How Much to Feed Your Cavapoo (Puppies and Adults)

You’ve recently adopted a Cavapoo puppy (aka Cavoodle), and you couldn’t be more excited about the addition of your new four-legged friend. You’ve never owned a dog this size before, so you’re not sure how much to feed it. What should a Cavapoo puppy eat versus an adult?

A Cavapoo puppy, once it’s a little more grown, can get by on one to 1 ½ cups of food per day. Adult Cavapoos need even less, about 1 ¼ cups of food for each mealtime and possibly even less.

This guide will be packed full of charts and tables to help you determine how much your Cavapoo should eat when it’s a young puppy and an older adult. Make sure you check it out!

Brown Cavapoo puppy eating in a bowl
Brown Cavapoo puppy eating.

Here’s How Much an Adult Cavapoo Needs to Eat

Cavapoo AgeHow Much to Feed
1 to 7 years old1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups
8+ years old1 to 1 ¼ cups

One to Seven Years Old

By the time your Cavapoo turns one year old, the dog is close to its adult size, a size it will occupy for most of its life. For some Cavapoos, this takes longer, upwards of 18 months.

Since your Cavapoo is still actively growing at this time, they need to eat more nutrients and calories just as a growing puppy does.

An adult Cavapoo doesn’t need nearly as much food as a puppy, of course, but still a significant amount.

Until the dog is about seven years old, you should feed your Cavapoo 1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups of food per day.

They’ll ingest between 325 and 400 kilocalories at that amount, getting five percent fat and 18 percent protein from their diet if you’re feeling them standard dog food.

Make sure your Cavapoo is ingesting carbs as well if their dog food doesn’t have much. Carbohydrates might get a bad rap, but they’re a form of energy.

In moderate quantities, carbs can be part of a healthy diet. According to National Academies.org, an adult dog’s diet by weight can include up to 50 percent carbs but no more than that. 

Eight Years Old and Up

Once a Cavapoo celebrates its eighth birthday, the dog is technically considered a senior.

It’s hard to believe your dog is entering their golden years when they haven’t slowed down one iota, but that’s exactly what’s happening.

As a dog matures, its metabolism slows in turn. This is something we’ve recently discussed on the blog, but it’s worth reiterating again.

Your Cavapoo is long past done growing, as your four-legged friend has reached its full size. The dog can always gain or lose weight but won’t develop any further.

Keeping all that in mind, your Cavapoo can eat even less than they did when they were younger.

Feed your senior dog at least one cup of food to 1 ¼ cup.

Your Cavapoo should ingest 250 to 280 kilocalories from this amount and receive a little under five percent fat and between 28 and 30 percent protein.

This is ideal. At your Cavapoo’s age, they need less fat and more protein so they can retain what muscle mass they have left.

Here’s How Much a Cavapoo Puppy Needs to Eat

Cavapoo AgeHow Much to Feed
2 to 3 months½ cup to 1 cup
4 to 9 months1 cup to 1 ¼ cup
10 to 12 months1 ¼ cup to 1 ½ cup

It’s far easier to feed an adult Cavapoo than it is a puppy. As we established, an adult dog is done doing the bulk of its growth, so for years, its feeding quantities will be relatively stable.

How much you feed a Cavapoo puppy keeps changing within that first year.  

Let’s go over the first few months of your Cavapoo puppy’s life and the appropriate amount to feed them.

Two to Three Months Old

A Cavapoo puppy who’s only two or three months old is growing but doesn’t have the world’s biggest appetite yet.

You don’t want to overfeed to prevent the dog from becoming overweight, so how much food is recommended?

Your puppy needs half a cup to one full cup of food. That’s about 150 to 200 kilocalories. Up to eight percent of the fat in their diet should come from their food and 22 percent protein.

Four to Nine Months Old

By the time your Cavapoo puppy has turned nine months old, they’ve sprouted up quite a lot compared to those early days when you first brought them home.

They’re still in growing mode and thus need plenty of energy and calories to sustain them at this unique stage in their life.

Feed a Cavapoo between four and nine months old at least one cup of dog food and 1 ¼ cups max.

Your puppy will eat 200 to 300 kilocalories through their dog food, ingesting eight percent fat and 22 percent protein.

10 to 12 Months Old

Yes, your Cavapoo’s diet must be revised again by the time they hit the 10-month mark until they’re a year old.

Your dog should eat 1 ¼ cups to 1 ½ cups of food. This will provide them with 350 to 400 kilocalories, eight percent fat, and 22 percent protein.

Our Cavapoo named Coco, eats 1 raw chicken neck, 1 cube (large ice cube size) of raw ground beef, and a handful of dry kibble. She also has access to dried dog food. She eats a little of the dried food, but not much. Maybe a small handful per day.

White and brown cavapoo puppy on white furry bed
White and brown Cavapoo puppy.

What Affects How Much to Feed a Cavapoo?

