Dog Calorie Calculator
A 30 lb adult dog on the default settings needs 694–794 kcal a day.
Enter your dog's details
Enter a measured weight, not a goal weight.
Feel for the ribs and the waist. A healthy score is 4 or 5 out of 9.
Food and treats optional
Look for “Calorie Content” on the package. Leave blank to see calories only.
Calories per day you are feeding at the moment, for a side-by-side. Leave blank to skip it.
Everything is calculated in your browser. The numbers you type are not uploaded and not stored.
Daily calories
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kcal per day
Fill in your dog's weight to see the daily calorie estimate.
This family answers the two numbers behind every feeding question: how many calories a dog needs in a day, and how many grams of the food in the bowl that works out to. Both come from one equation — RER = 70 × kg0.75, multiplied by a published activity factor, then divided by the calorie density on your own label. What separates these pages is where they start: the formula page prints the whole chain, the loss page runs it against a target weight, and the treat, raw and per-meal pages spend the same daily figure differently.
Constants this page uses, and where each one comes from
| Constant | What it is | Named source |
|---|---|---|
| 70 | RER scaling constant, 70 × kg0.75 | AAHA 2021, Box 1 — Energy Requirement Calculations |
| 0.75 | exponent applied to body weight in kilograms | AAHA 2021, Box 1 — Energy Requirement Calculations |
| 1.0 – 1.2 | sedentary, or prone to weight gain | AAHA 2021, Box 1 — Energy Requirement Calculations |
| 1.4 – 1.6 | typical adult, spayed or neutered | AAHA 2021, Box 1 — Energy Requirement Calculations |
| 1.6 – 1.8 | typical adult, intact | AAHA 2021, Box 1 — Energy Requirement Calculations |
| 1.6 – 2.0 | light work | AAHA 2021, Box 1 — Energy Requirement Calculations |
| 0.45359237 | kilograms per pound, exact by definition | International avoirdupois pound (1959) |
Where to start
Open the Dog Calorie Calculator Formula first. It is the one page that shows the whole chain — the RER line, the factor band rendered as actual calories, and a worked example at a known weight — so every other page in this family reads as a variation on something you have already seen.
Reference table
The same factor table as a single sheet you can print or download and keep on the fridge.
What every tool here assumes
One set of inputs and one set of published constants, listed once here rather than repeated on every page.
- Resting energy requirement. RER = 70 × (body weight in kg)0.75 — about 394 kcal a day for a 10 kg dog — and every page prints this line above its result.
- Activity factors. 1.0–1.2 × RER for an inactive dog or one prone to weight gain, 1.4–1.6 for a neutered adult, 1.6–1.8 intact; anything clinical takes a factor your veterinary team sets, not one from a table.
- A band is not a number. 1.4–1.6 is a 14% spread, which is 694–794 kcal a day on the site's 30 lb default, so each page prints the band and labels the middle as the middle.
- Weight conversion. 1 lb = 0.45359237 kg, and the exponent is applied to kilograms — raising pounds to 0.75 first gives a different answer that widens as the dog gets heavier.
- Food energy density. Read it from the calorie statement on the package in kcal per 100 g, dividing kcal per kilogram by 10; without it the pages stop at daily calories rather than inventing a gram weight.
- Treats are inside the budget. The 10% rule takes treats out of the day's calories rather than adding them on top, which is why the treat page works out the daily figure first.
- Weight loss runs on target weight. A dog on a loss plan is fed against the weight it is heading for at about 1% of body weight a week, the rate the loss page converts into grams per day.
- Premise. Healthy adult dogs at a healthy body condition; puppies, pregnant or nursing dogs and dogs with a diagnosed condition belong to the other families or to your vet.
The other tool families
Calories & Feeding is one of six families on the site. The other five are Age & Growth, Feline, Pregnancy & Special Conditions, Food Safety, and Breed & Body Condition.