Dog calorie calculator
How many calories should my dog eat per day?
Estimate daily maintenance calories from your dog's current measured weight, spay/neuter status, and activity category. Review the result with your veterinary team. It is a starting reference, not a feeding prescription.
For healthy, fully grown adult dogs at an ideal body condition, BCS 4–5/9, confirmed by their veterinary team. Use current weight, not a goal weight. This tool is not for growth, pregnancy, nursing, illness, recovery, or unplanned weight change.
For a dog above or below ideal condition, ask your veterinary team for an individual feeding plan. Start with the dog weight loss guide when weight loss may be appropriate. The Step-Based Weight Loss Planner is a separate veterinary tool.
Check that this tool fits your dog
Choose a health or feeding concern for illness, poor appetite, recovery, a prescribed diet, or unplanned weight or muscle change.
Choose ideal only when your veterinary team has confirmed body condition at a recent assessment. This selection does not diagnose body condition. View body condition charts.
Enter your dog's details
Enter a recent measured weight. Switching units converts the value.
Meal frequency changes the division, not the daily total.
This allowance comes out of the daily total. Follow a lower prescribed allowance when advised.
Use typical adult for routine pet activity. Choose the sedentary or light-work reference only when your veterinary team considers it appropriate.
Results update when the required entries are complete. No example weight is prefilled.
Your maintenance estimate
Save a copy to review with your veterinary team
Enter a valid date on or before today, or leave it blank.
The printed summary includes the method and disclaimer. This calculator does not save entries between visits.
How the estimate is calculated
RER = 70 × current body weight in kg0.75
Daily maintenance estimate = RER × the selected reference factor.
RER means resting energy requirement. The maintenance estimate is also called MER or, in this adult-maintenance context, DER. It includes routine activity. Do not add a walking-calorie estimate on top.
| Reference category | Factor used |
|---|---|
| Typical adult, spayed/neutered | 1.4–1.6 × RER |
| Typical adult, intact | 1.6–1.8 × RER |
| Sedentary / prone to weight gain | 1.0–1.2 × RER |
| Light work | 1.6–2.0 × RER |
These are starting reference factors, not minimum or maximum safe intakes. Inactive and work categories use their own factors without adding another spay/neuter adjustment. The calculation does not apply a separate age, breed, or outdoor-access bonus.
The displayed range comes from the factor range, not a fixed percentage around the result. It is not a confidence interval or a guarantee that your dog's needs fall within it. A single-factor result is still approximate.
Daily calories are rounded to the nearest whole calorie. Treat allowances are rounded down to whole calories so they cannot exceed the selected percentage of the displayed total. Main-food calories are the remainder. Per-meal values are approximate divisions of those main-food calories.
AAHA 2021, Box 1: Energy Requirement Calculations supplies the RER equation and the maintenance factors listed here. The original label “inactive/obese prone” is presented as “sedentary / prone to weight gain.” The categories are not added together.
AAHA guidance for healthy pets at an appropriate weight supports reviewing current intake, nutritional adequacy, and the contribution of treats and extras. Ohio State's nutrition service explains why individual calorie needs can differ substantially from calculated estimates.
Important limitations
This calculator provides general maintenance-energy estimates for apparently healthy, fully grown adult dogs at an ideal body condition confirmed by their veterinary team. It does not determine ideal weight, diagnose obesity, create a weight-loss or weight-gain plan, or assess whether a diet meets nutrient needs.
Your dog's actual needs may fall outside the estimate. A veterinary team can set a different calorie intake, treat allowance, and recheck schedule using current intake, weight trend, body condition, muscle condition, age, activity, and health.
Follow your dog's prescribed feeding plan. Do not reduce food, skip meals, add exercise calories, or change that plan based on this result alone. A displayed number does not confirm that an intake is appropriate or safe. If your dog is maintaining an ideal condition on a different intake, do not change it just to match the calculator.
Version 4.1 review draft · 9 September 2026. New header retained. Uses the v4.0 maintenance method. Clinical review required before publication.