Homemade & Raw Dog Food Calculator

How to use the homemade dog food calculator

1. Enter your dog’s current healthy weight in pounds or kilograms.
2. Pick the goal: maintenance, puppy, active, or weight loss.
3. Read the daily range in grams and ounces of total food.
4. Split the amount into two meals for adults, or three to four for young puppies.
5. Weigh the dog and check body condition after two weeks, then adjust.

The rule of thumb behind the numbers

Home-prepared and raw diets are often described as a percentage of body weight because the food has no label calorie count. The ranges below are an industry / raw-feeder convention used for as-fed portion sizing. They are not a veterinary standard published by WSAVA, NRC, FDA, or AVMA—those sources address nutrient completeness and food safety, not a fixed percent-of-body-weight rule.

Energy density varies enormously: a lean chicken and rice mixture might provide around 1.5 kcal per gram, while a fatty raw mix could be well above 2. That is why two dogs eating the same 2.5 percent can gain or lose weight differently. Prefer calorie targets from the dog food calculator when you know ingredient kcal.

Worked example

A 20 kg (44 lb) adult dog in maintenance mode: 2 percent is 400 g and 3 percent is 600 g, so the daily range is 400–600 g (14–21 oz). Start in the middle at about 500 g, split into two 250 g meals. If after two weeks the dog has lost weight and ribs are very prominent, move toward 550 g; if the waist is disappearing, move toward 450 g.

Portion size is not a balanced diet

The hardest part of homemade feeding is not the amount but the composition. Dogs need specific amounts of calcium, phosphorus, zinc, iodine, vitamins A, D, and E, and essential fatty acids. A recipe made only of muscle meat and vegetables is typically very low in calcium and high in phosphorus. Stockman et al. (2013, JAVMA) evaluated 200 published homemade maintenance recipes and found that most were deficient in one or more essential nutrients. Dogs on incomplete diets may look fine for months before problems such as bone disease or skin and coat changes appear.

WSAVA’s nutrition guidelines suggest asking whether the person writing the recipe has formal nutrition training, and recommend a board-certified veterinary nutritionist (ACVN or ECVCN) when feeding homemade diets. Many offer remote consultations and will build a recipe around your dog’s health history and ingredient preferences. Always consult your veterinarian before switching diets.

Food safety with raw ingredients

The FDA and AVMA both highlight pathogen risk in raw animal-source protein. Salmonella and Listeria can be shed by dogs that look healthy, and the bacteria spread to bowls, counters, and hands. If you feed raw: keep it frozen until needed, thaw in the refrigerator, wash hands and surfaces with hot soapy water, discard leftovers promptly, and be cautious around young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. Cooked homemade diets avoid most of this risk but still need to be balanced.

Common mistakes

• Treating a portion calculator as proof the recipe is complete.
• Leaving out a calcium source, or adding bones without guidance.
• Using cups instead of weighing food.
• Adding toxic ingredients such as onions, grapes, raisins, or macadamia nuts.
• Switching to a new recipe overnight instead of transitioning over a week or more.

Next steps

If you want calorie-based targets, use the dog food calculator. Puppies should be fed using the puppy food calculator, and ideally a commercial complete-and-balanced growth diet or a nutritionist-built recipe. Read our raw feeding basics guide for a deeper look at benefits claimed, risks, and how to evaluate a recipe.