French bulldogs are simply one of the best pets that you could ever have! They're fun, cute and make wonderful companions. These adorable pups can be very easy to take care of and look after.
When it comes to feeding a french bulldog, the first thing you need to do is inquire about the diet and think about how much you're actually feeding it.
You can choose between a variety of food types including wet food, dry food, raw meat, and even food that you have cooked and prepared for the dog yourself.
In this article, you will learn about how much food you should actually be feeding your french bulldog on a daily basis.
Many factors come into the answer to this question like the age of the dog and its weight. Also, know that only the healthiest options will be worth it in the long run.
To find out how much you need to be feeding your french bulldog, take a look at this guide:
Feeding Your French Bulldog
If you already own a french bulldog, you might be looking into changing up the diet. Or perhaps you've been shopping for one and found your favorite. Now you want to prepare before it gets to the new home.
Either way, this guide is beginner-friendly and will help you succeed.
The first thing you should know is that you have many options that you need to take into consideration, as you never know which kind your dog will like the most. Most likely, you also don't know about the diet it had before you adopted it.
Immediately after that, that is when you should look into how much you actually need to be feeding it on a daily basis.
Along with that, when it will be time to adjust that amount or switch to another method of feeding depending on how old the dog is getting.
How much you should be feeding your dog depends on how frequently you feed it and how much you're feeding it in those moments.
Most people say that it is pretty difficult to get an exact number or guide to how much you should feed it because every dog is different.
French bulldogs can weigh anything between 15 pounds up to over 30 pounds. Most of them aren't really that active. This is what can make it difficult when trying to get an exact number for how much you should be feeding it.
If you want more of an exact number, you can try using online dog feeding calculators to get a number that is drawn from your dog's weight, age, and how active they are.
From a general perspective, most dogs of this particular breed should be eating about 30 calories a day for every pound they are in weight.
As far as meal count, you should shoot to feed it about 3 meals a day. French bulldogs that are the healthiest usually eat about 30 calories a day for every pound they are in body weight.
For example, a dog that weighs 16 pounds that isn't very active would eat about 450-500 calories every day. A french bulldog that is even less active and weighs even more, probably around 28-30 pounds, would get about 750-800 calories on a daily basis.
With that being said, a french bulldog at the adult stage should get about 500 calories a day at the very least and up to 750 calories a day at the maximum.
Make sure that you also weigh your french bulldog every couple of weeks. This will help you make sure that they are not becoming too overweight or underweight and it will also help you know when you need to adjust the food amount.
If you do get to the point where you're starting to see the dog's ribs or feel that they're becoming slower or heavy to the point where it is hard for them to do everyday things, you should consult a professional veterinarian to get more of an exact amount.
How Much Should You Feed Your French Bulldog?
As mentioned above, there are certain dog feeding calculators online if you're looking for an exact number for your particular dog.
Here, this is information that will help you get an estimate of how much you need to need to feed it on a daily basis.
To get a rough estimate, here are some of the calorie estimates that have been calculated for french bulldogs in the past considering dogs that weighed about 25 pounds:
For older dogs, feed them anywhere from 400 calories to 470 calories on a daily basis. For average adult french bulldogs, feed them anywhere from 550 calories a day to 600 calories on a daily basis.
And for adult french bulldogs that are more active than average, try to feed them anywhere from 750 calories to 830 calories on a daily basis.
It is very important to keep in mind that these are estimates based on a general french bulldog with an average weight of 25 pounds. These are not exact and if that is in your desires, you should consult a professional.
Most french bulldogs can usually get too heavy or too light in weight pretty easily. This is especially true for the lazy french bulldogs.
It can be a coin toss when trying to figure out whether or not they are active or not active, especially when you're in the process of looking for one to adopt.
Because their activeness can always change, that is another reason to heavily observe the amount that you feed them.
One thing you can do is try to come up with a feeding schedule. When you do, never procrastinate or slack on feeding the dog the right amounts since they can quickly become overweight or underweight.
It is also important to keep the time in mind and try to feed the dog once in the morning and once in the afternoon or once more in the evening just like how you would feed yourself.
Feeding the French Bulldog Depending on Age
For the Dogs 10-12 Weeks Old
Most dogs at this age have been slowly weaned off of the mother's milk and have recently changed to puppy food.
If this is the case for your baby bulldog, you should be more cautious and analytical when feeding it. Younger French bulldogs need food that is high in calories and nutrients.
Dogs in this age range usually need about 1.5 cups of food on a daily basis. It is especially crucial that you spread these feedings out into 3 equal meals that include half a cup in each meal.
