Introduction
“Am I feeding my dog too much?” It is one of the most common questions pet parents ask. In India, where showing love often means offering an extra chapati or a few biscuits, canine obesity is becoming a silent epidemic.
Overweight dogs are at a much higher risk for arthritis, diabetes, and heart disease. Figuring out exactly how much your dog should eat depends on their age, weight, and activity level. Here is how to calculate their needs.
Understanding Resting Energy Requirement (RER)
Just like humans, dogs burn a certain number of calories just existing—sleeping, breathing, and digesting. This baseline is called their Resting Energy Requirement (RER).
While the exact math can get complicated (involving multiplying their weight in kilograms to the power of 0.75), a general rule of thumb for a healthy, neutered adult dog is roughly 50 to 70 calories per kilogram of body weight per day.
How Life Stages Change Calorie Needs
- Puppies: Growing takes a massive amount of energy! Puppies often need up to twice as many calories as an adult dog of the same weight.
- Active Adults: If your dog runs for an hour a day, they will need a higher calorie intake to maintain their muscle mass.
- Senior Dogs: As dogs age, their metabolism slows down, and they sleep more. Senior dogs usually need 20% fewer calories than they did in their prime.
Stop Guessing Their Portions
Enter your dog’s age, weight, and activity level to get an instant, scientifically accurate daily calorie target.
The best way to know if your dog is getting the right amount of calories is by looking at them, not just the scale.
- Too Thin: Ribs, spine, and pelvic bones are easily visible from a distance.
- Ideal: You can feel their ribs easily without pressing hard, but you cannot see them. They should have a visible “waist” when viewed from above.
- Overweight: You have to press firmly to feel their ribs under a layer of fat, and they have no waist (they look like a sausage from above).
We leave you with a visual guide for the same
