Dog feeding guides
Calculators give you a number. These guides answer the questions around it — is raw food safe, how much a puppy eats at each age, and what the right portion looks like at every weight.
Dog feeding guides
Is raw dog food safe?
The real risks — bacteria, bones, unbalanced meals — and the rules that lower them, plus BARF vs PMR portions.
Puppy feeding by age
Portions by weight and month, meal frequency, the growth-factor taper, and when to switch to adult food.
Feeding chart by weight
Daily calories, grams and cups for dogs from 2 to 80 kg, with size-class feeding notes for toy to giant breeds.
How to use these guides
Each guide leads with the short answer, then the detail, then the questions owners actually ask — the same structure as the calculator pages, so the answer is never more than a scroll away. The numbers are worked from the published formula on the page, not copied from a bag chart, and every guide links to the calculator that runs the same maths for your dog's real weight, life stage and food. If a guide and your bag disagree, the guide is usually right: bag charts assume an intact, active dog and round up to whole cups.
New guides are added when owners ask for them through the contact page — the list grows by request, not by guesswork. If your question is not covered here, the calculator with your dog's real ideal weight still gives the identical number; the guide adds context, not a different formula.
Frequently asked
Are these guides a substitute for my vet?
No — they are starting portions and general guidance from the same published formulas clinics use. Diabetic, kidney, pancreatitis, pregnant or nursing dogs need a vet-set plan, and any dog that refuses food for more than a day, or seems wobbly or lethargic, needs a vet the same day.
How are the numbers in the guides calculated?
The same way as every calculator on this site: RER = 70 × (kg^0.75), multiplied by the life-stage factor — 3.0 for young puppies tapering to 2.0, 1.6 for a neutered adult, 1.4 for a lower-activity senior — then converted to grams with the food's energy density. The full method, factors and sources are on the How We Calculate page.
Which guide should I read first?
If you feed raw, read the raw safety guide before changing anything. If you have a puppy, read the puppy guide — the portion changes every two weeks at that age. If you just want the number for your dog's weight, the feeding chart gives it in seconds and the calorie calculator gives it exactly.
Do the guides cover wet food and homemade food?
Wet food amounts are covered by the wet & dry mix calculator and the feeding chart's gram numbers (grams are grams, whatever the food). Homemade diets have their own calculator — but the calories are the easy part: a homemade diet needs a vet or nutritionist to balance vitamins and minerals, and no guide here replaces that.
Related calculators
Dog Calorie Calculator
RER & MER explained and calculated — resting vs daily energy, per life stage.
Puppy Food Calculator
Growth portions by age in weeks and months, kibble or raw.
Raw & BARF Calculator
Daily raw grams split into meat, bone, liver, organ and veg. BARF and PMR models.