How much should your dog eat?
The feeding guide on the bag is written for an average dog that does not exist. This uses the formula vets use, then converts it into cups of your actual food.
Feed about
1,030 kcal
roughly 2.7 cups a day, split into 2 meals
- Resting need
- 644 kcal/day at rest
- Sensible range
- 875–1,185 kcal/day
- By weight
- 297 g per day, dry food
- Treat budget
- 103 kcal/day max (10%)
Worth knowing
This is general information, not veterinary advice. It cannot examine your dog, and it does not know their history. For anything that concerns you, speak to a vet.
The formula, and why it is not linear
Energy needs scale with body surface area rather than weight, so the standard veterinary calculation raises weight to the power of 0.75 rather than multiplying it directly:
RER = 70 × (weight in kg)0.75
That is the resting requirement — what a dog burns doing nothing. Multiply it by a factor for life stage, neuter status and activity to get what to actually feed. The practical consequence of the exponent is that a 90 lb dog does not eat four and a half times what a 20 lb dog eats. It eats roughly three times as much.
The multipliers
| Situation | × resting need | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Puppy, under 4 months | 3.0 | Growing fast. Usually fed three or four times a day. |
| Puppy, 4 months to adult | 2.0 | Growth is slowing. Most drop to twice a day around here. |
| Adult, neutered or spayed | 1.6 | The commonest case. Neutering lowers energy needs, which is why dogs often gain weight after it. |
| Adult, not neutered | 1.8 | Slightly higher maintenance needs than a neutered dog of the same weight. |
| Active or working | 2.5 | Hours of real work or exercise daily — herding, gundog work, canicross, not a long walk. |
| Inactive or prone to weight gain | 1.3 | Short walks, a lot of sofa, or a dog that gains weight easily. |
| Needs to lose weight | 1.0 | Calculated from target weight, not current weight. |
| Senior, less active | 1.4 | Older dogs usually need less, though some need more if they are losing condition. |
| Pregnant, last three weeks | 1.8 | Needs climb steeply in late pregnancy. |
| Nursing a litter | 3.5 | The highest demand any healthy dog has. Varies enormously with litter size. |
Published sources give ranges rather than single values, because real dogs vary by up to half either side. These are mid-points, which is why the calculator shows a range too.
Check the dog, not the calculator
The number above is a starting point. The measure that matters is body condition, assessed with your hands every couple of weeks:
| Score | Condition | What you feel |
|---|---|---|
| 1–3 | Too thin | Ribs, spine and hip bones visible from a distance. No fat cover. Increase food and see a vet. |
| 4–5 | Ideal | Ribs easily felt under a thin fat cover, waist visible from above, belly tucked up from the side. |
| 6–7 | Overweight | Ribs hard to feel, waist barely visible, fat over the spine and tail base. Reduce by 10% and reassess in a month. |
| 8–9 | Obese | Ribs not palpable, obvious fat deposits, no waist. Needs a vet-supervised plan, not a crash diet. |
Keeping a dog lean is the single most effective thing an owner controls. Dogs kept at a lean body condition through life stay mobile longer and need less intervention for joint problems than littermates fed freely.
Common questions
How many calories does my dog need a day?
Start from resting energy requirement: 70 × (body weight in kg) raised to the power 0.75. Multiply that by a factor for life stage and activity — about 1.6 for a neutered adult, 1.8 for an intact one, 2.0 for a growing puppy over four months, 3.0 for a younger one. The calculator above does this and converts the result into cups of the food you actually feed.
Why is this different from the feeding guide on the bag?
Bag guides are broad ranges built for an average dog, and they tend to run generous. They also cannot know whether your dog is neutered, elderly, working or lying on a sofa all day — all of which change requirements substantially. Use the bag as a sanity check and your dog’s body condition as the real measure.
Should I feed once or twice a day?
Twice a day suits most adult dogs and spreads the load on the digestive system. Puppies need more frequent meals — three or four a day under four months. There is some evidence that deep-chested breeds benefit from smaller, more frequent meals and from not exercising immediately after eating, because of bloat risk.
My dog is overweight. How fast should the weight come off?
Slowly, and with a vet involved. A common target is 1–2% of body weight per week. Calculate from the target weight rather than the current one, and have a vet confirm the target — obesity is often accompanied by conditions that change the plan. Crash dieting is dangerous.
Do treats count?
Yes, and they are the usual reason a careful feeding plan fails. The standard guidance is that treats should be no more than 10% of daily calories, with the main food reduced to make room. A single large dental chew can be over 100 kcal, which is a meaningful share of a small dog’s day.
How do I know the calculation is right for my dog?
Feed it for two to three weeks and then check body condition rather than the scale alone. You should be able to feel the ribs easily under a thin covering, see a waist from above, and see the belly tuck up from the side. If not, adjust by about 10% and reassess after another fortnight.