Feeding a Cockapoo puppy requires a thorough understanding of the type of dog food you give, the amount, and the frequency. The quantity may also differ based on factors such as the dog’s age and energy level.
A Cockapoo is a crossbreed of the lovely Cocker Spaniel and the intelligent Poodle. Its size can vary based on the size of the Poodle parent it is bred with.
Given this fact, the feeding requirements for a healthy Cockapoo will also differ depending on the size of the parent breed it takes after.
If you own a Cockapoo, this feeding guide will provide you with all the essential information. Continue reading to find out how to choose the best Cockapoo food, how much food they need, which foods to avoid, and more!
Cockapoo Feeding Chart by Age: How Much to Feed Your Cockapoo?
The feeding amount for a Cockapoo will depend on its age and size. A Cockapoo puppy may require anywhere from ¼ to 3 cups of puppy food daily. Meanwhile, an adult would need about ¾ to 3 ¾ cups. On the other hand, ¾ to 3 cups daily will be enough for a Cockapoo.
These designer dog breeds are often high-energy dogs, which will require more food per day.
However, if your dog is inactive and more laid-back than usual, you need to feed less food for your Cockapoo to prevent obesity.
How much food you feed your Cockapoo will also vary based on the dog’s weight, age, and metabolism. Always provide puppies with puppy food because it has additional nutrients for their growing bodies.
You also need to feed your Cockapoo puppy good quality and high-density food. Additionally, you can consult your veterinarian if you are uncertain about how much food to feed your Cockapoo.
Cockapoo Puppy Feeding Chart (2 to 12 months)
At different life stages, the toy, mini, and standard Cockapoo puppies have different nutritional requirements.
Hence, you should feed your Cockapoo size and age-appropriate dog food to maintain a healthy weight, which is a very similar strategy to feeding its Poodle parent.
However, as they grow, the discomfort of feeding puppies that are teething may prompt the mother to leave before the puppies are totally satisfied.
Hence, weaning should begin when the puppies’ teeth begin to erupt or at about 3 to 4 weeks of age.
The right amount of food for puppies must be considered properly to aid them in their growth and development.
Refer to the table to determine how much food to feed your Cockapoo puppy, depending on size:
Toy Cockapoo Puppy
Miniature Cockapoo Puppy
Standard Cockapoo Puppy
Typically, a Cockapoo puppy achieves its adult weight at about 10 months; however, it may continue to grow until they are a year old. At this point, you can transition your dog to adult food.
Moreover, they need more protein per pound of body weight as this helps in their growth and muscle and bone development as puppies.
It is also vital that their dog food includes essential protein, such as chicken, as its main ingredient, instead of other meat derivatives manufactured from animal products.
Adult Cockapoo Feeding Chart (1 to 7 years)
When the Cockapoo puppy grows into adulthood, its food intake must be fit to an adult dog’s nutrient and caloric requirements.
Refer to the table below to determine how much food to feed your adult Cockapoo.
Adult Toy Cockapoo
Adult Miniature Cockapoo
Adult Standard Cockapoo
If you buy other food, such as commercial raw foods or raw meat, you should find feeding instructions on the packaging. If you think the amount of commercial dog food is excessive or insufficient, consult your vet.
Senior Cockapoo Feeding Chart (8 years and above)
You should feed the senior Cockapoo food created to boost their quality of life and overall health. This is similar to how you need to consider the nutrition of its Cocker Spaniel parents, regardless of gender.
Senior dogs are susceptible to age-related health issues. Hence, providing healthy food for your aging Cockapoo is necessary to soften the impact of them becoming weaker with age.
The table below illustrates how much food a senior Cockapoo should eat daily:
Senior Toy Cockapoo
Senior Miniature Cockapoo
Senior Standard Cockapoo
Most senior dogs gain a little weight as they age because they are less active. You should feed them less food to make up for the fewer calories it burns.
Cockapoo Feeding Frequency: How Often Should You Feed Your Cockapoo?
Age determines how often your Cockapoo should be fed. In general, Cockapoo puppies should be fed three to four times per day. Meanwhile, adult Cockapoo must be fed twice a day, and senior Cockapoo should be fed once daily.
No matter how often you feed your dog, establishing feeding schedules is essential for your Cockapoo. This method is crucial in having a healthy dog and easily maintaining your dog’s weight.
The table below summarizes the recommended feeding time for toy, mini, and standard Cockapoos based on their age:
As you can see, different life stages may require different feeding frequencies. This is due to the growth and development requirements and energy needed for the bodily functions of each particular stage.
