Dog Calorie Calculator

Every pet owner knows that their first priority when bringing a pet into their family is to make sure they stay healthy. Regardless of if we own a Chihuahua, Golden Retriever or Great Dane, we love our pets equally and want them to live long, healthy lives. But how? Exercises, activities and games are all awesome ways to keep our pups active but only half of the solution; we also need to control their diet.

The University of California-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine did a study in 1995 that created the idea of a “maintenance energy requirement,” or MER for short. MER is an estimated representation of the amount of energy an animal expends in obtaining or using food in an amount appropriate to maintaining body weight. Uh, what? Translated into everyday language, MER is a mix of the amount of calories we think our pups need in order to do their everyday activities. Once you can figure out what your dog’s MER is, you can then set their food schedule correctly to make sure that they’re getting that perfect Goldilocks amount of food every day to stay fit!

Figuring out your pet’s MER takes a little bit of math, but we've created a little calculator to take care of the heavy lifting. We've also included a list of food brands and their average calories per cup (from Pet Obesity Prevention) so you can figure out how many cups your dog may need. 

Remember though, this is just to give you a general idea of what your adult dog should be eating. Every breed is different, every dog is different, and the same dog will need more or less as they age.

Please do not use this calculator without also consulting your vet! Your vet knows your dog and they will know exactly how much they need to eat!

Here are the brands and their calories per cup: