Dog Food Portion Calculator
Get daily calories and cups of food for your dog based on weight, life stage, and the kcal-per-cup on your food's bag.
This is a starting point, not a fixed number. Watch body condition over a few weeks and adjust up or down, count treats as part of the total, and confirm with your vet, especially for puppies, seniors, or any medical condition.
How it works
This calculator starts with your dog's resting energy requirement (RER), the energy a dog burns just staying alive at rest. Veterinary nutrition texts calculate it as 70 times your dog's weight in kilograms, raised to the power of 0.75. That number by itself is just baseline metabolism, so it gets multiplied by a life-stage factor that accounts for activity, growth, or whether your dog is spayed or neutered (fixed dogs burn a bit less energy, hence the lower multiplier). The result is a daily calorie target, which the calculator then converts to cups using the kcal-per-cup number printed on your food's bag or can.
Worked example: a 20 kg neutered adult dog. RER works out to about 662 kcal. The neutered-adult multiplier is 1.6, so 662 times 1.6 is about 1,059 kcal a day. If the food bag lists 350 kcal per cup, that's 1,059 divided by 350, or right around 3 cups a day, split into two meals of about 1.5 cups each.
FAQ
Why does the multiplier change so much between life stages?
Puppies and working dogs need dramatically more energy than a calm, fixed adult. A puppy under 4 months old is building bone, muscle, and organs from scratch, so its multiplier (3.0) is nearly double an adult's. An active working dog burns through fuel the same way an endurance athlete does. Meanwhile a dog on a weight-loss plan gets the lowest multiplier (1.0) since the goal is a calorie deficit, not maintenance.
What if my dog food bag doesn't list kcal per cup?
Check the guaranteed analysis panel or the manufacturer's website. Some brands list kcal per kilogram instead, which you can convert, or kcal per can for wet food. The calculator defaults to 350 kcal per cup, a common figure for dry kibble, but using your actual food's number will give a much more accurate cup count.
My dog is gaining or losing weight on the recommended amount. What now?
Treat this number as a starting point, not a prescription. Every dog's metabolism differs based on breed, age, and how much they move day to day. If your dog is gaining weight, cut back 10 percent and reassess in two weeks. If ribs are getting easy to count, add a little more. Body condition, not the math, is the real measure of whether the amount is right.
Should treats count toward this total?
Yes. Treats should stay under about 10 percent of a dog's daily calories, and that share needs to come out of the meal portion above, not sit on top of it. A few high-value training treats a day can add up fast in a small dog.
For more on getting portions right, see how much to feed your dog by weight and life stage, how to read a dog food label, and managing your dog's weight and portion control.