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An animal's energy needs are based on its body weight and body surface area because that more accurately accounts for heat loss. Energy requirements per pound of body weight is greater for small-size animals than large-breed dogs. Digestible energy is the percent of a food's total energy available after digestion and absorption. An animal does not use all of digestible energy; what it uses is metabolizable energy. Animals regulate their food intake by eating to satisfy metabolizable energy requirements. An adult dog's energy requirements can be calculated by finding its normal body weight and using the table below. The daily needs are for a dog living in a temperate climate and with moderate physical activity. The recommendations here may provide more calories than some pets need to maintain normal weight. An animal's age influences its caloric needs. Adult dogs below 2 years of age need 10 to 20 percent more calories than dogs between 3 and 7 years of age. Dogs older than 7 years need about 20 percent less energy than dogs between 3 and 7 years of age. Less food should be fed as an animal ages. Caloric requirements also show some breed differences. Based on requirements per pound of body weight the Newfoundland has lower energy requirements than 6 other breeds of different sizes from Dachshunds to Great Danes. Their requirements are about 17 percent less. Active dogs require more energy. Some very active dogs cannot maintain their normal weight until additional energy is given by feeding a high fat diet.

Determination of an Adult Dog's Caloric Needs: The daily caloric requirements for an individual animal depends on conditions such as maintenance, growth, pregnancy, or lactation. Other determining factors include the animal's activity and temperament, environmental temperature and the diet's digestibility. Calculations of the caloric needs are based on an adult animal's body weight as follows:

Body weight^0.75 X 132 = Kilocalories needed or Body weight^0.75 X 125 = Kilocalories needed

For each pound greater than 180 pounds add 4 kilocalories per pound of additional weight. The values in this table are for dogs living in a temperate climate and with a moderate amount of physical activity. Calculations were made with formula: kcalories/day = 125 X body weight^0.75

Daily Caloric Requirements for Adult Dogs