Dog Food Calculator

How much should you feed your dog? Get daily calories from veterinary formulas, then turn them into cups or grams of your actual food.

Your dog and food

794kcal per day

About 1.88 cups of food a day, or 0.94 cups per meal, plus 79 kcal of treats.

RER 496 kcal× 1.6

Individual needs vary by up to ±30%. Recheck body condition every 2–3 weeks and adjust by about 10%.

The formula vets use

Resting energy requirement (RER) is what a dog burns at rest: RER = 70 × (weight in kg)0.75. It comes from the National Research Council’s Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats (2006) and is used in the WSAVA Global Nutrition Guidelines.

Daily need is RER multiplied by a life-stage factor:

Dog× RER
Adult, spayed/neutered1.6
Adult, intact1.8
Adult, inactive or gains easily1.3
Weight loss (use ideal weight)1
Senior, less active1.4
Active / light work2
Heavy work (sled, herding)4
Puppy under 4 months3
Puppy 4–12 months2
Pregnant (last 3 weeks)3
Nursing a litter5

Find calories on the bag or can: in the US it’s printed as “kcal/kg” and “kcal/cup” near the guaranteed analysis. Most dry dog foods are 330–450 kcal per cup.

Why a dog twice as heavy doesn’t eat twice as much

Energy use scales with body weight to the power 0.75, not 1. Bigger bodies have less surface area per kilo and lose heat more slowly, so each kilo needs fewer calories. Drag the weight and compare with a 5 kg dog.

01000200030000102030405060Body weight (kg)
If food scaled with weightReal need (weight^0.75)
749kcal if food scaled with weight
630kcal actually needed
1.7×the 5 kg dog’s food

A 40 kg dog is 8 times heavier than a 5 kg dog but needs only about 4.8 times the food. Feeding big dogs “per kilo” like small ones is an easy route to obesity.

Ask a follow-up about your pet

Your question and the result above go to an AI model (via Vercel AI Gateway) to write a short, general answer. It is not a vet and can be wrong. Nothing is stored.

Questions owners ask

How much should I feed my dog a day?
Start from calories, not cups. A typical neutered adult dog needs about 1.6 × its resting energy (RER = 70 × body weight in kg0.75). A 30 lb (13.6 kg) dog needs roughly 790 kcal a day; at 380 kcal per cup that is about 2 cups. Adjust by 10% every 2–3 weeks based on body condition.
How much should I feed my puppy?
Puppies under 4 months need about 3 × RER, and 2 × RER from 4 months until they reach adult size, based on their current weight. Split it into 3–4 meals for young puppies and 2–3 after about 6 months.
Is the feeding guide on the bag accurate?
It is a starting point. Bag guides are often generous and cover a wide weight band. The calories-per-cup (kcal/cup) number on the label is what you need, and the calculator converts it for your dog.
How many calories do treats add?
The WSAVA recommends keeping treats under 10% of daily calories. For a dog eating 800 kcal, that is 80 kcal of treats; reduce the main meal if you give more.
How do I feed a dog that needs to lose weight?
Use your dog’s ideal weight with the “Weight loss” setting (1.0 × RER), weigh every 2 weeks and aim for 1–2% of body weight lost per week. Check with your vet first, especially for large amounts of weight.
Cups or grams: which is better?
Grams, measured on a kitchen scale. A study in the Veterinary Record (German et al., 2011) found measuring cups led to feeding errors of up to 80% when owners scooped kibble.

Sources: National Research Council, Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats (2006); WSAVA Global Nutrition Guidelines (2011) and Calorie Calculation Guide; German A. J. et al., Veterinary Record 2011; Merck Veterinary Manual, “Nutritional Requirements of Small Animals”.

Keep going

Body condition scoreThe 1–9 scale and your dog’s ideal weight.Puppy weight calculatorHow big your puppy will get, from weight and age.Cat food calculatorCalories and a wet/dry split for your cat.