How Many Calories Does a Dog Need In a Day?

Do you know the secret of keeping your dog in good shape? Check their calorie intake. Like humans, more calories affect dogs too, but how many calories does a dog need daily? The energy content of the food is measured in calories, which act as fuel not just for dogs but humans as well. Many meals that are rich in proteins, fats, and carbohydrates provide calories to do the day-to-day tasks. Too few or too many calories can cause problems for your furry friend.

What is the Impact of Calories on a Dog’s Life? 

There is a huge impact of calories on a dog’s life. If your dog is very active, eating very few calories can make it skinny. Active dogs burn body fat way faster than other dogs because of higher metabolism. They need more calories. In such cases, you should look for the best dog foods for weight gain. On the other hand, if your dog has more calories than required, energy will be stored as body fat and they will put on weight.

How Many Calories Should Be Consumed by a Dog?

Many factors come into play when we talk about how many calories does a dog needs. Here are some major factors that should be considered: 

• One of the major factors that come into play when we talk about the calorie requirement of a dog is its size. Large breed dogs require more calories than smaller breed dogs. If two dogs are almost the same size, then breed plays an important role in determining calorie requirement. For example, dogs having thick fur coats like Alaskan Malamute will require fewer calories than dogs having thin coats, like a Boxer.

• Another big factor that decides the calorie intake of a dog is its age. Young dogs require more calories than older dogs. Growing and developing puppies that are less than 4 months old need the highest calorie intake. When they grow into adult dogs, their calorie requirements decline. 

• The neuter status of a dog also helps to determine its calorie intake. When a male dog is unneutered, it has high calorie needs but those needs decline when the dog is neutered. The hormones that help to maintain the muscle mass of a dog decrease after neutering which means you might need to decrease their calorie intake a little bit. Pregnant unspayed female dogs may require more calories than a normal female dog. 

• The body type and activity level of a dog also help in determining their calorie intake. Highly muscular dogs require more calories than less muscular dogs even if they weigh the same amount. Similarly, more active dogs need more calories. Dogs who exercise a lot require more calories than dogs who do not exercise. 

How Can You Calculate Your Dog’s Calorie Requirements? 

To understand how many calories your dog requires, you need to use a dog calorie calculator. There are many dog calorie calculators available online but if you are still facing trouble finding it, here is the procedure to calculate the calories of your dog. 

• The first step is to convert the weight of your dog from pounds (lb) to kilograms (kg). To get your dog’s weight in kilograms, you need to divide the weight in pounds by 2.2 (Weight in pounds/2.2 = Weight in Kilograms).

• After calculating the weight, you need to insert the dog’s body weight (in kilograms) in the following equation. This way, you can determine their resting energy requirement (RER) in calories for a day.

RER (calories per day) = 70 ✕ (Weight in kg) 0.75

• After calculating RER, you will need one of the following multipliers to convert their resting energy requirement into maintenance energy requirement (MER). 

You need to choose your dog type from the table above and then multiply RER with the multiplier to get MER. 

RER (Calories per day) ✕ Multiplier = MER (Calories per day) 

• A typical range of calories is required to account for normal variation, which is 25% less or 25% more than the calculated number. 

Normal MER Range = (0.75 ✕ calculated MER) - (1.25 ✕ calculated MER)

This is how you can get how many calories are required by your dog each day. If you don’t want to do all the math for how many calories are in dog food, you can simply search for a dog food calorie calculator.

A Dog’s Daily Calorie Requirements

Understanding weight control and nutrition is very important not just for dogs but also for humans. Dogs can not tell whether they are full or not, you need to determine that. This is why tools like dog food calorie calculators are important so that people can have an estimate about how much they should feed their dogs. Making a dog overeat or undereat can create some mild or severe health issues. It can affect their digestive as well as overall health.

If you do not want your dog to turn too obese or too skinny, you should start wondering how many calories does a dog need in a day. pet supplies like Dog Chews and Treats available on PetYupp’s website can also help you fulfill the calorie requirements of your dog.