Dog Feeding Calculators
How much should a dog eat? Start with daily calories from body weight, life stage and activity, then convert that to grams or cups of the food you actually buy. There are also tools for treat allowances, raw and home-cooked rations, splitting a bag between several dogs, switching foods without an upset stomach, and how much water a dog should drink.
Main tools
- Dog Calorie Calculator
Calculate how many calories your dog needs per day from body weight, life stage and activity level, using the standard RER and MER veterinary formulas.
- Dog Food Portion Calculator
Dog food portion calculator: turn a daily calorie target into grams or cups of the food you buy, from manufacturer-verified kcal/kg figures or your own bag.
- Dog Food Calorie Calculator From the Label
Estimate dog food calories per kg from the guaranteed analysis on the label, for bags that do not print a calorie content.
- Dog Food Cost per 1,000 kcal Calculator
Compare what two dog foods actually cost to feed by price per 1,000 kcal, instead of price per bag or per pound.
More tools
- Dog Treat Calorie Budget Calculator
Dog treat calorie calculator: find your dog’s 10% treat allowance and how many of a given treat fit inside it without unbalancing the diet.
- Raw and BARF Dog Food Calculator
Raw dog food calculator: daily raw feeding amounts as a percentage of body weight, split into muscle meat, bone, organ and plant matter.
- Homemade Dog Food Portion Calculator
Homemade dog food calculator: scale a home-cooked recipe to your dog’s daily calorie requirement and check the portion per meal.
- Multi-Dog Food Calculator
Multi-dog food calculator: split one bag correctly between several dogs of different weights and activity levels, and see how long the bag lasts.
- Dog Food Transition Schedule Calculator
Dog food transition schedule: a day-by-day old-food to new-food mixing plan that avoids the digestive upset caused by switching too fast.
- Dog Daily Water Intake Calculator
Dog water intake calculator: how much water your dog should drink each day, and the intake that suggests excessive thirst worth a vet visit.
Guides and explainers
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Why the bag’s feeding chart overfeeds most dogs
Dog food feeding charts overfeed because they are keyed to weight alone, and two dogs of the same weight can need very different amounts. Here is why.
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How many calories does my dog need a day?
How many calories a dog needs a day: resting energy is 70 × kg^0.75, times 1.0 to 8.0 by life stage and work. Worked examples for 5, 20 and 40 kg dogs.
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How much water should a dog drink a day?
How much water a dog should drink: about 50 to 60 ml per kg a day, roughly a liter for a 20 kg dog. Above 100 ml/kg, sustained, is polydipsia.
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How to switch dog food without the diarrhea
How to switch dog food: ramp the new food in over 7 days for most adults, 10 for puppies and seniors, 14 for sensitive stomachs. What to do if stools go loose.