The key here is to make sure that the dog food is distributed evenly to keep them properly nourished throughout the day, as well as to avoid issues such as bloat or distention.
Optimal Feeding Times for Cockapoos
The best feeding times for a Cockapoo puppy coincide with breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner. In other words, their meals should be spaced out at 4-hour or 6-hour intervals. For an adult dog, meals should be around 12 hours apart, while for seniors, it can be anytime in the morning or evening.
This mixed breed requires a regular feeding schedule to maintain its energy levels throughout the day.
Also, a healthy eating routine will significantly benefit their digestive system and other physical processes.
Refer to the table for information on the best feeding times for a Cockapoo:
As you can see in the table, the first feeding is always given early in the morning. This is to keep your Cockapoo’s energy level consistent and help them to easily digest their food.
These feeding habits will help your dog establish a healthy metabolism and will help them learn how to eat properly. Also, their food should always be accompanied by fresh drinking water.
A steady and precise feeding regime allows you to control your pet’s daily caloric and nutrient intake.
Allowing your Cockapoo to eat whenever it pleases carries a significant risk of overfeeding or underfeeding.
Best Dog Foods for Cockapoos
Cockapoos may be fussy eaters, unlike their Cocker Spaniel parents. For your Cockapoo pup to be healthy, its diet must be nutritionally balanced and be composed of high-quality components.
There are plenty of food options on the market, and each of them claims to be the most acceptable for your dog.
However, you need to ensure that you feed your Cockapoo puppy food that contains all the nutrients it needs.
The following is a list of the best food for your dog’s diet:
Dry Food: Dry dog food or kibble is highly convenient because it is easy to store, light, and does not create a mess. If you choose dry dog food made of pure and natural ingredients instead of just meat derivatives, your dog will receive healthy and nutritionally balanced food.
Wet Food: Wet food is another form of commercial food that you can feed your dog. It contains a great deal of water that keeps your Cockapoo pup hydrated and enhances its flavor as well. However, you should be aware that dogs who consume solely commercial wet food have been observed to develop bad breath and loose stool.
Raw and BARF Diet: Biologically-appropriate raw food (BARF) consists of raw meats and bones, with ground vegetables and fruit. Commercial raw foods have higher amounts of good unsaturated fats and a better balance of beneficial and harmful bacteria. Raw food also has omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which are helpful in keeping your dog’s hair, skin, and teeth healthy.
Homemade Diet: Homemade diets are comparable to raw feeding, except that items are typically cooked. This minimizes your puppy’s risk of infection, such as salmonella contamination with raw feeding. Also, you will need to closely check nutritional contents and ratios to ensure that your Cockapoo puppy is receiving a balanced diet.
Check out this video if you are curious about what homemade food for Cockapoos looks like:
HOMEMADE DOG FOOD | healthy dog food recipe<a href="https://youtu.be/vkHotmVJEGY" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.bubblypet.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-youtube-lyte/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FvkHotmVJEGY%2F0.jpg" alt="HOMEMADE DOG FOOD | healthy dog food recipe" width="1280" height="700" /><br />Watch this video on YouTube</a>
If you want to feed both biologically appropriate raw food and dry food, serve them at separate meals.
Dry and raw diets should not be combined, as they are digested at different rates and do not go well together.
Additionally, if you prefer to prepare your dogs’ raw food diet on your own, you should devote a lot of time to making it safe and well-balanced. This is to prevent diet-related problems in puppies fed with a raw diet.
While each of the food suggestions above carries its own advantages and disadvantages, it is still smart to conduct sufficient research to see what would best suit your pet’s needs.
Giving your puppy a treat is also good. However, not all kinds of treats are healthy, as some include artificial ingredients and should be avoided.
In addition to dried liver and raw bones, some fruits and vegetables, such as pumpkins, carrots, and green beans, and fresh fruit, such as apples, and blueberries, are excellent options for your dog.
Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Cockapoo
Dogs have different digestive systems, many food sensitivities, and allergic reactions compared to humans. Allowing your Cockapoo to eat the same food you do creates a lot of health risks for them.
Some foods are known to be harmful and potentially dangerous if consumed by dogs. Like most dogs, Cockapoos should not eat certain foods such as chocolate, alcohol, avocados, nuts, and fruits and vegetables.
Chocolate poisoning is the most common form of dog poisoning. Chocolate contains caffeine and theobromine, a stimulant also found in cola and tea.
Alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine, or liquor contain ethanol and are poisonous to dogs as chocolates. Early symptoms of alcohol poisoning include vomiting, diarrhea, and a slow heart rate.
Another toxic substance to Cockapoos is persin which can be found in avocado pits, leaves, stems, and bark. Persin poisoning may damage the lungs or heart, and early symptoms are breathing problems.
On the other hand, bones are not poisonous. However, feeding a Cockapoo a cooked bone may lead to an obstruction in the digestive system or laceration along the gastrointestinal tract.
Preservative-laden foods should also be avoided. Even natural preservatives, such as salt, can induce gastrointestinal distress.
Further, restrict serving your Cockapoo dairy products if they tend to be lactose intolerant since this can cause numerous issues in your dog’s digestive system.
How to Transition Your Cockapoo to a New Food
When you bring your puppy home, the breeder will typically provide you with some of the food it has been weaned on, which usually includes canned wet foods.
If they are on a kibble-only diet, it is preferable to gradually introduce new kibble over 7 to 10 days.
Start by replacing approximately 10% of the old food with new food. Then over the next 7 to 10 days, gradually increase the amount of new dog food until it is completely transitioned.
You can also try adding probiotics to your Cockapoos diet since they aid digestion and make this transition smoother.
Refer to the table below for a full breakdown of introducing new food to your dog:
Dogs do not need to change their food regularly. However, if you decide to switch the food for your Cockapoo at any point, do it gradually for your dog’s system to adapt to the change.
With that, if you observe your dog refusing to eat the new dog food or it develops diarrhea, vomiting, or constipation, you should slow down the amount of food you give. If the condition persists, consult your veterinarian.
Feeding an Overweight Cockapoo
Overweight dogs are at a greater risk for various health problems and are likely to live shorter. However, you can aim to achieve your pet’s healthy weight by striking a balance between food intake and physical activity.
For overweight Cockapoos, you should always monitor how many cups of food you give to them. Also, it is advisable for your overweight dog to consume less than 10 percent of its daily calories from sweets.
Anything in excess may lead to your dog being overweight, including too much consumption of fatty snacks and table foods.
With that, it is recommended to substitute these sweets with carrots, boiled sweet potatoes, or green beans, which are healthier alternatives.
Also, to prevent weight gain, it is necessary to restrict how much food to give a neutered or spayed Cockapoo. This will reduce physical activity that contributes to weight gain since they roam around less.
Further, physical activity such as jogging and playing fetch provides your Cockapoo with mental stimulation and keeps them active, decreasing their risk of obesity.
You may need to include regular vet visits in your overall budget in taking care of your Cockapoo so that your vet can also partner with you in the overall weight maintenance of your pet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Is My Cockapoo Not Eating?
If your Cockapoo is not eating, there could be various causes. It may be due to health or behavioral issues or the dog food you are feeding your Cockapoo.
Try to experiment to improve the palatability of your dog’s food. If necessary, add some wet food to your dog’s diet, even in small amounts, if your dog refuses to eat the same food.
Do Cockapoos Eat a Lot?
Cockapoos are often picky eaters, like their Poodle parents. This is a problem shared by many dog owners that frequently occurs in their puppies who have been fed different foods.
That said, avoid feeding your dog table scraps and limit the number of treats you give.
Remember that dogs have different dietary requirements than humans, so there are foods that may not be nutritionally adequate for them.
Can Cockapoos Eat Bones?
Cockapoos shouldn’t consume cooked bones, even if they come from leftovers. This increases the likelihood of damaging internal organs such as your dog’s stomach and intestines.
On the other hand, raw chicken and beef bones are safer for your pet. These are natural sources of calcium and phosphorus.
Can Cockapoos Be Vegetarians?
Cockapoos may not achieve optimal health on a purely vegetarian diet. They can still consume vegetables such as broccoli and carrots, but they would still need fatty acids and amino acids from meat sources.
They should continue to eat puppy food to meet daily nutritional requirements for becoming strong and healthy Cockapoos.
Final Thoughts
A big part of dog ownership is keeping them fit and healthy. To do so, you must ensure to give your Cockapoo a well-balanced diet according to its expected adult size, age, and weight while following regular feeding times.
Your dog’s life will be directly influenced by the kind of food it consumes throughout its existence. Hence, with the proper feeding plan and advice from your vet, you’ll be able to fulfill your dog’s appetite and needs.
Is this feeding guide helpful for you? Let us know your thoughts and ideas about Cockapoo feeding in the comments below!
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