How to use a feeding chart for a Shih Tzu puppy
A Shih Tzu puppy feeding chart is really just the guide printed on the back of a puppy food bag, read against your own puppy's current weight rather than their age or breed name. Every complete puppy food carries one, and the method is the same whatever brand you use: find the weight band closest to your puppy right now, feed within that range, split across several meals a day while they are small, and weigh them again every couple of weeks so the chart keeps matching the puppy in front of you.
How the chart on the bag actually works
Every complete puppy food's feeding guide is a table of weight bands against daily grams, sometimes split further by age. It is a starting point built from an average puppy of that weight, not a promise about your particular dog, so the number in the table is where you begin rather than where you stop adjusting.
Most guides recommend splitting the daily total into three or four smaller meals under around four months old, dropping to two or three as a puppy gets older. A Shih Tzu's stomach is small even by toy-breed standards, so spreading the same daily amount over more, smaller meals tends to suit them better than one or two larger ones, particularly in the first few months.
What is different about a Shih Tzu specifically
Shih Tzus are a small, flat-faced breed, and a couple of things follow from that shape rather than from anything about the food itself. A shallow, wide bowl is usually easier for a short-nosed puppy to eat from comfortably than a deep, narrow one, and feeding at a slower pace than they would like matters more here than it does for a longer-nosed breed.
Because a Shih Tzu is small, the daily amount on any chart is genuinely small in absolute terms, which makes it easy to overshoot without noticing — a handful of training treats can be a meaningful share of a toy-breed puppy's daily food before you have consciously fed anything extra. Counting treats as part of the day's total, not on top of it, keeps the chart meaningful.
Using the chart without over-relying on it
Weigh your puppy every couple of weeks rather than once and forgetting about it, and move up the chart's weight bands as they grow rather than sticking with the amount that suited them at eight weeks. A puppy that is visibly filling out too quickly, or one whose ribs are becoming easy to see, is telling you more than the printed number is.
If your Shih Tzu puppy is consistently leaving food, seems constantly hungry despite eating the guided amount, or their weight gain looks unusual for their age, that is worth raising with a vet rather than guessing at an adjustment yourself — they can check against a proper growth curve for your individual puppy.
Feeding kit
Things we stock that owners commonly reach for here. Nothing on this page depends on you buying one.
Tarhong Concentric Circle Slow Feeder Bowl for Dogs & Cats
A stylish slow-feeder bowl that encourages healthier, calmer mealtimes — available in blue, grey, or white.
£14.99
Tarhong Medallion Slow Feeder Puzzle Dog Bowl
A stylish BPA-free puzzle bowl that slows down greedy eaters — available in three sizes and a choice of colours.
From£10.99
LickiMat Wobble & Splash Enrichment Bowls for Dogs
Wobbling rubber enrichment bowls that add movement and challenge to treat time, encouraging slower eating and longer-lasting fun.
£16.99
Beaphar Lactol Milk Replacer for Puppies
A milk replacer for newborn and orphaned puppies, and for nursing or recovering dogs
From£20.23
Common questions
- How many times a day should a Shih Tzu puppy eat?
- Most puppy food guides suggest three to four meals a day under around four months old, dropping to two or three as they get older. Toy breeds like the Shih Tzu often do better staying on smaller, more frequent meals for a bit longer than a larger breed puppy would need.
- Should I follow the chart by age or by weight?
- Weight is the more reliable guide, since puppies of the same age can vary in size. Weigh your puppy and use the row on the pack closest to their current weight, then check again every couple of weeks and move up the chart as they grow rather than sticking to one figure.
- Do treats count towards the feeding chart amount?
- Yes, and it matters more for a small breed. A toy-breed puppy's daily food total is small to begin with, so training treats can make up a noticeable share of it. Treat what they eat in treats as part of the day's food rather than extra on top.
- When should I move my Shih Tzu puppy onto adult food?
- Most small and toy breeds are ready to transition sometime around nine to twelve months, once growth has largely levelled off, though the exact timing varies between individual dogs. Your vet can confirm when your particular puppy is ready based on how they are growing.
Related
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Written against guidance published by UK veterinary and welfare organisations. Always confirm specifics with your own vet.
Written by Matt Garnett, who runs Giddy Pets and is a lifelong pet owner — not a vet. This is general information, not veterinary advice, and it cannot replace an examination by the vet who knows your animal. How we write these guides.