Last Updated on April 24, 2024 by Dr. Julie
It’s a basic question but one that every Rottweiler puppy owner has faced: just how do you feed your little one? I’ve already covered the topic of which puppy food I recommend for Rottweiler puppies here. This article is more to answer all the questions surround just “how” to feed. Let’s dig into this topic in more detail so you can make an informed decision.
Table of Contents
Does My Rottweiler Puppy Need Milk?
No, puppies don’t need milk once they have been weaned off of their mother’s milk. All of their nutrition should be obtained by a well-balanced, quality, large-breed puppy food.
In fact, feeding Rottweilers milk months after they’ve been weaned can result in diarrhea and excessive gas production because they’re no longer able to digest the milk (lactose intolerance).
How Often Should I Feed My Rottweiler Puppy?
My general recommendation for puppy owners is three meals a day, dividing the total amount of food to be given that day in equal portions. Dogs are fed in the morning, mid-day, and at dinner.
Once the puppy ages to 4 months, owners can cut back to two meals a day (breakfast and dinner). After a year of age, you can continue to feed twice daily or switch to once a day feeding per your preference and your home schedule.
Why not continue feeding your Rottie 3 times a day? This has a great deal to do with the size of the stomach and whether or not your dog will feel “full” after they eat. At a very young age eating 3 meals a day, your puppy should feel full after each meal. Their metabolism is such that, if they were to only eat 2 meals in a day, they would get pretty hungry a few hours before their next meal. That can cause them to overeat, raid the trash, and start developing all sorts of terrible food-driven behaviors.
When your Rottie is old enough for two meals, they will be getting a larger amount of food with each meal naturally. However, their metabolism is not quite as crazy as it was a few months earlier and they can feel satisfied for hours more than they could before.
Can I Give My Rottweiler Puppy Canned Food?
Yes, you can give your Rottie puppy canned food if you choose. Keep in mind total calories when giving your pup some canned food, though. If you give your pup the same amount of dry food as your bag of food recommends for your pup based on age and weight, giving it additional canned food is just extra calories that could cause your pup to be overweight.
An easy way to know how much canned food vs dry food to give your Rottie pup is to give roughly 75% of the food needed in dry food and 25% in canned food. You do this by looking at the recommendations on the bag of food and can of food and taking the appropriate portions to mix together.
Can you give your Rottie only canned food? I really don’t recommed this. For one, it doesn’t have nearly the fiber that is needed for most puppies’ food. Combine that lack of fiber with a lot more water in the food and you could end up with a dog with chronically soft stools.
How Much Dry Food Should I Give My Rottweiler Puppy?
There is a train of thought among some breeders that there is a standard “amount” of food to give a puppy. This is even more false today then it was a decade or two ago.
With the advent of all the various types of puppy food (large-breed, small-breed, grain-free (don’t do this), high protein, etc), each puppy food has their own unique caloric recommendations. Moreoever there could be a large discrepancy between certain manufacturers.
In fact, looking at two widely known large-breed puppy food manufacturers, their total daily feeding recommendations for a Rottie puppy who will be 100 lbs at full maturity and is currently 4 months old is:
- 4 5/8 cup food (Royal Canin)
- 2 1/3 cups – 3 1/8 cups (Purina Pro Plan)
So what do I think works best? Start with the recommendation on the bag and adjust from there. If you start to see your puppy having too big of a belly consistently or you can see his ribs, adjust the amount of food accordingly. As long as you are paying attention, you should be able to correct
Worst case scenario – you can’t tell? Take a picture of your pup from above and one from the side and send them to your vet. Your vet should be able to get a pretty good idea of where your puppy is at and where it should be.
My Rottweiler Puppy Is Eating Way Too Fast – How To Slow Him Down
If you’re not feeding your Rottie puppy enough food or they just happen to be a true “chow hound,” they will attack their food bowl with a gusto that could lead to issues. Eating too fast can cause vomiting, abdominal discomfort, and potentially bloat if the behavior continues into adulthood.
There’s three different ways to slow down a puppy from eating too fast that I’ve heard from clients who have used them successfully:
- Use a “maze” bowl – also called a Slo Bowl, this is a feeding bowl that has a maze-like design within the bowl to make it harder for the dog to pick up pieces of food quickly. In my own case, it took one of my dogs from finished a meal in 30 seconds to finishing it in 3 minutes.
- If you are looking for a cheaper option, a decent-sized rock(s) will work. It needs to be a rock that is large enough that the dog won’t try and swallow it, but having to push a larger rock out of the way when eating does effectively slow a dog down during mealtime.
- Use a treat-giving toy. You can put a decent-sized meal in these toys that will dispense a few kibbles at a time when rolled just the right way. These are also great ways to enhance your puppy’s mental growth as they have to “solve” a puzzle. If your pup is a real chow hound, this might be the best choice.
How Can I Tell If My Rottweiler Puppy Is Getting Enough Or Too Much Food?
Most Rottie puppy owners think their dog is too thin or too fat (actually that’s not really true – the vast majority always think their puppy is too thin no matter how big they are – ha!). The truth is that it’s very easy to tell:
A Rottweiler’s waist should always be smaller than its chest!
Now a puppy might temporarily have a distended belly if they have eaten in the last hour or so or if they have some sort of intestinal parasites (more in another article). However, this goes away pretty quickly with a little time.
I’ve also seen Rottie puppies almost look too “thick” or big right before a growth spurt. It’s like one day they look a bit chubby everywhere and the next morning they are an inch taller and look too thin.
How can you tell if your puppy is really too big? Give it a couple of days – if their belly remains consistently larger than their chest then cut back on their food each meal by about 10%. If they are truly overeating then you’ll see a more healthy look within just a few days.
Does My Rottweiler Puppy Need Vitamins?
If you’re feeding your puppy a well-balanced large breed puppy food, there is no need for additional vitamins. They don’t need more calcium. They don’t need glucosamine (completely ineffective until they have stopped growing around 2 years of age).
Shouldn’t I Just Let Me Rottweiler Puppy Free Feed?
I’ve met a few Rotties in my career that didn’t care that much for eating, but they are in the very small minority. Most Rotties are in a battle their whole lives to stay at a healthy weight. Giving them all they can eat at a young age not only sets them up for obesity both as a puppy and as an adult, but they will develop various growing issues that are completely preventable.
In Conclusion
While Rottie puppies are fast growing and ever-changing, they can become overweight quickly with an unobservant or undeducated owner. Focus on how their abdomen looks compared to their chest size, keep an eye on just how hungry they are, and use your vet’s opinion if you just aren’t sure what to do.
