This Dog Food Calculator can help you estimate your dog’s proper serving size. It’s based upon a scientific study published by a respected veterinary research institute.1
The calculator’s formula2 determines a dog’s metabolic weight and suggests an appropriate serving size.
To use the calculator here’s what you’ll need to know…
- Your dog’s ideal weight
- Your dog’s activity description
- Your dog food’s calorie content
A Dog Food Calculator… for Adults Only
The Dog Food Calculator was designed to be used for adult dogs only… not for puppies. And it shouldn’t be used for pregnant or lactating females.
So… when is a dog considered an adult?
Well, small to medium size breeds may be considered adults after about six months of age.
But large and giant breeds are different. They shouldn’t be fed as adults until they reach somewhere around one to two years (depending upon the breed).3
When Is a Dog a Senior?
You’ll need to decide whether or not your dog is a senior.
That’s because older dog have significantly lower energy needs than younger ones. So, it’s easy for them to put on extra weight.
In general… small to medium size dogs are considered seniors at about seven years of age. But larger breeds reach senior status much sooner… some as early as five.4
How to Convert Calories per Day Into Serving Size
After you’ve entered your dog’s ideal weight… and her approximate activity level, you’ll know the number of calories… per day.
But to convert that amount to something you can actually use… to units of kitchen measure (cups or kilograms), you’ll need to enter one more piece of information… the number of calories in your dog’s food.
The number of calories within a given quantity of dog food is known as its “metabolizable energy”… or ME, for short.
You’ll find ME reported as calories per cup (or per kilogram). Look for it near the “Guaranteed Analysis” section of the dog food label. It’s usually stated as kcal/cup… or kcal/kilogram.
By the way… “kilocalories” and “calories” mean the same thing.
One more thing… the calculator assumes you’re feeding your dog just once a day.
If you choose to feed your dog twice a day… the way I feed mine… be sure to divide your daily serving amount so that both meals add up to the full daily calories suggested… and no more.
- Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition (1999), Canine Life Stages and Lifestyles, The Waltham Course on Dog and Cat Nutrition, p. 14 ↩
- ME (kcal/day) = 110 (body weight in kilograms)0.75 to maintain a typical adult dog ↩
- Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition (1999), Canine Life Stages and Lifestyles, The Waltham Course on Dog and Cat Nutrition, p. 4 ↩
- Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition (1999), Canine Life Stages and Lifestyles, The Waltham Course on Dog and Cat Nutrition, p. 16 ↩
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
we have a rough collie age 10 who weighs 70-75 lbs and has trouble with her back trying to get up but we have her on arthrithus meds
Is the calculator compatible with Mozilla? I’m not seeing it on this page anywhere.
Kat… thanks for calling this problem to my attention. It should be working OK now.
We are dog sitting a miniature schnauzer and she looks a bit pudgy. Only have a container of food with no label so we don’t know the calories per serving size. The dog food appears to be a semi moist brand. She should be 19 lbs, but now weighs 22 lbs. Can you give me daily portion size in measurements of cups to maintain her weight? Is it true to feed them only once a day? We’ve increased her activity level so pounds should eventually come off. Thanks in advance for your reply.
Hi Caryn… unfortunately, without knowing the actual calories per serving of that particular dog food it would be impossible to make a fair suggestion for proper serving size. Semi-moist dog foods are fairly uncommon and have a moisture content of 2-3 times a normal dry food (about 30%). So, if you can’t find the exact dog food you are using, look for an online retailer to get the calorie content of a similar semi-moist product. By the way, I feed Bailey twice a day. Just divide your final “daily” figure by two. Hope this helps.
What are the guidelines for ; Typical, Active, Working etc. in the calculations??
Hi Steve… our Dog Food Calculator is based upon the recommendations of the Waltham Center for Pet Nutrition in Leicestershire, UK. It estimates the maintenance energy requirement (MER) for dogs of various activity levels.
Typical MER = 110 x (weight)0.75
Active MER = 125 x (weight)0.75
Highly Active MER = 175 x (weight)0.75
Senior MER = 90 x (weight)0.75
Inactive MER = 90 x (weight)0.75
Neutered MER = 90 x (weight)0.75
Working Light Duty MER = (130-150) x (weight)0.75
Working Moderate Duty MER = (150-175) x (weight)0.75
Working Heavy Duty MER = (175-250) x (weight)0.75
For an explanation of the different activity levels themselves you’ll probably need to use your own judgment
Pomeranian dog 14lb needs to loss 4lb. normal activity.
Hi Dorine… You’ll need to have one more piece of information. You’ll need to “tell” the calculator how many calories are in each serving of your dog’s food. Look on the side of the package.
I think food calculator should not be the sole guide. Because each dog is different, I personally prefer my eye ball test to determine how much to feed my lab. My lab, tall and lean version, is 80lbs. My lab gets no more than 2 cups of dry food a day. This is because I add toppers to his food (like canned sardines, salmon, and etc.). For my lab, the more protein he eats (and less grain), the leaner and toned he becomes.
I hope you don’t mind me putting a link here… This is reference for my eye ball test. I keep my lab at ideal weight.
After adjusting up and down for awhile, I have determined that my lab (80lb) will stay at ideal weight at 2 cups of dry food (plus extra lean protein added). On days he exercises a lot, I will add a little more food for him.
http://www.purina.com/dogs/health/BodyCondition.aspx
P.S. — I am not promoting purina. I have never fed purina. I just find their chart to be excellent. I am a big fan of Natura Pet Company (maker of innova evo, california natural, healthwise).
Hi Pauline… Thanks for sharing your handy technique and this useful link with our readers. We agree with your advice and also recommend Purina’s “ideal weight” system in my article… A Proven Way to Add Nearly Two Extra Years to Your Dog’s Life. Thanks again for the useful advice.
hi just found the dog food calculator and have a question, my dog is 90 lbs needs to be 65-70 lbs, is 7-8 yrs old and is a border collie-shepard mix we are using a senior lg breed food,296 per c, should we change to the reg. senior food of our brand which is 268 a cup and how much should we give,right now he gets 2 cups a.m.& p.m., thanks for any help and insight the not sure on the age is because he was a shelter rescue 3 years ago and they put around 4-5 yrs at that time, again thanks for any info!!! also he’s not a very active dog
Hi Paula… I used a 70 pound “ideal” weight for your “typical” dog and the calculator suggested you feed your dog 1,474 kcal per day. I then entered your 296 kcal per cup figure (by the way, that seems rather low to me). The calculator estimates you’d need to feed your dog about 5 cups/day… or 2.5 cups in the morning and 2.5 cups at night.
Please be sure you’re using the correct “calories per cup” figure. As I mentioned, your reported number seems sort of low to me… Wrong numbers can make a huge difference in the results. Hope this helps.