Your Top 7 Great Dane Feeding Questions Answered

Last Updated on December 26, 2022

How much to feed a Great Dane puppy is the principal element to keep the dog healthy. Proper protein levels are essential to maintain in Great Dane puppy feeding. This will avert potential health risks like Pano and Wobbler’s syndrome. Moreover, how much you feed your Great Dane also determines height and physique of the dog. If not fed enough the Great Danes fall short at height, producing miniature Great Danes. Although the phenomenon is not solely dependent on food.

Great Dane puppies at 3 to 6 months, should eat 4 to 8 cups of food divided into two meals everyday. For Great Danes from 8 to 12 months, feed 6 to 10 cups of food thrice or twice daily. Great Danes at 1 to 2 years, eat more than a dog at any other age. The dogs at 2 years should eat 8-15 cups of food daily. Which estimates the cost of Great Dane feeding at $100-$150.

The Great Dane being a large breed has quite short life span. At the same time the breed is prone to a number of health risks. So it becomes essential to be careful in Great Dane feeding be it a puppy or an adult Great Dane dog. Moreover, the nutritional needs for a Great Dane puppy and adult are different from other breeds. Be it a small or medium sized dog. Even the diet for Great Dane puppy and adult are different form each other.

The ideal weight for a Great Dane is at least 100 pounds, and 120 pounds for female and male respectively. Though, there are many Great Danes with more weight. Whilst some are also found holding a few pounds lesser mass. However, it is not freaky if your Great Dane is a bit more than the average or vice versa.

How much to feed Great Dane puppy?

Great Dane dogs entail peculiar food as the dogs are genetically giant canines. A few pounds Great Dane puppy develops into a huge horse sized dog. Knowing this how much to feed a Great Dane is imperative. Anyhow, the Great Dane feed has to be calculated and carefully chosen.

The Great Dane owners must kick off with the low end amounts for female puppies. Whilst, male Great Dane puppies can be given mid-range amounts.

The Danes must not be on high end amount till they enter next month and are half way through. For instance, if your Great Dane female puppy is 10 weeks old, she would be on 3 cups a day of kibble divided into two or three feedings.

Did you know?

Many breeds of dogs small in particular, require more energy than the Great Dane. Such dogs are more active in that they need more energy per pound in comparison with Great Danes. This suggests that quite opposite to general conception of Great Danes, they require lesser food than many other dogs.

The Great Danes do not demand a lot of physical activity. A little exercise would do but only for puppies in addition to walk. During the Great Dane puppy’s growth phase it is essential to limit its physical activities. Provided that the breed is susceptible to muscle and joint related disorders.

Note;

Never to take your Great Dane for a stroll right after its meal. This might lead to a condition called bloat. Which could be fatal in worse scenarios for your dog. Therefore, it is advised to let your Great Dane rest for 45-60 minutes after meals to avert such scenarios.

The diet of a Great Dane puppy must be the one particularly crafted to meet its breed’s requirements.

The Great Dane parents must assure that their puppy or dog is fed rightly neither too less nor too much. Take guidance form the Great Dane feeding chart.

Look;

Can I feed my 4 week old Great Dane puppy?

4 week old Great Dane puppy can eat the dry dog food specially designed for large breed pups. Feed the pup 2 cups each day divided into 3 meals.

How much should a 17 week old female Great Dane puppy eat?

A 17 week old female Dane should be given almost 4 cups a day divided into two meals or maximum 5 cups a day divided into 2 meals.

How much should a 17 week old Great Dane puppy eat?

A 17 week old male Great Dane puppy should be eating 5-6 cups a day divided into 2 meals.

How much do you feed a 3 months old Great Dane puppy?

You should feed a Great Dane puppy at 3 months 5 cups of meal at most. Remember do not overdo it. Whilst a 3 month old Great Dane should not eat less than 3 cups daily.

How to feed a 3 Months Great Dane?

It is recommended to divide the 3 months old Great Dane feeding into 2 to 3 meals.

How much should I feed my Great Dane puppy at 4 months?

A 4 months old Great Dane puppy should eat 4-6 cups of food everyday.

How to feed a 4 months old Great Dane?

The Great Dane puppy feeding ought to be separated into various meals around the day. Therefore, divide the Great Dane feeding at 4 months old into 2 meals a day at least.

Following is a Great Dane puppy feeding chart to help you.

How much water should I give my Great Dane puppy?

Great Dane puppies at 6 weeks require 1/2 a cup of water every 2 hours. Moreover, you have to evaluate the pup’s water consumption. Which is neither too much nor too low. Whereas, the Great Danes at 2 years entail 1/2 an ounce to 1 ounce of water per pound of body weight each day.

What can you do if your Great Dane wont eat and leaving its food behind?

If your Great Dane wont eat, and is not emptying its bowl may be you should decrease the quantity of its food either half cup at one meal time or you can also skip a meal in a day accordingly. It can be done once a week but if your Dane still wont eat and leaving food in the bowl than you can also do it more than once a week.