While the above information is a good guide to get you started feeding your Cavapoo, the suggestion of your vet should always supersede any other feeding information.

How much you feed your Cavapoo, after all, can change throughout the dog’s life for a variety of reasons. Let’s take a closer look.

Breed

A dog’s breed is its breed throughout its life, so it’s best if you know how much your pup should eat by its breed.

A Cavapoo is a small dog. According to DogTime, a Cavapoo weighs nine to 25 pounds and is nine to 14 inches tall. As a smaller canine, you won’t ever have to feed your Cavapoo copious amounts of food.

If you have other dogs in the house, then a mid-sized dog would eat slightly more than your Cavapoo and a bigger dog would eat significantly more.

Age

As the last two sections exemplified, how much a Cavapoo eats throughout its lifetime is very much dependent on the dog’s age.

Your Cavapoo will graciously gobble down food at an accelerated weight when they’re of puppy age. You’ll recall that this is because your dog is growing and developing in every way.

The dog needs the additional calories to provide them with the energy, nutrients, vitamins, and minerals to grow healthy and strong.

As your Cavapoo evens out in adulthood, there’s no need to keep upping how much food they eat.

If anything, as your Cavapoo ages, you’ll further cut back on its regular food amounts since an older dog has less appetite and reduced metabolism.

Weight

There are other exceptions for when to feed your Cavapoo less and being overweight is one of them.

VCA Animal Hospitals states that a dog is considered overweight once they’re 10 to 20 percent over its recommended weight.

A Cavapoo shouldn’t weigh much more than 25 pounds. If yours is well into the 40-pound territory and certainly over, then they’re likely overweight.

Your vet can confirm as much and also make some recommendations on how you can get your Cavapoo back to a normal weight.

That will include both a dietary change and a new exercise regimen.

Activity Levels

Cavapoos are supposed to be an active breed, but a canine’s disposition comes down to each unique dog.

If yours is a couch potato by nature and is otherwise healthy, then your vet will probably advise you to cut back on how much your Cavapoo consumes. This will prevent the dog from becoming overweight.

For those Cavapoos that are more active than the norm, they could be required to eat even more food.

How Do You Know If You’re Underfeeding or Overfeeding Your Cavapoo?

In two recent posts on the blog, we discussed the risks of both underfeeding and overfeeding a dog. Those risks apply to any breed, including the Cavapoo.

To recap, here are some signs that your Cavapoo needs more food or less!

Signs You’re Underfeeding Your Cavapoo

  • They look very gaunt, and you can feel or even see their ribs
  • No matter how much they eat, they’re always hungry for more
  • They’re lethargic due to a lack of energy
  • They weigh less than their breed standards

We have a full article on this here: Signs You’re Underfeeding Your Puppy

Signs You’re Overfeeding Your Cavapoo

  • You can no longer feel your Cavapoo’s ribs
  • They don’t have a streamlined shape
  • They’re lethargic because they’re overfull and might have joint issues
  • They weigh more than their breed standards

We have a full article on this here: Signs You’re Overfeeding Your Dog

How Much to Feed Your Cavapoo by Food Weight

A Cavapoo’s diet needn’t only be comprised of kibble. The dog can also eat canned food, wet food, fresh fruits and vegetables, and a raw diet depending on your preferences and your vet’s recommendations.

This chart will break down how much to feed your adult Cavapoo by food weight.

Type of FoodHow Much to Feed Your Cavapoo
Kibble1 ¼ cup to 1 ½ cups
Canned dog food3 ounces per 3 pounds of body weight
Wet dog food3 ounces per 3 pounds of body weight
Fresh fruits and vegetables10 to 20 percent of the overall diet
Raw food5 to 6 percent of body weight at 5 pounds, 4 to 5 percent of body weight at 6 to 10 pounds, 3 to 3.5 percent of body weight at 11 to 14 pounds

How Often Should You Feed Your Cavapoo?

Just as much as the amount of food you’re offering your Cavapoo, the feeding frequency matters.

If you feed your dog too often, then even at the right amount, they risk becoming overweight. Feeding your Cavapoo the right amount too seldom is going to leave them hungry at every turn.

Here’s a handy chart breaking down feeding frequency for a Cavapoo by their age.

Cavapoo AgeHow Many Times to Feed Per Day
0 to 12 weeksFour times
3 to 12 monthsUp to three times
1 to 7 yearsOne to two times
8 years+One time

The above is a guideline. My wife and I found our 6-month-old Cavapoo wasn’t interested in eating two meals per day. The food would just be wasted. So we dropped back to feeding her once a day and leaving some kibble out during the day.

That feeding schedule seems to work for her. We also checked her weight off with our vet, who said she’s in good health.

Conclusion

Cavapoos, like any breed, need to eat! You have to closely monitor how much your Cavapoo is ingesting to ensure the dog doesn’t gain too much weight too fast. We hope the information in this guide helps you feed your Cavapoo and help them grow healthy!

Related Reading: