diet is a nutritionally balanced one. Huskies grow rapidly and need the right ratio of phosphorus and calcium for healthy bones, amongst other vitamins and minerals for good health. If they are fed the incorrect nutritional ratios or poor nutrition this can stunt their growth. 

The easiest way to provide this is to use commercially formulated pet food. This can be a biscuit, wet food, or a combination of both. 

Whilst feeding a raw food diet is possible, it needs to be formulated by a veterinary nutritionist and you need to be aware of the health risks to both your Husky puppy and your family. Raw feeding has increased risks associated with infection from salmonella, campylobacter, etc. 

As Huskies will grow up to be medium size dogs, it’s also recommended to stay away from grain-free diets, or diets that use peas or potatoes as their primary carbohydrate source. This is because grain-free diets have been linked to an increased risk of a heart condition called Dilated Cardiomyopathy. 

Your puppy needs to be fed a diet formulated for the needs of a puppy for the first year of life. Biscuit and wet food commercially available in shops or online have already been tested to meet that standard so look for the label Puppy until one year of age. 

How often should you feed a husky puppy? 

The frequency of meals depends on how old they are. When puppies are very young, their stomach is still small so they will need small frequent meals. As they grow, you can gradually reduce the number of meals they have during the day. 

Below is a chart of how many feeds your Husky puppy should receive based on their life stage. 

Your puppy can still become overweight if you are feeding too much per meal, so it’s important to weigh out or accurately calculate the food requirements for your puppy. Puppies need a lot of training to help them adjust to your home and daily lives. If you are using food as a reward system in training remember to reduce their food portions to factor in those extra calories from training. To make life easier, you can simply use their regular kibble biscuits as rewards in training! Most dogs don’t notice the difference between treats and regular kibble so for the bulk of your training this can be an easy way to make sure you are not overdoing it on the calorie count for your Husky puppy. 

How many meals should an adult Husky have? 

When your puppy reaches the adult stage, you can feed them one or two meals a day. We recommend splitting their daily allowance between two meals as an adult as this helps to add stimulation to their day, and reduces their chance of Gastric Dilation and Volvulus. GDV is a life-threatening stomach bloating and rotation that can only be cured by surgery.  

How many cups of food should a Husky have per day?

This will depend largely on the type or brand of food that you purchase. Each bag of food will have a recommended feeding allowance in grams or cups. If you are unsure, it’s always worth checking in with a veterinarian for advice. 

As a rough guide this would be our suggestion of cups to feed for the age of your Husky puppy:

My puppy is a fussy eater, any advice? 

Don’t panic if your puppy doesn’t finish all of its food during each meal. As long as they are continuing to gain weight, and your veterinarian is happy with their body condition they will be fine. Make sure that your husky is not holding out for something they feel is tastier such as human food or leftovers. They may also feel full from lots of treats throughout the day so try reducing the treats too. Here is more on the possible reasons your Husky might be refusing to eat.

Introduce your puppy to lots of different flavors when young- pick a brand of food that comes in different varieties. This means you will not have side effects from changing flavors that usually come from switching diets regularly such as an upset stomach and diarrhea. 

There are meal toppers you can buy, or make yourself such as gravies or sauces to add more flavor to your dog’s dinner. Meal toppers also smell appealing so encourage your dog to eat. If you are doing home meal toppers make sure your recipe doesn’t include garlic or onion, as these are toxic to dogs. 

It’s also worth noting that if your puppy does like to eat, but not in large volumes consider switching to a premium kibble diet, as these often have smaller feeding amounts, but still pack the same amount of calories, protein, and nutrients needed for your puppies growth. This is a win-win for both you and your puppy. 

Summary 

Nutrition in the first year of life affects the rest of your dog’s life so it’s worth getting it right. These active, playful puppies have high energy drives and will burn calories easily, meaning the quality of the nutrition we choose to feed should be the best we can buy. Whilst Huskies are renowned for their fussy appetite, with a little patience and a little trial and error, you can find the diet and regime that works well for you and your dog.