Doing this ensures that the dog won't have as many energy spikes which usually happen because the dog is experiencing very high rises and drops in its blood sugar levels during the day while it is not eating.
After about 6 months of this, you can try switching to feeding the dog twice a day if it is more convenient for your schedule.
However, it is always encouraged to try to feed the dog 3 times a day even when the dog has become older. Feeding it smaller meals multiple times a day is better for the dog's health and feeding only twice a day can sometimes lead to health problems.
For the Dogs 6-9 Months Old
When your dog reaches this age, it is usually ready to start getting into the eating routine that they will be using for the rest of their lives, ensuring that no medical problems with stem from it.
When the dog is anywhere from 6 months to 1 year old, this is the appropriate time for you to bring in adult dog food that is higher in quality and nutrients.
Even at this age, it is still important for you to be strict and attentive when participating in the dog's diet, meaning really stick to exact amounts and exact times and exact days when you feed the dog. Doing this will keep your dog happy and make it way more comfortable in the home.
When you get into the works of the daily feeding schedule, you can start to feed the dog treats every now and again between meals.
Make sure that you keep an eye on the body weight as well. If you find that the dog is underweight, add half a cup of food each week until the weight is back to normal.
That will be about 2 and a half cups of food a day for an underweight dog.
Not Every Day Will Be Perfect
Almost every dog, especially french bulldogs, will overeat at some time during their lives. It is actually pretty natural for this breed of dog to be more famished or gluttonous than other dogs. However, this still means that this is a call for being even more attentive.
Your dog will usually eat all of the food that you give it in each serving. If you have multiple dogs or one more dog and you have their food sitting next to the other dog's food, the french bulldog will most likely help itself to the other dog's food.
Because of this, take extra time to monitor your dogs while they eat. Try eating when they eat so that it is more convenient and good for the time.
According to the Veterinary Medicine Journal, you could also try bringing vitamins like omegas into the diet as well. This might help with making the dog feel fuller and more satisfied along with helping any medical problems.
Along with that, the Wiley Online Library suggests that a dog's daily food intake could include a good amount of omegas, fatty acids, and vitamin E to improve sexual health and reproduction abilities.
What If the Dog Is Underweight?
French bulldogs that are smaller in size will definitely need to be fed a little bit more than normal to ensure that they grow to the right weight size.
An adult French bulldog that is sprayed and/or neutered should weigh about 17 pounds at the very minimum and 30 pounds at the max. One of the biggest signs that the dog is underweight is that its bones or frame is showing in any way.
French bulldogs are naturally fattier than other breeds and their weight heavily depends on how happy they are in the home.
If your dog is underweight, you should aim to feed it anywhere from 2 and a half cups to 3 cups a day or 30 to 40 calories for every pound. Divide all of this into 3 meals each day until you see that the dog is at the proper weight.
You can also try feeding the dog a diet that is higher in fat. However, you should be careful and monitor how much fat you're putting in the dog's diet.
According to the Wiley Online Library, the gastrointestinal disease can be a result of a dog diet that is way too high in fat.
Adjust according to what the veterinarian recommends. Also, according to this study, the dogs can digest fatty meats faster if the meat is made into a slurry form.
What If the Dog Is Overweight?
Just like people, french bulldogs that are overweight are at risk of suffering from very serious and painful health conditions like heart disease, breathing problems and much more.
If you see that your dog is overweight, you need to do more monitoring when you're feeding to make sure that you're not overdoing it.
Make sure that it is not eating the other pet's food or getting to food that is around the house and happens to be left out. Also, check to make sure that people in the house aren't overfeeding the dog or giving the dog-human food leftovers or anything.
After that, decrease the amount that you give the dog on a daily basis. Try taking away half a cup at a time and give them more water. Take them on more walks as well and make sure it's on very hot days. If you do so, it can be fatal for the dog.
If the weight problem becomes too much for the dog to handle, you can consider trying out food therapy along with monitoring food intake.
According to Yumiko Bannai, food therapy is the best option for french bulldogs with weight problems because their short noses make them weak to the metal element, this, in turn, makes it hard for them to digest their food if they are overweight.
Helpful Resources
If you are looking for extra facts and information related your french bulldog, check out the video French Bulldog Five Things You Should Know.
You'll learn about the general makeup of the dog along with a fact about their energy and how it plays into their diet.
As a freelance pet writer and blogger, Shannon is passionate about crafting knowledge-based, science-supported articles that foster healthy bonds of love and respect between people and animals. But her first and very most important job is as a dog auntie and cockatiel, tortoise, and box turtle mama.