How to Feed a Great Dane Puppy?

Usually Dane parents find it difficult to decide on Great Dane feeding schedule for their canines. Knowing your concern and worry here is a Great Dane feeding chart. The Great Dane feeding chart depicts how much should a Great Dane eat?

the feeding chart gives you a successful schedule to help you determine when, and how much to feed to your Great Dane according to its age.

Like every other schedule our feeding chart is also based on some presumptions.

The Great Dane feeding chart is developed on the supposition that the puppy is less active during daytime. This may be due to the owner is at work or the dog might be crated.

Remember;

The most crucial time for development of diseases in Great Dane pup is from 2 months-6 months. The most familiar sensitive time for the Great Dane puppy is during its initial 11-16 weeks.

How many times a day should I feed my Great Dane puppy?

You should feed Great Dane puppy three to two times a day. At 6 weeks Great Dane puppies eat more than the pups at 12 weeks. The 6 week pups need three meals per day whilst after 3 months switch to twice a day feeding.

How much dry dog food do I need to feed a Great Dane puppy?

Learn how much to feed Great Dane puppy?

08 weeks or 2 months Great Dane eats 2-4 cups/day (divided into three meals daily)

12 weeks or 3 months Great Dane eats 3-5 cups/day (divided into two meals daily)

16 weeks or 4 months Great Dane eats 4-6 cups/day (divided into two meals daily)

20 weeks or 5 months Great Dane eats 5-7 cups/day (divided into two meals daily)

24 weeks or 6 months Great Dane eats 6-8 cups/day (divided into two meals daily)

28 weeks or 7 months Great Dane eats 6-9 cups/day (divided into two meals daily)

32 weeks or 8 months Great Dane eats 6-9 cups/day (divided into two meals daily)

36 weeks or 9 month Great Dane eats 7-10 cups/day (divided into two meals daily)

10-12 months Great Dane eats 7-10 cups/day (divided into two meals daily)

12-18 months (females) Great Dane eats 6-8 cups/day (divided into two meals daily)

12-20 months (females) Great Dane eats 8-10 cups

Onwards feed large breed adult dry dog food to your Great Dane.

20-24 months (females) Great Dane eats 10-12 cups

12-18 months (males) Great Dane eats 8-10 cups/day (divided into two meals daily)

18-20 months (males) Great Dane eats 10-12 cups

20-24 months (males) Great Dane eats 12 cups

What to feed a Great Dane puppy?

Right dog food for Great Dane

Great Dane owners often fall into dilemma of choosing the right food for their Great Dane. Food choice is no less a puzzle to most of the canine parents, as it is the most important question after deciding on what to name your Dane puppy. If you are feeding dry dog food which is commonly called as kibble, you have a plethora of options to choose from. Thus choosing the right and optimal food for your dog becomes difficult at times.

Knowing,

The Great Dane should not eat usual dog food but the food particularly made for large breeds. 

Similarly,

Puppies of large or giant breeds need different food from small or usual sized dogs. Therefore, not every puppy food is right for a Great Dane puppy. You can only feed the Great Dane puppy, the puppy food specially designed for large breed pups.

Why your Great Dane should not eat regular food?

Puppies of small breeds of dog need nourishment to stimulate rapid growth. Excessive minerals and calories are responsible for the induction of fast growth which are present in puppy food. Great Danes can grow quite rapidly on their own in that it is their intrinsic trait. Hence, they do not require the food eaten by small breed puppies to stimulate growth.

The Great Dane need to eat food specifically for large breed dogs. The food must have controlled levels of calcium in it suitable to the Dane puppy’s growth pattern and requirement. Anyhow, you should not feed your Great Dane puppy high protein food. Such diet is not suitable for Great Dane, rather go for large breed puppy diet. The diet offers controlled amounts of calcium and protein as required by the breed.

Tips to choose Great Dane Dog Food

In addition to being a large breed food the following are specifications of Great Dane food;

• The food must be holistic or super premium quality dog food.
• The food must include probiotics.
• Level of calories per cup of the food should be moderate.

The ingredients must be listed in descending order by amount. Which means the first ingredient is also the largest ingredient. For instance, if first ingredient is meat, it would also be present in the product in greater amount than any other ingredient.

The ingredients must be mentioned with their names rather than their kind or type. For example, if the ingredient is meat, the product ought to mention name of the meat. Such as chicken, lamb, or beef.

The whole meat dog foods are not bad but meat meals are better for the Great Danes. As the prior one has some moisture in it while the later one is concentrated meat.

The food must have additional amount of meat protein than grain protein. Grain protein is present in various grains including wheat meal, wheat flour, wheat middling, and others of the like.

The ingredients high quality dairy products (eggs), one or more kinds of meat, ought to be mentioned among the top ingredients of the product.

