Dog Calorie Needs

About this calculator

A dog's daily calorie needs start from its Resting Energy Requirement (RER) — the calories burned at complete rest — calculated as 70 × (body weight in kg)^0.75. That RER is then multiplied by a life-stage/activity factor: roughly 1.2-1.4 for a neutered, sedentary adult, up to 1.6-1.8 for an intact or active adult, and as high as 2.0-3.0 for growing puppies, since building new tissue costs far more energy than maintaining existing weight.

Veterinarians and dog owners use this two-step formula (RER × factor) to set a starting daily calorie target for weight loss, weight maintenance or healthy puppy growth, then adjust up or down based on how the dog's weight actually trends over a few weeks — it's a starting point, not a fixed prescription, since metabolism varies by breed and individual.

This calculator takes your dog's weight, life stage and activity level and returns its estimated Resting Energy Requirement and total daily maintenance calories.