Puppy Feeding Calculator: How Much to Feed by Weight and Age
Last reviewed: August 2026
Enter your puppy's weight, age and the kcal figure printed on your food bag. You get a daily amount in cups or grams, split into the right number of meals for their age. This calculator is not tied to a brand, so it works with any kibble, own-label food, or wet and dry mixed together.
Why This Answer Differs From Your Food Brand's Calculator
Most puppy feeding calculators are built around one brand's product line. They already know the calorie density of their own recipes, so they never ask you for it. That works right up until you feed something else, and it is why two brand calculators hand you different cup counts for the identical puppy.
This calculator asks for the kcal figure off whatever bag you own. Puppy foods run from roughly 330 to 500 kcal per cup, so the same calorie requirement can mean 2.22 cups or 1.46 cups depending on density. Getting that number off the label is the difference between a portion and a guess.
The Formula
Daily calories are Resting Energy Requirement multiplied by an age factor. RER scales to body weight raised to the three-quarter power, because metabolism does not scale linearly with size.
RER (kcal/day) = 70 x (body weight in kg) ^ 0.75
Daily calories = RER x 3.0 (weaning to 3.5 months)
Daily calories = RER x 2.0 (5 months to adult size)
(tapered linearly in between)The standard veterinary brackets step from 3.0 straight to 2.0 on the four-month birthday, which on paper cuts a 20 lb puppy from 1,098 kcal to 732 kcal overnight. That is a 33% reduction for a dog who is still growing, so this calculator tapers across months 4 and 5 and shows you what the rigid bracket would have said. You can check the underlying maths against the puppy feeding chart, which lists the bracket figures for every weight from 3 to 100 lb.
Feeding Wet and Dry Together
Subtract the wet food's calories first, then fill the gap with kibble. Wet food is mostly water, so a 200 g can supplies far less energy than its weight suggests. The common mistake is adding wet food on top of an unchanged kibble scoop, which quietly overfeeds. Switch the calculator to wet and dry and it does the subtraction for you.
These are the ranges to expect. Use them to sanity-check the figure you type in, never as a substitute for your own label:
| Food type | Typical energy density | What 200 g supplies |
|---|---|---|
| Dry puppy kibble | 350 to 450 kcal per 100 g | 700 to 900 kcal |
| Wet pâté or loaf | 70 to 120 kcal per 100 g | 140 to 240 kcal |
| Wet chunks in gravy | 60 to 90 kcal per 100 g | 120 to 180 kcal |
| Raw or fresh cooked | 120 to 200 kcal per 100 g | 240 to 400 kcal |
A 200 g can of pâté therefore covers roughly a fifth of a 20 lb four-month-old's day, not half of it. That gap between how much food looks like and how much energy it carries is the whole reason this calculator works in calories first and volume second.
Does Breed Change How Much to Feed?
No. Expected adult weight drives the number, not breed identity. A Labrador and a Boxer heading for the same adult weight, fed the same food, get the same daily calories. That is why this calculator asks for adult weight rather than a breed dropdown, and why per-breed feeding charts promise a precision they cannot deliver.
What breed does change is the timeline and the formula, not the arithmetic. Toy breeds finish growing by 9 to 12 months while giant breeds keep going to 24, so they sit in the higher-energy bracket for very different lengths of time. Large and giant breeds also need a large-breed puppy food with controlled calcium and energy density. If you do not know the adult weight your puppy is heading for, estimate it with the puppy weight predictor and bring that figure back here.
Related Calculators
Explore these related tools to get a complete picture of your dog's care:
Frequently Asked Questions
Basic Understanding
How much should a puppy be fed per day?
Roughly three times their Resting Energy Requirement until 4 months old, then about twice. In practice that runs from about 265 kcal a day for a 3 lb puppy to 3,670 kcal for a 100 lb one. The calculator above turns that into cups or grams of your own food.
How much to feed a 4 month old puppy?
Four months is the transition point. A 20 lb puppy needs about 1,098 kcal at just under 4 months and about 732 kcal once fully in the older bracket. Do not cut a third overnight. This calculator tapers across months 4 and 5 instead of stepping.
How-To Questions
How do I measure puppy food portions accurately?
Weigh in grams on a kitchen scale rather than scooping. Kibble settles differently every time, so a level cup and a heaped cup can differ by 20% or more. Switch the food unit above to kcal per kg or per 100 g and this calculator returns grams directly.
How do I work out portions when I feed wet and dry together?
Set the calculator to wet and dry, enter how much wet food you plan to feed and its kcal per 100 g. It subtracts those calories from the daily requirement and returns the dry amount that fills the gap, so the two together hit the target rather than doubling up.
How much food should I feed my puppy by chart instead?
If you would rather read a table than enter numbers, the puppy feeding chart lists daily calories for every weight from 3 to 100 lb, with a cups column that adjusts to your food density.
Comparison Questions
Is 2 cups of puppy food enough?
It depends on the puppy's weight and the food's calorie density, which the question leaves out. Two cups is about right for a 20 lb four-month-old on a 350 kcal per cup food, and a 37% overfeed for the same puppy on a 500 kcal per cup food.
Is there a puppy feeding calculator by breed?
Breed is the wrong input. Two puppies heading for the same adult weight on the same food need the same calories whatever their breed, so this calculator asks for expected adult weight instead. Breed changes the growth timeline and the food formula, not the daily total.
Why does this give a different answer to my food brand's calculator?
Most brand calculators are built around that brand's own product line and its calorie density. This one asks for the kcal figure off whatever bag you own, so it works across brands, own-label foods, and raw or fresh diets that publish kcal per 100 g.
Technical Questions
What formula does this puppy feeding calculator use?
Resting Energy Requirement, calculated as 70 x (body weight in kg)^0.75, multiplied by 3.0 for puppies under 3.5 months and 2.0 from 5 months, tapering linearly in between. Adult dogs use 1.6 when neutered and 1.8 when intact.
What is the 80/20 rule for dog food?
It is a raw-feeding ratio, usually 80% muscle meat with 10% bone and 10% organ, and it describes what the diet is made of rather than how much to feed. Portion size still comes from calories, which is what this calculator works out.
What to Check Next
- Puppy Feeding Chart: the same maths as a printable table, if you would rather read a row than enter numbers.
- Puppy Weight Predictor: gives you the expected adult weight this calculator asks for.
- Body Condition Score Calculator: turns the rib-and-waist check into a 9-point score you can track.
- Daily Calorie Calculator: applies the adult multipliers once your puppy finishes growing.