As suggested by Great Dane breeders and veterinarians, the Great Dane food must contain,

• At least 23% of protein
• fat levels between 12-14%

These are some indispensable rules which must be considered when it’s time to choose a proper food for your Great Dane.

How do you know how much to feed your Great Dane puppy?

The ideal weight of a Great Dane is not even included in the weight caloric chart of national research council. Yet, by doing a little calculation the dog owners can quantify that,

‘an adult Great Dane weighing 120 pounds which is an average weight for the breed, needs 2507 calories per day (average).’

Also older dogs need lesser calories than pups.

• Keep your Great Dane puppy lean but not skinny.
• The rule is to keep it lite and lean.
• The puppy ought to have a smooth coat.
• If the Dane is standing its last rib can be a little bit visible.
• This is the ideal physique and weight of the Great Dane.

In case your Dane pup is too lean you can increase its food intake by 1/2 a cup or a whole cup. The puppy has a lot of time to grow and develop muscles. Miscalculated, or forced feed would only make things difficult for your Great Dane. As some owners want their Great Danes to be heavy and feed them blindly. This can put your dog in danger and become prey to many growth related ailments.

Therefore, just be reasonable and give your Great Dane pup some time to grow and mature normally.

Food transition for Great Dane dog

If you are not satisfied with your Great Dane’ food you can change it any time sooner. The key is to begin with half new food and half old food. This would help the canine to continue eating the food even if it is changed. Some dogs might not like new things all of a sudden, so it would really help. Drizzle the probiotics on top of its food to ensure smooth development during transition.

If you are an owner of a Great Dane puppy which is under 6 months, the feed transition must be quick. If not, the situation might disturb the puppy’s growth pattern. The feeding must be comprised of three meals a day or sometimes less depending on its need.

How much does it cost to feed a Great Dane?

How big would be the food bill? This thought strikes many of the owners who act on fixed and scheduled expenses. A Great Dane require more food than many other breeds meaning you would need more money to keep for the Dane’s food.

According to the above mentioned Great Dane feeding chart the Dane’s appetite would grow gradually with its body. Male Great Danes should eat 7-10 cups of food daily while 6-9 cups should be fed to a female Great Dane. Therefore, one should keep $80-$100 every month for food cost to feed a Great Dane.

Cost of raw food diet for Great Danes reaches up to $200. Although how much does it cost to feed a Great Dane would vary. Depending upon your location and the food options you are feeding your Great Dane and how much.

Great Dane Diet: Effects on health

Great Dane dogs if not fed correctly and properly might not be able to achieve optimal growth and development. So, the Great Dane owners are suggested to follow the guidelines described earlier. This would ensure that your dog would not get excess calories. Which have a direct influence on the puppy’s health. Raising issues like;

• disturbing their growth pattern
• inducting rapid growth
• latent bone disorders

How much Raw food to feed a Great Dane puppy?

Sometimes not knowing what your Great Dane dog is eating concerns you, right?

There is one solution to your strain and that is ‘raw food diet’. The diet is completely naturally sourced hence perfect diet for Great Danes. Particularly the Great Dane dogs who are allergic to kibble do well on Great Dane food diet.

Raw diet the most natural way of feeding your Great Dane dog. Your Great Dane dog can have muscle meat, bones, liver, other organs, and some fruits and vegetables in its raw food menu. The only thing you need to be watchful of is maintaining the balance of nutrients in the dog’ raw food.

A Great Dane puppy should eat raw food which is 2%-3% of its current body weight. For instance, if your Dane puppy is 100lbs, feed it 3lbs raw feed.

Besides, raw diet holds plenty of benefits for your dog.

Some Great Dane parents desire to feed their dogs with home cooked meals. well, Great Dane dogs can eat home cooked food if you are expertly manage to put every ingredient your dog needs for optimal growth and development. Yet it is not advised to feed Home made recipes to your dog as its everyday meal. Rather feed home cooked food to your Great Dane once in a while or as a treat.

What Do We Suggest?

Great Dane is a large breed whose dogs are also known as gentle giants. Typically these canines are prone to a number of ailments mainly muscle and joints diseases. These diseases can augment further if you are unable to provide your Great Dane with proper feed. Moreover, if your dog is senior and finds it difficult to eat from lower feeders. Get the dog an elevated feeder right away. Such feeders can decrease the stress in dog’s neck. Making eating easier and rather painless.

The Great Dane owners can maintain health and fitness of their dogs just by feeding suitable. If you are a parent to a Dane puppy, large breed puppy food is the right dog food for your pup. In case you own a Great Dane dog , it is befitting to feed adult large breed food. Till your Great Dane puppy reaches the age of 18 months feed it large breed puppy food. Raw diet could also be an advantageous alternative if you are looking for natural food source for your huge pack of love.

Follow the guidelines described above to know what to feed and how much to feed a Great Dane puppy. Also it will help you to provide your dog with a diet suitable for Great Danes and feeding your canine confidently. We wish your Great Dane puppy a healthy growth and cherished life span. Good luck!